2 BULLETIN 94, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
As a rule, but one breed should be selected. Where there is more 
than one breed upon a farm it is a difficult matter to keep the gates 
all closed at the proper time and prevent crossing. If several farms 
are available more breeds can be handled, but the difficulties in man- 
agement are much increased. The most successful sheep breeders 
in America handle but one breed. The fact that there are more 
breeds than in any other class of farm animals may in itself make 
the selection of one breed rather difficult. Some of the decidino- 
factors should be climatic conditions, feeds available, elevations, 
what particular line of the industry is to be followed, and popularity 
of the breed. 
The effect of climate is strikingly illustrated in the evolution of 
the sheep industry of the extreme Northwest. The Willamette 
Valley in Oregon, now so famous for its long wools, was once partly 
occupied by fine- wool sheep. The large amount of rainfall, which 
comes in a long-continued drizzle, caused the hay and weed seeds 
that became lodged in the wool to grow and become green upon the 
sheep 7 s back. The Merino breeds were decidedly out of place there. 
After a time the Lincoln and other long-wool breeds were introduced 
and the industry assumed a different aspect. Their long locks act 
as a thatch, carrying the water off, and these breeds thrive as they 
do in few other places except their native counties in England. 
The kind of feed produced is of importance. The larger breeds 
have developed upon land that has produced abundantly. They are 
capable of taking care of a larger amount of feed, such as the moist 
fertile lowlands produce, while the smaller breeds succeed better 
upon the less abundant fare of drier and less fertile pastures. There 
is evidently some connection between the general higher quality of 
the smaller breeds and the scanty, more nutritious feeds that they 
receive under natural conditions. If they are removed to the low- 
land they lose much of their characteristic type and quality. 
The effect of elevation upon a breed is also apparent, but how much 
of this effect is due to the amounts and kinds of feed it is difficult to 
determine. Certain it is that the mountain breeds are smaller, more 
active, more hardy, and better able to care for themselves than their 
down or lowland neighbors. 
The importance of hardiness in the mountain breeds was shown 
during the last century along the Scottish border. The Cheviot had 
for a number of years been displacing the Black-faced Highland breed 
because of its finer quality of wool and somewhat better carcass. 
A number of severe winters worked havoc among the flocks of the 
former breed by causing a very heavy lamb loss, and the Highland 
breed, because of its hardiness, came back into its own. 
The effect of the soil upon sheep is somewhat obscured in the effects 
of feed, elevation, etc. That there is some effect can not be denied, 
but the extent of this is an unsolved problem. 
