Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/865

SHEEP other northern breed, being generally preferred as equally hardy and better fleeced. Many attempts have been made to improve it, and the Norfolk, Suffolk, and Dorset breeds are supposed to be derived from it. In the Che- viot the head is bare and clean, the face and legs white, the body long, bones small, and fleece of about 3 Ibs. The Dorset is an old but handsome breed, with strong and well formed body, finely curved horns, and clear white fleece ; they drop their lambs as early as September. The Southdown breed is dark- faced, without horns, with long small neck, very short and fine fleece of 2^ to 3 Ibs., and celebrated for the fine flavor of the mutton ; it is in the greatest perfection in Sussex, on the chalky downs. Other British breeds with- out horns and with white face and legs are the Teeswater, Dartmoor, Hereford, and Rom- ney Marsh ; and with horns, the Exmoor and Spanish. America has no indigenous domestic sheep. The first sheep were introduced into the United States at Jamestown, Va., from Eng- land in 1609, which in 40 years had increased to 3,000 ; they were introduced into New York and Massachusetts about 1625. Both Spanish and French merinos have been introduced, the former by David Humphreys, minister to the court of Madrid, in 1802, and the latter by Mr. Taintor, of Hartford, Conn., in 1846. They are hardy, yielding a large amount of fine wool for their size, the males 10 to 16 Ibs. of washed wool, and the females 4 to 8, the for- mer weighing from 140 to 175 Ibs., the latter from 80 to 130. They thrive in summer on grass and clover, and in winter on hay, wheat bran, barley, oats, and root crops ; in winter they require sheds for protection, free space, pure air, and water accessible. The best breeds are generally considered to be the Vermont Brewer and Atwood flocks ; some regard the Saxon merinos as the best, and the French have less oil in their wool than the Spanish. The Leicester breed has a heavier fleece and carcass, but requires more food ; as combining the advantages of wool and meat, this is the best breed for the farmer, and is excellently bred in New Jersey ; the wool is long staple, and is used mostly for combing purposes, for delaines and similar cloths. The Southdowns are by many preferred to the merinos, as a third larger, hardier, and better mutton ; they are very prolific, and the lambs are hardy ; the wool is large in quantity and fair in quality. The Cotswold also is highly esteemed. As a general rule, the fine-wooled sheep, like the merino, Saxon, French, and Silesian, are not so profitable for the mutton as the coarse-wooled, like the Leicester, Southdown, and Cotswold ; it seems impossible to combine in a single breed both these qualities in their greatest perfection. The northern and western states raise the best sheep for mutton, and the middle and southern for wool. Sheep are remarkably affected by changes of external condition, as of climate, food, &c., and congenital varieties SHEEP'S HEAD thence arising may be easily perpetuated. In Massachusetts in 1791 a lamb was born with a longer body and shorter legs than the rest of the flock, with longer joints and crooked fore legs ; as it could not leap over fences, it was determined to propagate its peculiarities, and from it arose the famous otter breed, now ex- tinct; when both parents were of the otter breed, the lambs inherited the form. Sheep are subject to many diseases, of which the most troublesome is the foot rot, from sup- pression of the secretion of the gland between the hoofs, and consequent inflammation, gen- erally caused by standing on too wet ground ; the best remedy is to pare the diseased hoof thoroughly and apply a solution of blue vit- riol (sulphate of copper), 1 Ib. to a quart of water; the animal should also be kept in a dry place. They suffer from insects, especial- ly a hot fly (oestrus ovis the larvas of which get from the lips and nostrils into the frontal and maxillary cavities, causing fatal disease; the wild sheep of elevated regions suffer least from these. They are infested with a spe- cies of tick, which may be killed after shearing by a weak solution of tobacco and water, or a preparation of oil, lampblack, and umber. Sheep are more choice in their food than goats, and yet will thrive where most other animals would starve ; they prefer alpine and aromatic plants, and will soon clear a field of weeds, briers, and bushes, and by their drop- pings prepare it for the plough. They cannot be economically kept amid a dense popula- tion, as they would occupy too much land ; and they are not profitable to pasture with cows, as they bite the grass too close for the latter to thrive upon. For full information on the statistics and profits of sheep husban- dry, see the agricultural reports of the de- partment of the interior at Washington, and the publications of the various state agricultu- ral societies. It need only be stated here that lambs may be weaned at from two to three months ; that the female is fit for procreation at one year and the male at one and a half ; that gestation lasts about five months; that one or two young are born at a time; that one male may be kept to 30 females ; and that they can produce till the age of 10 or 12, and be fatted with the best advantage at 8 years. The number of sheep in the United States, as reported by the census of 1870, was 28,477,- 961. The states having the largest numbers were: Ohio, 4,fi28, 635; California, 2,768,187; New York, 2,181,578; Minnesota, 1,985,906; Pennsylvania, 1,794,801; Indiana, 1,612,680; Illinois, 1,568,286 ; Missouri, 1,352,001 ; and Wisconsin, 1,069,282. According to the re- port of the bureau of agriculture, the tota number in the United States in January, 1874, was 34,038,200, valued at about $89,000,000. SHEEP'S HEAD, a spiny-rayed fish of the fam- ily sparidce and genus sargus (Cuv.); the scup- paug (pagrus) belongs to the same family. The gill covers are unarmed, the palate tooth