Rensselaer Journal, Volume 10, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1901 — The Ram [ARTICLE]

The Ram

k sheep breeder that has had yean of experience selecting and mating sheep says. One of the very worst mistakes one can make in selecting the head of the flock, is to get one lacking vigor and constitution. If this is lacking nothing can make up for it, and it need not be lacking if the buyer is at all acquainted with his business. Never mind his record, or' who his grandfather was or wasn’t, till you have seen the animal himself, and then don’t let the record change your opinion of him. No matter how long a sheep’s pedigree is, if his neck and legs are long, too, you don’t want him. A ram should have two good ends on him if possible, but the front end is by -far the most important. If there is lots of heart room, the front legs wide apart, the wider the better, and the neck short and strong, then the rest of the animal is pretty apt to be right, or at least not far out of the way. Frequently a- fine ram will be so wide and full in the shoulders that he will appear narrow and peaked behintJ, where if his shoulders were as sloping and thin as some sheep, his hips would seem anything but deficient. After the deep, wide chest and short, thick neck are secured see to it that the legs are short, stout and bony. Lots of bone, large, strong joints, and a flat, rather than a round, pipe-stem leg, are tne things to insist upon. The belly and back line should both be straight, the back broad and the skin bright, red, though dark and even lighter skinned rams are sometimes very vigorous. This is not the rule, however. We like a strong, thick, well covered ear, but good authorities are not unfriendly to a thin ear. A bold, proud carriage means much, and an active, quick-moving animal, muscular and bony rather than fat and slow, is much to be preferred, and last but not least, the head of a flock of mutton sheep should weigh something. In these days nothing can make up for an undersized body; 175 is light enough for any mutton ram to weigh in ordinary flesh, and 200 to 275 is far better. With ordinary western treatment the lambs will not be too large then.