BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 91 



object is to study the economy of the ostrich industry, the proper 

 handling of birds, the production of high-grade feathers, and the 

 proper handling of feathers to realize the largest returns when sold. 

 To enable the bureau to have control over the feeding and breeding 

 experiments 11 birds were purchased in December, 1911, and these 

 are quartered on a large ranch near Glendale, Ariz., in cooperation 

 with the Arizona Ostrich Breeders' Association. Four of these birds 

 are South African, two are Nubian, and five are crosses of the 

 Nubian and South African breeds. In addition a large number of 

 ostriches owned by members of the association are available to the 

 bureau for experimental purposes. Several chicks belonging to the 

 department have been hatched, also 60 which are the property of the 

 cooperators. Feeding studies will be made with these chicks. 



SHEEP AND GOAT INVESTIGATIONS. 



The service attempted in 1915 for the sheep and goat industries, as 

 in 1911, was mainly of an investigational character. 



PREPAEATION OF WOOLS. 



Considerable progress has been made in the work on classification 

 of wools. This project originally provided for investigations in the 

 woolgrowing States and the market centers and for the dissemination 

 of the findings among woolgrowers. The discussions of the wool 

 conference held in June, 1914, made it apparent that methods of 

 preparing wool for market in accord with present classifications could 

 well be included in the investigations. The latter phase of the wool- 

 grower's work is intimately associated with his methods of breeding, 

 and one necessarily involves the other. As a part of an educational 

 plan to improve methods of handling wool, Department Bulletin 206, 

 " The Woolgrower and the Wool Trade," was issued and has been 

 widely distributed among woolgrowers. Methods of breeding sheep 

 and preparing wool as observed in Australia and the adaptation of 

 that country's methods to conditions in the Western United States 

 are discussed in a later paper now in course of publication. As a 

 further part of such educational work arrangements have been made 

 for use in the field of the division's wool exhibit in cooperation with 

 extension departments of the agricultural colleges. 



BANGE SHEEP BREEDING. 



The range sheep-breeding experiments in Wyoming have been 

 given special attention. The flock was under the personal observa- 

 tion of an animal husbandman most of the year. Full notes have 

 been taken with a view to the study and publication of the results. 



An important change has been made in the method of recording 

 the weights of fleeces. In addition to taking the gross weight of the 

 fleece and the length of the fiber, a 10-ounce sample is now with- 

 drawn. This sample will be separately scoured by a method that 

 will show separately the shrinkage due to oil and to dirt. This and 

 other methods furnish accurate data concerning the quantity and 

 value of wool produced by various types of sheep. Such informa- 



