BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 109 



of the respective breeds. In the comparison of early and late lambs 

 there proved to be $3.47 a head more profit in the production of late 

 lambs. 



In the experiments in fixing type at both Middlebury and Belts- 

 ville the score system of mating is used, and improvement from the 

 use of superior sires is already becoming evident. The records of 

 weekly body weights and yearly fleece weights and measurements as 

 kept at these farms are supplying data of genetic value. 



BANGE SHEEP INVESTIGATIONS. 



The equipment of the United States Sheep Experiment Station 

 at Dubois, Idaho, has been materially improved. Buildings now on 

 hand make it possible to conduct such important phases of range 

 sheep investigations as scoring, weighing sheep and wool, and selec- 

 tion of fleece samples with more dispatch and accuracy than has been 

 possible in former years. The lambing sheds and paddocks now pro- 

 vide facilities for lambing a band of 1,500 ewes at a time in early 

 spring. At the close of the fiscal year the flocks numbered 3,478 

 sheep of the Eambouillet, Corriedale, and Columbia breeds and 

 crosses. 



The principal lines of investigation are (1) a study of the effects 

 of various methods of range management on the growth of wool 

 and lambs; (2) developing and improving types of sheep adapted 

 to the range; (3) methods of supplying sheep with water on dry 

 grazing lands; (4) methods of wintering range sheep, including the 

 production of winter feed on high arid lands ; (5) range improvement 

 through grazing studies. 



The system of records, weighing, and scoring in use provides 

 facilities for analyzing any question relative to these lines of inves- 

 tigation that is likely to arise. The data are completely tabulated 

 and analyzed each year. 



The breeding investigations are resulting in the development of a 

 heavy shearing type of Rambouillet sheep with desirable mutton 

 form. Sires of outstanding excellence are used, and the system of 

 mating on the basis of the offspring scores is employed intensively. 

 Improvement and type fixing of Corriedales and Columbias and the 

 development of a type especially excellent in both fleece and form 

 by the interbreeding of Corriedale-Columbia crosses are features of 

 crossbreeding work at the station. These crossbred types appear to 

 be well adapted to range territory where feed is sufficiently abundant 

 to produce lambs for slaughter at approximately 4 months of 

 age. During the past year the Columbia lambs averaged 72 pounds 

 at between 3^ and 4 months of age. At the same age Corriedales 

 weighed 60 pounds, while the offspring resulting from the inter- 

 breeding of Corriedale and Columbia crosses averaged 65 pounds. 



WOOL STUDIES. 



The fleeces produced by the experimental sheep used for the farm 

 and range projects are scored for fin"ness of fiber, length of staple, 

 character, density, and distribution of the fleece over the back. All 

 fleeces are weighed when shorn, and a sample weighing approxi- 

 mately 1 pound is taken from the side of the fleece produced by each 



