522 Journal of the Department op Agriculture. 



Arrangements are at present being made for the uegistration of 

 pure-bred karakul sheep in the South African Stud Book, and when 

 this has been accomplished further tags may be necessary. It is 

 stiongly urged, however, that breeders who purchased pure-bred 

 sheep recently should continue tagging in the way suggested. The 

 breeder's initials or the name of his farm might, with advantage, 

 be stamped on the reverse side of the tag. In order to prevent con- 

 fusion later, when the Stud Book regulations come into force, breeders 

 should note that the letters " S.W.A." on the reverse side of the 

 tag form the mark of pure-bred karakul sheep bred by the South-West 

 Protectorate Administration, and that the letters " G.K." are used 

 at Grootfontein. These combinations, therefore, should not be used 

 by piivate breeders. 



KiLLiNCi : Skinning and Peeparing the Pelts for 

 Market. 



The lamb pelts, to be of any value for furs, necessitate the 

 slaughtering of the lambs at the age when their curl is at its best. 

 The throat must be cut to allow as much blood as possible to escape, 

 and the skin must then immediately be removed. This is done by 

 making a straight cut from the neck in the usual way. As every 

 part of the pelt is of value, the cuts in it must be as few and as 

 straight as possible. AVhen the skin has been removed it should be 

 carefully washed in clean water to remove blood, etc., which may be 

 adhering to it, and then dipped into a weak solution of arsenite of 

 soda in water for about half a miniite. (This solution must not be 

 stronger than 5 per cent.) After this precaution against moth has 

 been taken the skin is gently stretched (taking great care not to over- 

 stretch) on a frame, and is dried in the shade. Drying is best done in 

 a sliady shed through which the air is constantly circulating. It is 

 fatal to dry pelts in the sun, as they become " burnt" and lose most 

 of their value, because burnt pelts will not stand the processes of 

 working up into furs. AVhen the skins are dry they are packed in 

 flat bundles and shipped overseas to the furriers in that state. A 

 small amount of salt may be put on the skin when it is ready to be 

 dried. 



Lambs born dead or prematurely born lambs should be bled at 

 once, as if this is not done the pelts M'ill not stand the working* up into 

 furs. In any case, however, the premature skins are more or less 

 weak a]id do not wear nearly as well as the others. There appears to 

 be a belief i)revalent that it is necessary to kill the ewe to obtain the 

 best type of skin from the unborn lamb. This is, of course, quite 

 without foundation and wrong. The belief probably originated 

 through the higii value placed on the pelts of aborted lambs of a 

 certain type, and also through the existence of a disease in Bokhara 

 which causes the ewes to abort. As a matter of fact a considerable 

 number of skins, in fact the great majority, would not be as valuable 

 if their owners had been aborted lambs. Only certain types of curl 

 would be better if aborted. Some, again, even if carried the full 

 time, appear to have been born before their time, while curls like the 

 " nigger " would never be really suitable no matter how soon or 

 late the lambs were born. 



