68 Wool 



records of either the direct or indirect action of environment 

 on the Merino sheep — no flock of Merino sheep has been kept 

 for several years so that one might note the change in fleece 

 year by year, nor have several generations been raised to note 

 the influence of environment on the race as distinct from 

 individuals.^ 



It is more than probable that both quality and quantity 

 of food markedly affect the fleece. Down sheep never 

 produce the skins or pelts that Lincoln sheep produce, in 

 fact the pelt of the richly fed Lincoln at its worst — say fully 

 wooUed — is better than the pelt of the Down at its best, say 

 a month after shearing. Full woolled skins or pelts are much 

 poorer than pelts from sheep killed about a month after the 

 wool has been sheared, that is when the vital forces of the 

 sheep are not called on to sustain the wool and consequently 

 have strengthened the pelt. It has been noticed in Australia 

 that richer food may result in coarser wool being produced, 

 and undoubtedly there the poorest grazing land, just as in this 

 country, produces the finest wool. 



Length, waviness, lustre and felting property are probably 

 more dependent upon breed than upon environment ; but 

 colour and strength are probably more dependent upon the 

 direct action of the latter. A Lincoln sheep cannot be made to 

 produce "fuzzy" wool by any change of environment, nor can 

 a Down sheep be made to produce Lincoln wool even if bred 

 and fed upon the richest pasturage. 



On the other hand most of the wool in the north of England 

 was weak about half way up the staple one year, owing to a 

 very sudden and severe storm which no doubt lowered the 

 vitality of the sheep, thus causing the withdrawal of nourish- 

 ment from the wool inwards. 



In most cases, however, the best results are observed and 

 produced from a suitable working together of breed and 

 environment. How necessary this coincidence is will be gath- 

 ered from the case in which something like 75 per cent, of 

 a flock of Vermont-Merino cross perished in the Australian 

 drought while the pure Australian Merino survived. 



The question of the relative values of wool and mutton 

 must now be considered; and as a secondary question of 

 a similar importance the relative values of heavy and light 

 fleeced sheep must also be touched upon. 



Perhaps the extremes in both cases may best be met with in 

 Australia. The following examples rather tend to show that 



' Since writing this I have heard of two Merino flocks — one in Yorkshire 

 and one in Essex — but there appear to be no reliable records of the quality of 

 wool produced. 



