230 



The Journal of Heredity 



During the ent re summer of 1919 a 

 flock of Karakuls was able to thrive 

 on alkali and dry foxtail in the San 

 Joaquin Valley of California, to the 

 great amazement of the sheep raisers 

 of that region, who are forced to re- 

 move their sheep by the first of May or 

 suffer great losses. 



HARDINESS UNDER OTHER CONDITIONS 



During the summer of 1920, the 

 United States Bureau of Forestry con- 

 ducted a most interesting test, an 

 account of which is contained in the 

 following letter: 



Kerman, California, 

 September 6, 1920. 

 Mr. M. A. Benedict, 

 Forest Supervisor, 

 North Fork, California. 



Dear Mr. Benedict: 



Referring to your letter of May 11, 

 1920, in re Karakul Sheep. 



On March 20, 1920, Mr. E. E. Clark, 

 of your service, brought to my place, 

 for the purpose of a grazing demonstra- 

 tion, four Karakul rams, the property 

 of the Kerman Karakul Sheep Com- 

 pany. These rams were placed in a 

 twenty-three acre field with about forty 

 hogs, and where there is and has been 

 very little feed on the ground. The 

 hogs I have fed. The rams have been 

 subsisting on the browsing from oak, 

 chapparel, willow, manzanito, sour 

 berry bush, and some little grass, and 

 have not been fed. I know of no other 

 stock that would have survived in that 

 field unless, possibly, goats. 



On May 11th I caused these rams 

 to be shorn, and after the clip was taken 

 the rams were weighed, and were again 

 weighed in August with the result as 

 follows : 



This seems to be a remarkable gain 

 in 110 days, considering the poor 

 pasturage. 



It will be noticed that the smallest 

 ram, weighing 103 lbs., gave the 

 heaviest clip of wool, — 1 1 lbs. I believe 

 these sheep are well adapted to this 

 brushy country. 



Very respectfully, 

 (Signed) W. M. Sell. 



(The above was a six months' clip 

 and being free of fat did not have 

 to be scoured; the loss in Merino wool 

 from this source is about 50%.) 



During the summer our entire flock 

 of Karakul sheep was pastured on dry 

 chemiza, sage, and other brush in the 

 valley near San Bernardino, California, 

 where a flock of 1,500 goats was 

 pastured, with a view to ascertaining 

 whether or not the Karakul could com- 

 pete with the goat. This test, extend- 

 ing over a period of eleven months, 

 was conducted by one of the Los 

 Angeles packers, who was able to 

 satisfy himself of the great hardiness 

 of the Karakul. He has since invested 

 twelve thousand dollars in Karakul 

 sheep, at a time when it was impossible 

 to sell domestic ewes. 



QUALITY OF THE MEAT 



As far as the mutton qualities of the 

 Karakul are concerned, it can be stated 

 that it does not have its equal in the 

 world, as it is entirely free from the 

 characteristic flavor of the sheep family 

 and tastes more like venison than mut- 

 ton. The fat of the Karakul sheep is 

 the butter of Central Asia, and can be 

 used for cooking purposes. 



USES OF THE WOOL 



The wool of the mature sheep is 

 very coarse and forms the basis of all 

 Oriental rugs, such as Bokharas, 

 Khivas, Persians, Afghans, etc. It is 

 ideally adapted for felt, and a great 

 variety of garments are made out of it 

 in Asia, among them being the famous 

 capes, known as "burkas." Wonderful 

 blankets are woven out of this wool by 

 the Navajo Indians, and it should be 

 of particular interest to the countries 

 south of the United States where the 



