72 THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



It is well, perhaps, to add to this Report, an official Report 

 issued by Dr. Young, himself, who has transferred his sheep farm 

 to Kerman, Fresno Co., California, especially as Dr. Young's later 

 experiments do not agree with the Agricultural Report in some 

 details as to mutton values. 



"The Karakul Desert Sheep will produce 'Persian Lamb' and 

 'Astrakhan Fur' in the first cross with domestic coarse-wool 

 breeds. The skins of the lambs when two or three days old being 

 used for that purpose. This kind of fur is used for coats, collars, 

 caps and muffs by the most fashionable set of society, and according 

 to the United States Department of Agriculture, we require 

 $14,000,000 worth of furs annually. 



"According to Armour and Swift, Karakul mutton is free from 

 the 'woolly' taste so often objectionable in our domestic breeds, 

 and the lambs mature very quickly, in fact 60-pound lambs in two 

 months are not uncommon. 



"Karakul ewes compare favorably with milk goats and the milk 

 is richer in fat than goat's milk. The fat globules are very fine 

 and easily absorbed. For ages the Karakul has been the cow of the 

 Kara Kum Desert of Central Asia, and the famous 'Brinza' 

 cheese possesses the most delicious flavor. 



"The wool of the mature sheep is very coarse and ideally adapted 

 for coarse textiles, rugs and felt and 21 pounds of 31-inch long staple 

 is the most any Karakul has ever produced but being free from the 

 fat and dirt of the fleece of our domestic sheep this is an enormous 

 yield. Under proper grading and when of sufficient length Karakul 

 wool brings a higher price than does the wool of our domestic breeds. 



"The Karakul Desert Sheep, which for centuries have had to 

 compete with the camel and the burro, will thrive and accumulate 

 fat on pastures that would starve our domestic breeds. Short- 

 lived weeds and the Sacksaul brush closely resembling the chemisa 

 of San Luis Obispo County is all these animals have had to feed on. 

 During the entire summer past we grazed our sheep in Fresno County 

 on alkali weeds and they did well, and such brush as Chemisa, 



