THE PRACTICE OF BREEDING 283 



which is claimed to be the heaviest fleece ever taken from 

 a single sheep. The staple of this fleece was three and 

 one-fourth inches in length, which when straightened 

 measured five inches. It is interesting to note in this 

 case that the fiber was of unusual fineness, averaging 

 YsTTo f an mcn m diameter. According to Hunt, 1 the 

 average weight of fleece of all sheep in the United States 

 in 1850 was 2.4 pounds a head. In 1900 the average 

 weight of fleece was 6.9 pounds a head. This remarkable 

 development in the improvement of the wool-producing 

 qualities of animals must be wholly credited to the skill 

 and enterprise of the American shepherd. 



267. Improvement in tendency to lay on fat. It is 

 more difficult to give accurate statistics showing the 

 improvement in meat-producing animals. At the begin- 

 ning of the eighteenth century, fat animals were not 

 placed on the market until they were four or five years of 

 age. Even as late as 1875, three- and four-year-old fat 

 animals were the most common types of cattle to be found 

 in the fat stock markets of America. By careful selec- 

 tion the tendency to lay on fat has been developed in 

 animals to such an extent that now it is common to find 

 young animals carrying fat equal to that shown by four- 

 and five-year-old bullocks of earlier years. This tend- 

 ency to lay on fat at an early age is transmitted through 

 heredity. The amount of food required to make one 

 pound of gain is much less in the younger animals and 

 the improvement in this respect, therefore, is of great 

 economic significance. It requires less food to-day to 

 produce the fat beef, pork and mutton sold in the markets 

 of the World than was the case before the improvement 

 of this tendency to early maturity. (Plates XXXI and 

 XXXII.) 



1 Hunt, " Cyclopedia of American Agriculture," vol. 3. 



