TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 277 



The Animal Husbandry Division of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Animal Industry* suggests the following rules as of fundamental 

 importance in the improvement of American wools: 



1. Adhere to a settled policy of breeding the type of sheep 

 suitable to the locality. 



2. Sack lambs', ewes', wethers', and all buck or very oily 

 fleeces separately. 



3. Shear all black sheep at one time, preferably last, and 

 put the wool in separate sacks. 



4. Remove and sack separately all tags, and then allow 

 no tag discount upon the clip as a whole. 



5. Have slatted floors in the holding pens. 



6. Use a smooth, light, and hard glazed (preferably paper) 

 twine. 



7. Securely knot the string on each fleece. 



8. Turn sacks wrong side out and shake well before filling. 



9. Keep wool dry at all times. 



10. Make the brands on the sheep as small as possible 

 and avoid tar brands. 



11. Know the grade and value of your wool and price it 

 accordingly. 



12. Do not sweat sheep excessively before shearing. 



13. Keep the floor sweepings out of the wool. 



14. Do not sell the wool before it is grown. 



15. When all these rules are followed place your personal 

 brand or your name upon the bags or bales. 



The Australian plan of handling the wool clip has recently 

 been strongly advocated by the U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry 

 and has already been adopted by a few ranchmen in Wyoming, 

 Montana, and Nevada, tinder this plan the wool is graded at 

 time of shearing, resulting in standard grades of wool which may 

 be bought and sold like any other standard commodities. The 

 belly wool is separated from the fleece by the shearer, and all 

 bellies from the same kind of sheep are baled together. The 

 ileece, minus the belly, is thrown spread out upon a table having 

 a slatted top to allow loose, heavy pieces of wool and dirt to 

 reach the floor. The fleece is then "skirted." This consists 

 in removing some of the wool from the edges of the fleece. In 

 -cross-bred sheep and in some Merinos the lower thigh wool is 

 materially coarser than the body of the fleece, and when this is 



*U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 206. 



