FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 25 



ft 



The sheep were housed during the winter (usually 

 in spacious and well arranged structures of brick or 

 stone). They were housed at night, and generally 

 brought in for a time at noon, in the warm weather ; 

 their carefully selected and constantly varying food 

 was portioned out to them with the strictest nicety ; 

 they had a daily routine, and a monthly routine of 

 nutriment ; they were never allowed to go out when 

 dew was on the grass ; they were .most carefully pro- 

 tected from rain, and fed in stables during its con- 

 tinuance ; they were not allowed to run on particular 

 kinds of ground in damp weather, etc., etc. And, 

 during the yeaning season, the regularity and care of 

 the attendance they received did not fall far short of 

 those of a human lying-in hospital. 



These sheep, when introduced into the United 

 States, lacked at least one-fifth, and often more, of the 

 weight of the parent Spanish Merino, as it then was : 

 they were longer legged in proportion to size, slimmer, 

 finer boned, and thinner in the neck and head. At 

 every point they gave indications of a more delicate 

 organization. Their fleeces averaged from one and a 

 half to two pounds of washed wool in ewes, and from 

 two to three pounds in rams. There was sufficient 

 yolk in the fleece to give it pliancy and brilliancy, 

 but the yolk was colorless, limpid, and easily liberated 

 in washing. It never assumed a viscid, waxy con- 

 sistency, or became indurated into "gum" either 

 within or on the outer extremity of the wool, and 

 consequently having nothing on the surface to catch 

 and retain dirt, the fleece remained almost white ex- 

 ternally. 



The staple unstretched was usually from an inch to 

 2 



