VARIETIES OF SHEEP AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS. 



1037 



Meanwhile, attention was also being paid to the "evenness" of the crop, 

 for Nature had no use for wool of equal fineness on every part of the sheep. 

 The skill of the breeder, however, managed to coax Nature into producing 

 an even fleece, and the development of the most perfect fine-wool sheep in 

 the world was complete. 



XXIV. The Wool Harvest. 



It would have been possible to develop a few ideal sheep in special stud 

 flocks, without having brought the general flocks of the country up to a 

 high standard, but there has been a remarkable all-round improvement. 

 Before sheep-classing, selection, and culling became general, the average 



TYPE OF SPANISH MERINO P.AM IMPORTED TO AUSTRALIA IN 1823. 



yield of wool was not more than three pounds or three and a half pounds 

 per head, but the return has been gradually increased to a general average 

 of about seven pounds per sheep. Last year the clip of Australia and Nevv 

 Zealand, according to Dalgety's review of wool, averaged seven pounds four 

 ounces per head, and its average value per head of sheep and lambs was 5.s. 

 lOc?. ($1.40). Another indication of the increasing size of the fleeces is the 

 average number of fleeces per bale of wool. The returns bearing upon this 

 point show a marked enlargement of the fleece even within the last ten 

 years. The number of fleeces of sheep's and lamb's wool averaged 59.65, 

 60.08, and 59.62 for the years 1897, 1898, and 1899, as compared with 

 51.72, 47.79, and 46.49 for the years 1908, 1909, and 1910 ; while improve- 

 ment in the same direction is indicated by the increased number of bales 

 required on the average to contain the fleeces of 1000 sheep. For the 



