356 UNGULATA. 



Sheep fur industry, for it was no trick for us to produce 

 skins valued at from eight to twelve dollars in a raw state. 

 As good nutrition means luster and tightness of curl, still 

 better results can be obtained in the Northern and Eastern 

 States, on account of the excellent pasture and the very 

 nutritious hay that can be secured there." 



When we consider that owing to the lambs being killed 

 so soon after birth the ewes can safely be allowed to lamb 

 twice yearly ; that the dead lambs lose none of their meat 

 value, and that the skins of prematurely born lambs often 

 bring fabulous prices, it is easy to see that the profits to 

 be derived from a proper prosecution of this industry will 

 be large. 



While the best results were obtained by Dr. Young in 

 the first cross of Arabis with domestic long-wools, the 

 tight-wool strains, like Merinos, Shropshire, Ramboulets, 

 etc., have to be bred to the Arabis two or three times, be- 

 fore producing skins equal in quality to those secured 

 from the first cross with any of the different varieties of 

 our long-wool sheep. 



The great obstacle to the prosecution of this industry, 

 is the almost unsurmountable barrier placed in the way 

 of bringing live Arabi stock into this country, because of 

 the rigid quarantine the Department of Agriculture has 

 established against the entire continent of Asia, on ac- 

 count of the existence of surra in Southwest India, and the 

 Maltese fever in the Maltese Islands. 



Much that has been written about the killing of the 

 mother to secure the skin of the unborn Persian Lamb is 

 pure fiction, but it is true that in all the grades and crosses 

 of the Arabi Sheep it is necessary to kill the Lambs shortly 

 after birth, in order to prevent the curls from losing their 

 tightness and luster, and even their color. The black 

 pigment soon oxidizes and turns brown, and in 

 eight or ten months becomes grey, which is the natural 

 color of all mature fur-producing Arabi Sheep. The grey 

 wool of the mature Arabis, as well as that of all grades 

 produced from these animals is very coarse, and admir- 

 ably adapted because of its great length for the weaving 

 of rugs. Some of the most beautiful Persian and 

 Bokharan rugs are made from it. 



