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26. Purchasers of our wool (and they have no interest in exaggerating 

 the yield) declare that the fleece comprising the whole of the wool (body, 

 belly, legs, head, etc.) yield, according to the year, 30 to 33 per cent, of 

 white scoured wool. This is the same proportion as when the animals 

 arrived from Spain in 1786. 



27. Very much folded animals which furnish a super-abundance of 

 wool are sometimes weakened in their constitution and appear as though 

 exhausted by this exaggerated production of wool. Our shepherd, in 

 such case, says the wool eats them la lime les mange. 



But apart from these very exceptional cases, and which never represent 

 one per cent., the folded animals are very hardy, very resistant, and are 

 capable of supporting privation. 



On the whole, they are less finely formed than sheep without folds ; 

 they are more angular, are less developed, less plump ; but when the meat 

 is no consideration these characteristics should not be considered as de- 

 fects, but the opposite. 



28. Folds on sheep imply closer, more settledVool, fibres closer to each 

 other and stronger, and indicate a more abundant fleece, notwithstanding 

 the wool is shorter. 



The fleece of folded animals covers all parts of the body more com- 

 pletely than that of subjects without folds ; it is better closed externally, 

 that is to say, it is with more difficulty penetrated by dust, seeds, etc., 

 which may annoy the animal and soil or alter the wool. 



29. Folds on Merinos are above all found about the neck, in front of 

 the shoulders; to proscribe them would, therefore, be to exclude the best 

 wool producers. 



But if the folds of the neck are too large, they present an inconven- 

 ience. With age, the skin of these folds becomes callosed. This change 

 in the nature of the skin brings about a degeneracy of the wool, which 

 then sticks to the skin (se rapproche du poil), which is an unfavorable qual- 

 ity, without, however, producing a sufficient motive for the rejection of a 

 buck having this peculiarity. These large folds on an animal are always 

 to be regretted, and, all other qualities being equal, we prefer those which 

 have only small or average-sized folds, which never cause the callosity of 

 the skin, and the sort of protuberance which is the consequence thereof. 



30. In the Merino race the buck generally weighs three when the ewe 

 weighs two. Supposing the animals charged with one year's wool, a 

 weight of 75 kilos (165 pounds) for the buck, and 50 kilos (110 pounds) 

 for the ewe, seem to me sufficient, if we have in view a flock destined to 

 live exclusively on pasture, and to be especially devoted to the production 

 of wool. 



For an arid country I would even advise confining it to 60 kilos (132 

 pounds) for the buck, and 40 kilos (88 pounds) for the ewe. 



