314 SHEEP INDUSTRY OP THE UNITED STATES 



There lias been and is yet mucli criticism directed against the Ver- 

 mont Merino, or rather against the system of breeding, on account of 

 the oil in the fleece and the folds or wrinkles in the skin. Vermont 

 breeders are ready to answer such criticism by asserting their belief 

 that a profitable fleece can not be raised without a large amount of oil, 

 and that folds are indications of heavy fleeces. The per cent of oil, 

 however, is no greater than it was years ago, and no breeder has ever 

 been able to produce a heavy cleansed fleece without it. It promotes 

 the growth of wool, and those who have tried to dispense with or 

 materially reduce it have met with a serious loss of wool and a deteri- 

 oration of strength, fineness, and evenness of fleece. A deficiency of 

 oil causes the staple to be dry, harsh, and weak, and the tendency will 

 be to gradually become thin and coarse. Breeders who have attempted 

 to breed smooth sheep with wool free from oil have not only failed in 

 weight of fleece, but have also failed in quantity and quality of cleansed 

 wool. Wool owes much of its softness and brilliancy to the presence 

 of a sufficiency of oil. 



Albert Chapman, the secretary of the Vermont Association, contrib- 

 uted to the National Live Stock Journal a defense of the oil in the 

 -fleece, asserting that, while it is not desirable to run a flock too 

 much to oil at the expense of the amount of cleansed wool, but given the 

 large amount of cleansed wool already attained, it is very important 

 that stock rams should be quite oily, even though their extra heavy 

 fleeces should not represent a corresponding amount of scoured wool. 

 It is a well-recognized fact with those breeders who have attracted the 

 widest notice by the improvement accomplished in their flocks, that 

 rams with dry, bulky fleeces are rarely good, even stock- getters, though 

 their fleeces may shrink but little in the scouring tub; that those 

 with a larger amount of oil will, as a rule, give us more even, excellent 

 stock than those of the other class. This oil is characteristic of the 

 breed of Merino sheep, and is of great value to preserve the health 

 and strength of fiber while the fleece is growing. Though it may 

 cause a greater loss in the scouring tub, when properly cleansed the 

 wool is stronger and more valuable than the product from drier and 

 lighter fleeces. A very important fact, which should not be lost sight 

 of when considering this subject, is that the larger number of flocks, 

 especially where the largest flocks of sheep are kept, are very deficient 

 in the proper and desirable amount of oil to best preserve the health 

 and strength of fiber, and if a few flocks possess an amount in excess 

 of the most desirable quantity, stock from them is needed and should 

 be in demand to impart a portion of that excess to those that are de- 

 ficient. 



Mr. Chapman closes his defense of the oil in these words : 



If those who fear we are breeding too much grease in the fleeces of our full-blood 

 Merinos will take the trouble to investigate the effects of the cross of these very oily 

 rams upon the flocks of dry -fleeced sheep in all parts of our country, especially on 



