618 



SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



Wool-growing greatly revived in 1862 and 1863; Merinos in great 

 numbers were brought in from Vermont, and in 1865 there was a perfect 

 mania for publishing records of heavy shearings. 



At a shearing in Macomb County in 1865 a 3-year-old ram recorded 

 19J pounds, a 2-year-old 16J pounds, and a 1-year-old 12 pounds. At 

 Jonesville prizes were given for the three heaviest ram fleeces and the 

 two heaviest ewe fleeces in proportion to weight of carcass. A 5-year 

 ram, whose gross weight was 116 pounds, gave 18J pounds of wool 

 and took first prize. A 2-year-old ram, weighing 106 pounds, gave 16| 

 pounds of wool and took second prize, while 11^ pounds of wool on a 

 yearling ram of 85 pounds took third prize. A 3-year-old ewe, weigh- 

 ing 87 pounds, gave 11^- pounds of wool, and a yearling, weighing 47 

 pounds, gave 8^ pounds. 



Heavy fleeces are not an invariable indication of much wool. Ohio, 

 New York, and Michigan this year made a test of the shrinkage of wool 

 by scouring. In Michigan it was made at Jonesville, with the following 

 result : 



This shows an average weight of unwashed fleeces of 12.40, cleaning 

 4.70 pounds of wool, or a loss of 61.5. New York showed the average 

 of 14 unwashed fleeces to be 12.63, cleaning 4.61 pounds, or a shrink- 

 age of 62.7. Seventeen Ohio unwashed fleeces showed an average of 

 16.89 each, which when cleaned weighed 5.61, or a loss of 65.5 per cent. 

 Michigan: Ten fleeces, 12.40; cleaned, 4.70; loss, 61.5 per cent. New 

 York: Fourteen fleeces, 12.63; cleaned, 4.61 ; loss, 62.7 per cent. Ohio: 

 Seventeen fleeces, 16.89-, cleaned, 5.61; loss, 65.5 per cent. 



There was now a demand for long wool and a consequent change to 

 coarse and long wooled sheep. Speculators introduced into almost 

 every part of the State coarse-wooled sheep of every grade and of all 

 kinds, mostly from Canada, and sold them for Leicesters, Cotswolds, 

 Southdowns, or any other breed, and in fact they were a mixture of all. 

 These were crossed indiscriminately with each other and with the 

 Merinos. A few years' experience demonstrated the mistake that had 

 been made, and the mixed coarse-wools were generally disposed of as 

 well as possible, and the Merinos were again in demand. Large num- 

 bers of these coarse-wooled sheep, from 1868 to 1870, were slaughtered 

 and disposed of for their pelts alone, which was considered by many 



