EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



635 



pounds of what is known in the mark etas medium wool, commanding a, 

 good price. The fleeces lose from 25 to 40 per cent in scouring. 



Nine imported ewes, belonging to the flock of Mr. C. S. Binghain, of 

 Vernon, were sheared April 19, 1888, and gave as follows: 



In 1891 L. S. Durham, of Concord, sent to the editor of the Breeders' 

 Gazette, Chicago, specimen locks from two of his Shropshire yearlings 

 ram and ewe and reported the weight of fleeces at ISf and 15 J pounds. 

 The samples of wool were respectively 4 inches and 3J inches long, 

 were especially strong, even in fiber, and with " luster and crimp likely 

 to meet the requirements of the most exacting consumers of Down wool 

 fabrics." 



These sheep are being imported into the country by thousands, and 

 Michigan takes a good share of them. She has many enthusiastic 

 admirers of them and they are filling the rich fields with their favorite 

 sheep. It is claimed by them that the Shropshires will maintain their 

 high standard of excellence under our American skies and climate as 

 well as in England, and that " no breed yet presented to the world com- 

 bines so many good qualities and so readily adapts itself to all the 

 varied vicissitudes of mixed farming, when general adaptation to soil, 

 climate, and markets are duly considered, as does this breed." 



That they are prolific is attested by many reports. One farmer 

 reported 52 lambs from 35 ewes, many of them weighing 40 pounds at 

 G weeks old, and not one of them requiring extra nursing. Another 

 reports 64 lambs from 38 ewes, weighing from 30 to 48 pounds at 6 

 weeks old, and still another 22 lambs from 13 ewes, one of which at 6 

 months old weighed 163 pounds. 



Very few, if any, of the pure-bred Shropshires find their way to mar- 

 ket as mutton. They are too valuable for that purpose and are kept for 

 crossing on Merino ewes and other sheep to produce cross-bred lambs 

 and mutton. 



The cross of a Shropshire rani on a Merino ewe is a prolific one, and 

 produces a heavy lamb. Thirty-six lambs from 25 ewes, 29 lambs from 

 21 ewes, and many other figures in that proportion are common. Mr. 

 A. L. Eichardson, of Parma, communicated to the Sheep-Breeder and 

 Wool-Grower the weight of 3 grade lambs of this cross and their gain 

 at different periods. They were dropped after the 4th of April, 1886, 



