EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



647 



In 1875 9 ram fleeces sheared at the Wisconsin State Fair were 

 scoured. The result is given in this table : 



At a sheep-shearing at Winuebago, in 1878, 13 rams yielded 282J 

 pounds of wool, an average of 21^- pounds each. The four heaviest 

 fleeces, with the live weight of the rams, were : 



At the annual shearing in 1880 7 ram fleeces exceeded 20 pounds, as 

 follows: 20i| pounds, 20} f pounds, 21-}i pounds, 22-& pounds, 22^ 

 pounds, 24 pounds, and 24J pounds, while 12 1 and 2 year old ewes 

 gave an average of 12|f pounds, the heaviest fleece being 17^ pounds. 



In 1881 the heaviest fleece was 26 pounds from a 2-year-old ram. 

 Yearling rams averaged 11^ pounds each. The weight of carcass and 

 fleece and the proportion of fleece to carcass for a part of the shearing 

 of 1881 are given in the following table : 



The tariff of 1867 was looked upon by the Wisconsin wool-growers and 

 sheep breeders as an equitable adjustment between the wool-growers and 

 manufacturers on the one hand and the Government on the other. Its 

 revision by the act of 1883 was considered as deeply prejudicial to their 

 interests, so much so as to threaten seriously the permanence of the wool- 



