268 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



pients, it is very possible that the per centage of the fleece may be increased. 

 Mr. Lawrence, in speaking of attaining a four-pound fleece of " exquisite" 

 quality, undoubtedly alluded to the wool which I have classed as superfine. 

 The four-pound fleeced fine Merino can undoubtedly be made superfine, 

 by diminishing the weight of its fleece 10 or 12 ounces or a pound ; 

 and even then it will be a hardier and better animal than the finer 

 class of Saxons which now produce this wool. But whether Mr. Law- 

 rence's standard can be fully attained, neither experience nor obser- 

 vation enable me to decide. If it could, and the sheep be equal to the 

 four-pound j/?«e-fleeced Merino in other respects, we should have n. j^erfect 

 sheep. Such wool has sold this year at upward of 60 cents per pound, 

 which would bring the fleeces to S2 40 a piece ! It may be well here to 

 glance at the comparative worth of fleeces in the several Merino families, 

 taking this year's prices, and taking the weights which are usually found 

 accompanying the several qualities, in prime ordinary flocks. A fine fleece 

 of 4 lbs., at 50 cents,* would be worth '^2 ; good medium, weighing 4^ 

 lbs., at 40 cents, .^1 80 ; medium, weighing 5 lbs., at 32 cents, $1 60. And 

 the consumption of feed rises with the diminution of quality. Admitting 

 the daily consumption of hay for 150 days to be 3 per cent, to the live- 

 weight, 100 fine Merinos, averaging 85 lbs. each, would consume about 19 

 tons of hay ; and 100 medium Merinos, averaging 105 lbs. each, would 

 consume about 231 tons — an important difference in their relative ex- 

 penses ! The fine-wooled Merino does not, like the Saxon, lose his ad- 

 vantage in this particular by his inferior hardiness. 



The shape and general appearance of the Merino should be as follows: 

 The head should be well carried up, and in the ewe hornless. It would 

 be better on many accounts to have the ram also hornless, but, being usu- 

 ally characteristic of the Merino, many prefer to see them. The face 

 should be shortish, broad between the eyes, the nose pointed, and in the 

 CAve fine and free from wrinkles. The eye should be bright, moderately^ 

 prominent, and gentle in its expression. The neck should be straight (not 

 curving downward), short, round, stout — particularly so at its junction with 

 the shoulder, forward of the upper point of which it should not sink below 

 the level of the back. The points of the shoulder should not rise to any 

 perceptible extent above the level of the back. The back, to the hips, 

 should be straight ; the crops (that portion of the body immediately back 

 of the shoulder-blades) full ; the ribs well arched ; the body large and ca- 

 pacious ; the flank well let down ; the hind-quarters full and round — the 

 flesh meeting well down between the thighs, (or in the " twist.") The 

 bosom should be broad and full ; the legs short, well apart, and perpendic- 

 ular, {i.e., not drawn under the body toward each other when the sheep is 

 standing.) Viewed as a whole, the Merino should present the appearance 

 of a low, stout, plump, and — though differing essentially from the English 

 mutton-sheep model — a highly symmetrical sheep. 



The skin is an important point. It should be loose, singularly mellow, 

 of a rich, delicate pink color. A colorless skin, or one of a tawny, ap- 

 proaching to a butternut hue, indicates bad breeding. On the subject of 

 wrinkles, there is a difference of opinion. Being rather characteristic of 

 the Merino — like the black color in a Bei'kshire hog, or the absence of all 

 color in Durham cattle — these wrinkles have been more regarded, by nov- 

 ices, than those points which give actual value to the animal ; and shrewd 

 breeders have not been slow to act upon this hint ! Many have contended 

 that more wool can be obtained from a wrinkled skin ; and this is the view 



* This is not hxch for fine Merino wool. Thouch I sold my lot for 42 cents, I was ofl'ercd 50 cents for the 

 fleeces of nearly all my later-bred slieep, if 1 wuuld sell them scparstely. 

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