SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 269 



of the case which has induced both the Spanish and French breeders to 

 cultivate them — the latter to a monstrosity. I confess that I agree, to a 

 considerable extent, with Mr. Joshua Kirby Trimmer,* that " this idea is 

 as wild as that which some of our theorists have entertained, that, by lay- 

 ing lands in high ridges and low furrows, the surface of the earth and its 

 produce is increased." Though I once entertained a different opinion, the 

 steel-yai'ds have satisfied me that an exceedingly wrinkled neck does not 

 add but a little to the weight of the fleece — not enough to compensate for 

 the deformity, and the great impediment which it places in the way of the 

 shearer. I have owned rams, the labor of shearing six of which, in a nice 

 and workmanlike manner — cutting the wool off" short and smooth, on and 

 among the multitude of folds and wrinkles — was fully equivalent to shear- 

 ing fifteen ordinary Merino rams, or twenty-five ewes — that is to say, a 

 day's work for one man. And none but a skillful shearer could, with any 

 time given him, clip the wool short and smooth among the wrinkles, with- 

 out frequently and severely cutting the skin. A smoothly drawn skin, and 

 absence of all dewlap, on the other hand, would not, perhaps, be desirable. 



The Avool of the Merino should densely cover the whole body, where it 

 can possibly grow, from a point between and a little below the eyes, and 

 well up on the cheeks, to the knees and hocks. Short wool may show, 

 particularly in young animals, on the legs, even below the knees and 

 hocks — but long wool covering the legs, and on the nose below the 

 eyes, is unsightly — without value — and on the faces it frequently impedes 

 the sight of the animal, causing it to be in a state of perpetual alarm, 

 and disqualifying it to escape i"eal danger. Neither is this useless wool, 

 as seems to be thought by some, the slightest indication of a heavy fleece. 

 I have as often seen it on Saxons scarcely shearing 2 lbs. of wool, and on 

 the very lightest fleeced Merinos. 



The amount of gum which the wool should exhibit, is another of the 

 mooted points. Here, as in many other particulars, experience has 

 changed my earlier impressions. Pderino wool should be yolky or " oily," 

 pi-ior to washing — though not to that extreme extent, giving it the ap- 

 pearance of being saturated with grease, occasionally witnessed. The 

 extreme tips of the wool may exhibit a sufficient trace of gum to give the 

 fleece a darkish cast — particularly in the ram — but a black, pitchy gum, 

 resembling semi-hardened tar, extending an eighth or a quarter of an inch 

 into the fleece, and which cannot he removed in ordinary washing, is, in my 

 opinion, decidedly objectionable. There is a white or yellowish concrete 

 gum, not removable by common washing, which appears in the interior of 

 some fleeces, which is equally objectionable. 



The weight of fleece remaining the same, medium length of staple, with 

 compactness, is preferable to long, open wool, inasmuch as it constitutes 

 a better safeguard from inclemencies of weather, and better jn-otects the 

 sheep from the bad effects of cold and drenching rains in spring and fall. 

 The wool should be as nearly as possible of even length and thickness 

 over the whole body. Shortness on the flank, and shortness or thinness 

 on the belly, are serious defects. 



" Evenness of fleece " is a point of the first importance. Many sheep 

 exhibit good wool on the shoidder an*d side, while it is far coarser and 

 even hairy on the thighs, dewlap, &zc. Rams of this stamp should not be 

 bred from by any one aiming to establish a su)>erior finc-wooled flock, and 

 all such ewes should be gradually excluded from those selected for 

 breeding. 



The "style of the wool" is a point of as much consequence as mere 



'■' "PracticHl Observations on the Improvement of British Fine Wools, &c." by the above, 1828. 

 (557) 



