^lteW ENGLAND FARMER. 



51 



of a buck would be my type of a ewe with such 

 deviations as are characteristic of the sex. 



The fleece of a buck should have an abundant 

 sapply of clear, thin oil, flowing to the end of the 

 staple, which by the adherence of dust and smut, 

 give the extremities of the wool a dark appear- 

 ance, and what the Spaniards term the "noble 

 color." A merino buck's fleece that is well supplied 

 with oil will shrink in cleansing after a common 

 cold water wash from 45 to 50 per cent. , but by a 

 thorough washing, from 40 to 45 per cent. This 

 shrinkage may seem large to many, but it should 

 be kept in mind that a buck's tleece will shrink about 

 one-third more than a ewe's of the same blood, and 

 the ewe descendants of a buck that shrunk less than 

 this, would not be likely to have a sufficent quantity 

 of oil to preserve the wool from "dead ends,"' and 

 produce the most perfect and valuable fleece. 



Wool-buyers frequently make a good deal of 

 noise about tlie oil and gum in merino wool; some 

 of them speak of it as a useless ingredient which 

 can be dispensed with at pleasure; still a good sup- 

 ply of oil of the right kind is more highly appreci- 

 ated by intelligent and well informed wool-growers 

 now, than formerlly. Experience having proved 

 that it is just as natural to merino sheep as fine wool, 

 and cannot be bred out without impairing the value 

 of the fleece, bodily health of the sheep, and profits 

 of the wool-grower, as it protects the sheep and 

 fleece against the injurious effects of the weather, 

 promotes the growth and gives increased strength, 

 elasticity, softness and lustre to the wool; and in- 

 asmuch as it adds to the bodily warmth of sheep in 

 cold weather, they will consume less food. There 

 is a kind of gum of a thick yellow nature, which is 

 very objectionable. This does not circulate freely 

 to the ends of the wool, but maybe seen within ti:e 

 fleece in small adhesive particles, somewhat resem- 

 bling "ear-wax." Such fleeces frequently have a 

 whitish surface, with "dead ends," and are harder 

 to wash, and will skrink more in cleansing than 

 any others. Indeed, gum cannot be washed out by 

 a common brook washing. This sort of gum is 

 never found in the best wooled merinos when in a 

 healthy state, and its presence in the fleece oi 

 a healthy sheep may be taken as proof of impure 

 blood. 



I believe the prejudice of some manufacturers and 

 wool-buyers against oily sheep, has been mainly 

 caused by this last named gum, and having out 

 sheep imperfectly washed, and letting them carry 

 their fleeces too long after washing. Sheep whose 

 fleeces abound in oil or gum, should be soaked and 

 let out into a close yard, and allowed to get up a 

 .steam before taken in to wash, and then shear them 

 as soon as the fleece becomes thoroughly dry and a 

 little moist with oil. When fleeces that abound in 

 oil, and do not have this objectionable gum, are 

 treated in this way, they will shrink but a trifle 

 more than the fleeces of sheep quite destitute of oil, 

 and they are easier manufactured and have no waste 

 of "dead ends," — besides making a more beautiful 

 and durable fabric. 



People in judging of the comparative merits of 

 sheep are not apt to take the size into right consid- 

 eration. Many, I presume, would prefer a large 

 sheep to a small one, even if it did not produce 

 quite as much wool, but it should be borne in mind 

 that as a general rule, animals of the same species 

 after coming to maturity, consume food in pro- 

 portion to their size; from this it would follow, thai 



other things being equal, those sheep are the most 

 valuable lor the production of wool that yields the 

 largest amount oi' clean st el wool in the ratio of their 

 size. Still V hen other things are nearly balanced 

 I should choose a good sized sheep to a small one. 

 as they are more pleasing to our taste, and gener- 

 ally possess stronger constitutions, and are better 

 breeders; besides they will make us less labor and 

 trouble in proportion to their income. 



I believe the growing of fine wool will eventual- 

 ly be the most profitable to the New England wool- 

 grower; that is, as fine as practicable and obtain a 

 lieavy fleece and sheep with a strong constit\ition. 

 There is not much difliculty in producing fleeces 

 that will average 4 lbs. of clear washed wool, which 

 would be classed by a wool-sorter as "Fine" and 

 "No. 1." Mv entire flock of breeding ewes and 

 lambs averaged at the last shearing 4 lbs. 2 ounces, 

 and with the exception of a few fleeces for domestic 

 use, were carried to the wool depot, and out of 

 about 330 fleecies, there were but two of "No. 2," 

 the remainder going into the three higher qualitie!^ 

 which sold for 41 1-2, 43 1-4, and 46 cents per 

 pound. One reason why the growing of fine wool 

 will be the most profitable to Eastern wool-growers, 

 is the increase of competition from the West on 

 wool of a coarse and medium quality. The cheap- 

 ness and richness of the Western lands and length 

 of time of foddering are such that wool of an ordi- 

 nary and medium quality can be grown there at a 

 much less cost than in the Eastern States, but 1 do 

 not think the Western wool-growers can success- 

 fully compete with us on fine wool. The farmer? 

 at the West, taken as a whole, have not the requi- 

 site practical knowledge in sheep husbandry, and 

 fixtures so essential for the production of truly fine 

 wool; and provided they had all this, the surface 

 of the land, soil and climate are all against the 

 growth of fine wool, and must more than balan«> 

 the skill of the wool-grower in breeding to keep up 

 a good degree of fineness. I believe the prospects 

 of receiving remunerating prices for fine wool are 

 more promising than they have been for many years. 

 The want of an cfl^icient tariff and political revolu- 

 tions in several wuol-growing and manufacturing 

 countries have thrown a large quantity oi" fine cloths 

 into our markets for a few years past, which have 

 operated to keep down the price of fine wool; but the 

 natural inference is, and it is so represented, that 

 those political disturbances have broken up someol 

 the most valuable flocks in those conntries and 

 stopped and impeded many of their manufiictories, 

 so that It must now be some little time before they 

 can raise the material and manufacture their usual 

 quantity of cloths. 



I think it would much accelerate the improve- 

 ment of our flocks, if there could be more of a mu- 

 tual interest and understandijig between wool-grow- 

 ers and manufacturers as to what constitutes the 

 most valuable and desirable sheep for the produc- 

 tion of wool. Many wool-growers arc ignorant of 

 the properties that a fleece should possess to render 

 it the most acceptable to the manufacturer, and 

 many of the latter have a very imperfect knowl- 

 edge of the character and traits a sheep should have 

 for the successful growth of a fleece which would 

 meet their approbation, and throvigh ignorance or 

 selfishness the manufacturers have influenced some 

 wool-growers in the choice and breeding of sheep 

 very much to the disadvantage of the latter; and 

 were the advice of some of the manufacturers heeded 



