THE COTSWOLD 635 



and pliability, which qualify it to be spun to its extreme length. 

 Many flocks yield an average weight of fleece of over 10 pounds 

 unwashed. George S. Baber of Kentucky for years kept about forty 

 breeding ewes whidi averaged 10 pounds of wool, and C. L. Day 

 of Wisconsin had a large flock where the fleeces averaged about 

 1 1 pounds. Wrightson says that in " crack " flocks the fleeces may 

 average 9! pounds, and many fleeces have been shorn weighing 

 close to 14 pounds, but the latter weight is exceptional. 



The distribution of the Cotswold has been rather widespread in 

 the past. It has seemed especially adapted to Gloucestershire and 

 adjoining English counties, and while flocks are found elsewhere 

 the breed is not common. It has been exported to France, Ger- 

 many, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United 

 States. In 1908 about 2000 pure-bred Cotswolds were recorded 

 in Canada. In the United States the breed has had a wide dis- 

 tribution. Late in the nineteenth century the Cotswold was a 

 prominent breed in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, but to-day these 

 states have but comparatively few. The leading demand has been 

 from the Far West, and superior flocks are owned in Oregon, 

 Washington, and Utah. The climatic conditions of the Willamette 

 valley in Oregon seem especially suited to the Cotswold, where it 

 is most successfully bred. 



Prices paid for Cotswolds hold very good, and some high values 

 have been reached in recent years. At the ram sale at Salt Lake 

 City in 1917 Mr. Frank Harding of Wisconsin sold to J. R. Allen 

 of Utah I ram for $1000, another for $750, and 21 rams 

 consigned by Mr. Harding averaged $215 each, while 149 stud 

 and range rams averaged $81.60 each. Five rams consigned by 

 J. H. Patrick of Canada averaged $182 each. At the 1918 Salt 

 Lake sale 2 rams brought $400 each, and 62 head brought from 

 $ i oo to $ 300 each. One lot of 1 7 3 rams consigned by A . J . Knollin 

 of Idaho averaged $25 per head. 



The promotion of Cotswold sheep is conducted in England by 

 the Cotswold Sheep Society, organized in 1892, and in America 

 by the American Cotswold Sheep Association, organized in 1878. 

 The English society up to 1916 had published sixteen flock books 

 and registered a large number of sheep. The American associa- 

 tion has published nineteen volumes up to 1919. 



