Fitting Sheep for the Show Ring. 183 



too long fleeces do not do nearly as well as those 

 that have shorter fleeces. 



The old fashion of "stubble" shearing, which 

 means taking only part of the wool off the sheep, 

 should not be reverted to at all, because all expe- 

 rienced shepherds have found this to be a bad 

 practice. Do not shear too early if a nice, thrifty- 

 looking fleece is expected on a show sheep. The 

 fine wool breeders are in the habit of shearing 

 their Merinos in late fall and early winter. Al- 

 though this breed of sheep does not show the effect 

 of too early shearing quite as much as the middle 

 and long wools do, nevertheless we occasionally 

 meet some flocks of Merinos in the show ring 

 whose fleeces are not in the proper "bloom," due 

 to too early shearing. 



PROPER TIME TO START FITTING. 



The time to start fitting sheep intended for 

 breeding classes depends upon the time they are 

 to be shown. Two months to ten weeks brings 

 sheep into good shape for these classes. However, 

 the fitter must use his own judgment to know 

 when they are in best condition to suit the judge. 

 In other words, he must be a good judge of sheep 

 himself. In the case of older sheep this may easily 

 be decided by careful examination as to the condi- 

 tion the sheep are in. Lambs need fitting from the 

 time of their birth. 



