WOOL STUDIES 



317 



that sheep will thrive better and make larger gains if they are shorn 

 before hot weather comes in the spring. Table III furnishes evi- 

 dence to substantiate this opinion. 



TABLE III INFLUENCE OF TIME OF SHEARING ON RATE OF GAIN 



*One sheep died April 22, 1912; weight 60 pounds. 



7 Weighed soon after shearing. 



^Weighed with the wool on. 



llncludes weight of wool removed June 1. 



Table III shows the total and average gains made by the early 

 shorn and -and by the late shorn sheep for the two periods, April 15, 

 1912 to April 21, 1913, inclusive, and April 22 to June 6, 1913, inclu- 

 sive. These are the only periods for which it is possible to compare 

 the gains owing to the fact that during the year 1911-12, two sheep 

 died, and it was not possible to secure their weights at the time of 

 death. Lots 1 and 2 were shorn on April 13, 1913, but they were 

 not weighed until April 22. With the exception of the 9 days from 

 April 14 to April 22, inclusive, Table III shows the gain made by 

 Lots 1 and 2 during the year intervening between the time they 

 were shorn in 1912 and the time they were shorn in 1913, but it 

 does not show the gain made by Lots 3 and 4 between shearings in 

 1912 and 1913. It doubtless would be more desirable to show the 

 gain made between shearings each year for the late shorn as well as 

 for the early shorn sheep. In this case, however, such a comparison 

 would be decidedly unfair to the early shorn sheep, because the 

 sheep were all fed heavily between March 10 and June 7, 1913, to 

 get them fat for market, and this period of heavy feeding consti- 

 tutes a much greater percent of the period between shearings in 

 case of the late shorn sheep than it constitutes of the corresponding 

 period for the early shorn sheep. 



Table III shows that between April 15, 1912, and April 22, 1913, 

 the sheep shorn April 12 made an average gain of 4.48 pounds, while 

 the average gain made by the sheep shorn June 1 was 1.73 pounds. 

 Between April 22 and June 7, 1913, the early shorn sheep made an 

 average gain of 14.48 pounds as compared with an average gain of 

 13.27 pounds made by the late shorn sheep. Beginning about 



