WOOL STUDIES 321 



The data presented in Table V offer but little encouragement 

 for the wool grower to wash sheep before shearing. By means of 

 the scale of prices given in this table the grower is able to tell pretty 

 closely whether the premium offered for wool is sufficient to repay 

 him for the loss in weight due to washing. The figures given in 

 Table V make no allowance for the cost of washing. One thing that 

 should be kept in mind is that the sheep used in this experiment 

 carried denser and more oily fleeces than are carried by the average 

 sheep of the State; consequently the washed wool shrank more in 

 scouring. This results in a smaller "spread" in the prices for 

 washed and for unwashed wool than would be expected in the case 

 of more open-wooled sheep. On this account Table V shows approx- 

 imately the minimum premium for washed wool which the grower 

 can afford to receive and secure the same for his wool, on a scoured 

 wool basis, as he would secure if the wool is not washed, when no 

 allowance is made for the cost of washing. 



In sections of the State where sheep are washed, they are 

 usually washed and shorn in May or early June ; consequently that 

 irt of Table V which deals with the sheep washed in June is per- 

 taps the more nearly applicable to the sheep-washing proposition in 

 )hio. It may be seen from these figures that when a wool grower 

 reives 20 or 33 cents per pound for unwashed Merino wool, he 

 tould receive 23.45 or 38.70 cents per pound, respectively, for the 

 same wool if he washes it. These differences allow nothing for the 

 cost of washing. A comparison of these figures with actual market 

 prices reveals the fact that the relationship between the prices of 

 washed and unwashed wool shown in Table V is very close to that 

 which actually exists. At the present time (January 6, 1916) un- 

 washed Delaine wool is quoted in Boston at 30 cents per pound while 

 washed Delaine wool is quoted at 35 cents per pound. These figures 

 indicate that the man who washes his sheep usually does not receive 

 a price for his wool which is sufficient to pay him for washing, a 

 task which is not only difficult and unpleasant, but which carries 

 more or less danger both to the flock and to the owner. 



Table IV shows that when the sheep were washed and shorn 

 about April 12 there was not as great a loss from washing as re- 

 sulted when the sheep were washed and shorn about June 1 ; con- 

 sequently a smaller difference in price in the grease is necessary 

 to keep the price of washed and unwashed wool on a par, on a 

 scoured wool basis. This is illustrated in Table V. This fact can- 

 not be used as an argument in favor of washing sheep at such times 

 of the year or in such manner as will result in the wool being poorly 



