322 OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 294 



washed, with the intention of selling the wool at prices which are 

 paid for wool that is properly washed. It should always be kept 

 in mind that dealers and manufacturers know more than does the 

 grower about the value of wools; and, if such practices as have just 

 been described are followed generally enough to increase the aver- 

 age amount of shrinkage of washed wool, it is almost certain that 

 manufacturers will lower the price so that it will be in keeping with 

 the true value of the wool. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Effect of washing. Washed sheep produced 1.49 pounds less 

 grease wool per head when shorn April 12, and 2.64 pounds less per 

 head when shorn June 1, than did unwashed sheep shorn on the 

 same dates. Washing the sheep had practically no effect on the 

 amount of scoured wool produced or on the rate of gain made by the 

 sheep. 



Wool shorn June 1, both washed and unwashed, shrank more 

 in scouring than did wool shorn April 12. 



The data yielded by this experiment indicate that, in many 

 cases at least, not sufficient premium is paid for washed wool to 

 cover the cost of washing and for the loss in weight of the wool. 



Since washing sheep does not improve the quality of the wool 

 fiber and does not diminish the cost of scouring, the practice is not 

 beneficial to the manufacturer. 



Early vs. late shearing. Washed sheep shorn April 12 pro- 

 duced more grease wool than did washed sheep shorn June 1, while 

 unwashed sheep shorn April 12 produced less grease wool than did 

 unwashed sheep shorn June 1. This indicates that between these 

 two dates there was an increase in weight of fleece due to the accu- 

 mulation of a greater proportion of yolk or other foreign matter in 

 the wool. Sheep shorn April 12, both washed and unwashed, pro- 

 duced slightly more scoured wool than did sheep shorn June 1. 

 Sheep shorn April 12 made slightly greater gains than did sheep 

 shorn June 1. 



