115 



WOOL 



The heaviest fleece on record weighed 52 pounds. It 

 represented 13 months growth and was taken from a 

 Merino lamb owned by a firm in Kansas. 



The quantity and quality of the fleece is governed by 

 the breed, the feed, the age and the conditions under which 

 the sheep is kept. We must look to breed for certain classes 

 of wool. The demand in the market changes from time to 

 time for these classes depending to a certain extent on the 

 prevailing demand for different classes of dress goods. An 

 inferior 'class of wool can be produced with any breed, if 

 the feed is not of proper quality. Some showmen make a 

 practice of shearing their sheep early so they will have a 

 longer fleece to trim. 



Dipping undoubtedly improves the quality of a fleece 

 by washing out a large per cent of the dirt. Lambs for 

 this experiment were dipped in the fall each year before 

 cold weather. 



Lambs in this experiment were between ten and one- 

 half and eleven months old when sheared. 



They were sheared two weeks before marketing and 

 the clip was shipped to the H. T. Thompson & Company 

 wool house in Chicago, graded and sold on its merits. 



Deducting the cost of shipping the following table 

 shows the average amount per head received annually for 

 each breed. 



Net Returns for Wool Per Head 



