198 THE AMERICAN MERINO 



Properties. Hardiness is an outstanding property of all three 

 types of the American Merino. The lambs are somewhat tender at 

 first, but after they are a few days old they are hardy and no breed 

 in America is equal to the Merino for withstanding indifferent care 

 and at the same time yielding fairly good returns. Its dense, oily 

 coat is a good protection against rain and fluctuations of tempera- 

 ture; therefore, it can stand outdoor exposure under conditions 

 wholly unsuited to a number of the mutton breeds. The Merino 

 also fares pretty well when forced to subsist on a scanty supply of 

 feed. Fine-wool breeders have observed that when their sheep are 

 given just a little more feed than is necessary for maintenance, 

 they produce finer wool than when they are liberally fed. Between 

 1820 and 1830, when the Merino breeders of Saxony received great 

 prices for their exceedingly fine wool, they resorted to light feeding 

 in order further to increase the fineness of fleece. And so accus- 

 tomed were the old Merino breeders in the United States to light 

 feeding that they vigorously contended that liberal feeding would 

 have a pronounced effect toward reducing the vitality of the flock. 



The twinning habit has not been bred into the Merinos, hence 

 their prolificacy is not marked, nor are their milking properties any 

 too well developed. At birth the lambs weigh about eight pounds. 

 They do not mature rapidly, but apparently their longevity is com- 

 pensation for their slow rate of growth. Sometimes the ewes are 

 not bred until they are well past two years old, but many a Merino 

 ewe is sound and in her prime as a breeder when eight years old. 

 Because of their slow rate of growth they do not yield their heaviest 

 weight of wool until about the third fleece, while in the mutton 

 breeds the first fleece is as heavy as any other. 



Distribution. At the present time, Ohio, Vermont, and New 

 York are the strongholds of the pure-bred flocks of American 

 Merinos. Because of the demand for mutton they are not as 

 popular as they used to be, the A-type particularly, but there is 

 fair demand for them in the regions in which they are produced and 

 in a few places in the West. Prior to the outbreak of the European 

 War in 1914 annual exportations of these sheep were made to 

 South Africa. 



The Merino breeders of the United States deserve the compli- 

 ment of having developed consummate skill in sheep breeding, but 

 they have never been closely and efficiently organized. Such men 

 as Atwood, the Hammonds and the Riches, were extremely indi- 



