Care and Management of Sheep. 



457 



fed grain from an early age sheared about 1 lb, more of un- 

 washed but practically the same amount of washed wool as those 

 getting no grain until after they were weaned. The early feeding 

 had produced more yolk but not more wool-fiber. With starvation 

 the yield of wool is considerably diminished. The strength of the 

 wool-fiber is dependent on the breed, the quality of the sheep, and 

 the conditions under which they are reared. Badly bred and poorly 

 nourished sheep produce wool of uneven fiber, lacking strength. As 

 wool-hair is formed from the nitrogenous part of the food, the amount 

 of protein supplied sheep must not fall too low. 



743. Frequency of shearing. — Weiske and DehmeP studied the 

 influence of frequent shearing on the yield of wool. Two Rambouil- 

 let sheep were shorn every other month for a year, and 2 others 

 at the beginning and the end of the experiment, with the results 

 given in the following table: 



The sheep shorn 6 times produced less unwashed wool, but nearly 

 25 per ct. more pure wool fiber than those shorn once. 

 * Futterungslehre, 1872, p. 511. 



