SHEEP UNITED STATES, NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. 21 



Leicester and Merino are two breeds less mixed in their earlier ances- 

 tries and bred for their particular improved qualities for a longer 

 time than any other breeds of sheep. Flocks containing all three 

 lines of mood compare favorably with those containing only two, 

 though breeders whose sheep have none of the Leicester blood claim 

 heavier shearing qualities and greater vitality, to which latter claim 

 objections are not wanting. 



Even among New Zealand breeders of Corriedales there is strong 

 preference for the " stronger " wools, the reason assigned being 

 practically the same as those quoted from Australian Merino breeders 

 in an earlier part of this report. 



The character of country upon which the Corriedale is bred in New 

 Zealand varies from level and fairly rich artificial grass pastures to 

 rough hills with altitudes around 3,000 feet, on which snow some- 

 times lies for several months at a time. At its worst the feed is 

 better than that produced on many of the dry-range areas of the 

 United States. The breed's greatest promise of usefulness in this 

 country is for those localities which need and which can support 

 sheep of more carcass development than the Merino has, and in 

 which the wool is to be relied upon for at least one-half of the flock 

 income. Owing to the paddock system of grazing sheep in New 

 Zealand, selection has not regarded the herding instinct that ordi- 

 narily shows in sheep having one-half Merino blood. The experi- 

 ments which the Bureau of Animal Industry will conduct with this 

 breed will be designed to test the herding instinct of the breed, its 

 ability to thrive on various types of western ranges, and the extent 

 to which it can impress its features upon the sheep bred in the 

 sections where it seems desirable to raise a sheep such as the Cor- 

 riedale now is. 



SHEARING AND WOOL CLASSING. 



The practices of American and Australasian woolgrowers differ 

 more in respect to the handling of the shorn wool than in any other 

 part of their work. In the United States the wool is not infrequently 

 sold before it is shorn. Even when it is to be sold after shearing 

 the sheep are not sorted for shearing and the entire fleeces are sacked 

 just as they run. In disposing of the wool there is no possibility 

 of fixing a price upon the amount of each of the various classes of 

 wool in the sacks, but bargaining must be done upon the basis of 

 the clip as a whole. The clips arc usually sold to traveling repre- 

 sentatives of houses Located near the manufacturing centers. Manu- 

 facturers may send their bikers to buy direct from the woolgrowers, 

 but most of the concerns buying in the field assemble numerous clips 

 and sell to mills in large; lots from their warehouses. While, in (he 

 dealers' hands many, and in some years most, of the clips are opened 



