308 SHJEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



land. The animal whicli produced the greatest weight of fleece in pro- 

 portion to weight of carcass belonged to Mr. A. E. Smith, of Clarendon — 

 live weight, 63^ pounds; fleece, 14 J- pounds. Next came Matchless — 

 live weight, 76 pounds; fleece, 15f pounds. On the same day there 

 was a shearing at Shelburne, at which prizes were awarded for the best 

 fleeces, and 16 sheep were sheared whose average weight of fleece was 

 13 pounds 8 ounces. The lightest fleece of the 16 weighed 7 pounds 14 

 ounces, from an animal which weighed 58 pounds, while the largest 

 fleece weighed 20 pounds 10 ounces, from an animal whose weight was 

 120 pounds 3 ounces. One weighing 91 pounds yielded a fleece of 15 

 pounds 12 ounces, and another a fleece of 10 pounds 15 ounces from a 

 carcass which weighed only 56 pounds. Still another carcass, weighing 

 only 63 pounds, yielded 16 jtounds 12 ounces of wool. O. C. Burton, of 

 Windham, sheared a fleece of thirteen mouths' growth that weighed 25 

 poands 2 ounces from a ram four years old that weighed 133 pounds 

 after being shorn. Y. M. Hubbard, Rochester, sheared his ram Eomeo 

 of 21 J pounds of wool, the growth of one year lacking seven days, and 

 0. N. Hayward, of Bridport, sold to L. J. Wright 5 ewe tegs which 

 sheared 76J j)ounds of wool, the heaviest fleece weighing 17J pounds. 

 Charles Washburne, of Eeading, sheared 23J pounds of wool from a 

 two-year-old buck which had only ordinary keeping, and D. T. Clough, 

 of Thetford, sheared from a two-year-old buck 21 pounds of wool; the 

 buck after shearing weighed 93 pounds. W. B. Denio, of East Rupert, 

 from a ewe 22J months old, sheared a fleece the growth of llj months 

 which weighed 18 pounds, and she had a lamb by her side. Her first 

 fleece was 12 J pounds. At Springfield there were sheared 3 rams and 

 3 ewes with these results : 



One two-year- old ram; weight, 116 pounds; fleece, 17 pounds 8 ounces; 

 cleaned, 7 pounds 8 ounces. 



One two-year-old ram; weight, 120 J pounds; fleece, 18 pounds 8 

 ounces ; cleaned, 6 pounds 12 ounces. 



One four-year-old ram; weight, 123 pounds; fleece, 20 pounds 8 

 ounces; cleaned, 6 i^ounds. 



The 3 ewes washed fleeces of 5 pounds 14 ounces, 5 J pounds, and 4 

 pounds 11 ounces. The average shrinkage of the ram fleeces was 67.76 

 per cent, and of the ewe fleeces 51.32. 



An advance over any previous record was made in 1868, when Stowell's 

 ram Red Leg, at two years old, sheared a fleece of 28 pounds from a 

 live weight of 110 pounds, a percentage of fleece to live weight of 25.4 

 per cent. This fleece when thoroughly scoured weighed 8 pounds IJ 

 ounces, of which 3 pounds 15 ounces was No. 1 wool. 



Passing over an extended period from 1868 to 1882, we have a 

 record, compiled for the Vermont Register, by which it appears that 36 

 rams, three years old or over, sheared 1,120 pounds, an average per 

 head of 31 pounds 1 ounce, and an average per cent to carcass on these 

 given of 25.2. The heaviest fleece weighed 37 pounds 8 ounces, from a 

 ram bred by A. E. Perkins, of Pomfret, and owned by Brown & Hilton, 



