528 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATKS 



Dickinson-Merino sliccjy standard o/easceZJenec— Continued. 



Loins atrong, "wide 



Hips wide, long 



Thighs wide, thick flosh extending elose down to hoclc joints 



Limbs short, bone heavy, joints smooth .and tiat. 'LMie contour of, to showperpeniliciilarlines 

 frora elbow and stitie 'joints to center of hoofs, and from base of tail to center of a straight 

 line drawn horizontally from caps of bock joints, when standing erect on limhs 



Hoofs deep, thin white texture, tough and el.istic 



Size of full gro^i^n rams 2('ti, and ewes 3 5 J pounds 



Internal organs strong 



Mature early, 2^ years 



FLEECE. 



Smooth, even, dense, soft to the touch 



Staple y to 5 inches, fibers glossy, crimped 



Quality XX, XXX or above, tine delaine combing 



Quantity, rams, 15 to 25 pounds. Ewes, 10 to 1 5 pounds unwashed wool 



Covering entire body with even length and grade of wool except parts injuring thrift and com- 

 fort of sheep, entirely free from gum and hair 



Oil very Huid, white or nearly so, enough to preserve the wool raising to outer ends of fibers.. 



Perfection 



The Dickinson ]\Teriuo rams attain a good age and are strong, active, 

 and healthy. They shear from 15 to 26 pounds of clear, fine, oily wool, 

 with a crimp staple, and with but little or no difference of grade on the 

 roughest part of the hips. Bolivar Seventh, one of the present stock 

 rams of the McDowell flock, gave 20 pounds at his second and third 

 shearing. Wonderful, a 2-year-old ram, weighed about 200 pounds. 

 His first fleece, at fourteen months' growth, was 25 pounds; the second 

 one, of one year's growth, 26 pounds. The staple was Sg inches long, 

 with a soft, silken fiber. This length of staple was exceeded by Snow- 

 flake, another stock ram of the McDowell flock. Snowflake's staple at 

 the best growth was 5 inches long and had a beautiful crimp. 



The leading breeders of the Dickinson Merino follow the standard 

 here laid down, and are producing sheep that are growing in popular- 

 ity and commanding extensive sales not only in Ohio, but in various 

 sections of the Union. They are already a good mutton sheep, and 

 their breeders think it entirely possible to increase their mutton qual- 

 ity while increasing the yield and refining the quality of the fleece. 

 While not equaling the French Merino in size, it is claimed that these 

 sheep have better mutton qualities and better wool. They have early 

 maturity, so essential to a mutton sheep, and are free from the rank 

 smell so liable to accompany the carcass of the Spanish Merino. The 

 wool competes with any wool in the market for fine delaine purposes, 

 and generally finds ready sale. They can be raised in large flocks or 

 in small ones, and are equally adapted to range feedings or to a system 

 of mixed husbandry, and are able to maintain themselves under various 

 conditions of soil and climate. In a system of mixed agriculture such 

 as is now diffusing itself over the Avhole country, particularly east of 

 the Mississippi, these sheep will find a favored place. 



Bezaleel Wells was from Maryland, and was early employed in the 



