EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVEE. 



553 



was recorded in sheep-shearing shows, county and State fairs, and 

 other exhibitions. 



At the annual Ohio shearing of 1861, figures of 6 rams and 4 ewes 

 were given: 



At the Ohio State shearing at l^Tewark, May 10 and 11, 1865, there 

 were shorn 53 rams and ewes of different ages, giving an average of 

 13-1% pounds per head. The sheep after shearing weighed about 75 

 pounds per head on an average. Thirteen of these fleeces were from 

 rams and averaged 17^^ pounds. The 40 ewe fleeces averaged 12|^ 

 pounds each. Six of the 13 rams were yearlings, whose fleeces ran 

 from 9tt to 16f| pounds each. One of these was the property of Paul 

 Gurney, of Licking County. It weighed 82J pounds and sheared 16f| 

 pounds. Eli Keller's ram Hibbard, 2 years old, weighing 111 pounds, 

 sheared 25if pounds of wool. This was a Vermont ram and had taken 

 the premium the year preceding at the Ohio State fair as the best year- 

 ling. Hamburg, a 3-year ram, weighing 144|^ pounds, gave a 28 J 

 pounds fleece. Princess, a 4-year old ewe, owned by Mr. Keller, weighed 

 65J pounds and gave a fleece weighing 14 pounds 3| ounces. 



At the Wyandot County shearing of 1865, 15 rams, whose average 

 weight per head was 102 pounds, sheared an average of 15^ pounds ot 

 wool. The heaviest fleece was 22 1\ pounds. Twenty-six ewes sheared 

 on an average lO^f pounds. The amount of wool shorn from 41 sheep 

 was 515 pounds, an average weight per head of 12-S-g pounds. 



The shearing in Columbiana County did not come up to the ordinary 

 standard of the year. There was a heavy ram fleece of 25 pounds from 

 a 4-year old ram weighing 118 pounds, but the average of 21, including 

 this ram, was but 14^% pounds. The Pittsfleld wool-growers' shearing 

 showed an average weight of carcass of 65 fine-wooled sheep, of 82J 

 pounds; average weight of fleece, 13 pounds 8f ounces; average 

 per cent of wool to carcass, 16^u . G reatest per cent, 26 1%. Shearings 

 in Morrow, Portage, Geauga, and Huron averaged about that of 

 Wyandot. 



In 1865 the Ohio State Board of Agriculture offered premiums " for 



