618 



SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



Wool-growing greatly revived ia 1862 and 1863; Merinos in great 

 numbers were brought in from Vermont, and in 1865 there was a perfect 

 mania for publishing records of heavy shearings. 



At a shearing in Macomb County in 1865 a 3-year-old ram recorded 

 19J pounds, a 2-year-old 16| pounds, and a 1-year-old 12J pounds. At 

 JonesvUle prizes were given for the three heaviest ram fleeces and tlie 

 two heaviest ewe fleeces in proportion to weight of carcass. A 5-year 

 ram, whose gross weight was 116 pounds, gave 18^ pounds of wool 

 and took first prize. A 2-year-old ram, weighing 106 pounds, gave 16f 

 pounds of wool and took second prize, while ll-i% pounds of wool on a 

 yearling ram of 85 pounds took third prize. A 3-year-old ewe, weigh- 

 ing 87 pounds, gave ll^g- pounds of wool, and a yearling, weighing 47 

 pounds, gave 8-i\ pounds. 



Heavy fleeces are not an invariable indication of much wool. Ohio, 

 New York, and Michigan this year made a test of the shrinkage of wool 

 by scouring. In Michigan it was made at Jonesville, with the following 

 result : 



Sex. 



Loss. 



Kam 



Do 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 



Ewe 



Do 

 Do 



'• cent. 

 58.8 

 58.8 

 60.9 

 72.8 

 59.3 

 61.6 

 60.1 

 58.4 

 63.3 

 61.1 



This shows an average weight of unwashed fleeces of 12.40, cleaning 

 4.70 pounds of wool, or a loss of 61.5. New York showed the average 

 of 14 unwashed fleeces to be 12.63, cleaning 4.61 pounds, or a shrink- 

 age of 62.7. Seventeen Ohio unwashed fleeces showed an average of 

 16.89 each, which when cleaned weighed 5.61, or a loss of 65.5 per cent. 

 Michigan: Ten fleeces, 12.40; cleaned, 4.70; loss, 61.5 jier cent. New 

 York: Fourteen fleeces, 12.63; cleaned, 4.61; loss, 62.7 per cent. Ohio: 

 Seventeen fleeces, 16.89 ; cleaned, 5.61 ; loss, 65.5 per cent. 



There was now a demand for long wool and a consequent change to 

 coarse and long wooled sheep. Speculators introduced into almost 

 every part of the State coarse- wooled sheep of every grade and of all 

 kinds, mostly from Canada, and sold them for Leicesters, Ootswolds, 

 Southdowns, or any other breed, and in fact Ihey were a mixture of all. 

 These were crossed indiscriminately with each other and with the 

 Merinos. A few years' experience demonstrated the mistake that had 

 been made, and the mixed coarse-wools were generally disposed of as 

 well as possible, and the Merinos were again in demand. Large num- 

 bers of these coarse-wooled sheep, from 1868 to 1870, were slaughtered 

 and disposed of for their pelts alone, which was considered by many 



