THE AMERICAN MERINO 5 09 



by Thomas Millear was sold to Lord Brothers, Queensland, for 

 ^12,600, a Wanganella ram brought ^13,125, while the Bundemar 

 ram Prince Charlie, consigned by the F. E. Body estate of 

 New South Wales, was sold for ^15,120 to Maurice Collins of 

 South Australia, the highest price ever paid for a sheep up to 

 this time. Such figures dwarf into insignificance the prices paid 

 for even the better-class show sires of America. 



The distribution of the Merino has been general all over the 

 civilized world where sheep husbandry is followed at all. Australia, 

 New Zealand, Germany, and the United States are the leading 



Fig. 227. American Merino ewes on blue-grass pasture. Owned by A. T. Gamber, 

 Wakeman, Ohio. From photograph by the author 



countries breeding sheep of the American Merino type. These 

 sheep have been bred in all parts of the United States, but are 

 not so popular as they were half a century ago, now that mutton 

 is more in demand and wool has depreciated in value. Further, 

 sheep of the American 'type, with numerous folds, are objected 

 to on account of the difficulty in shearing, so that smooth-bodied 

 Merinos are more popular than the American. In other words, it 

 is not a utility sheep in the estimation of the present-day shep- 

 herd and so is steadily falling off in its clientage and importance 

 of distribution. At the present time Ohio, Vermont, New York, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin,, and Missouri are the states containing the 

 principal flocks of this class. Many Merinos have been exported 

 from Vermont and Ohio to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, 

 Tasmania, and South America. 



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