THE RAMBOUILLET 527 



The Rambouillet as a mutton producer ranks very well, though 

 inferior to the mutton breeds. It will mature fairly rapidly and 

 will produce a class of mutton which will sell well, though it is 

 not of the highest quality. This is the only class of Merinos 

 offered a place for exhibition at the International Live-Stock 

 Exposition, a testimonial to the mutton value of the wethers. 

 In the Iowa experiments on fattening wether lambs, in the one 

 trial reported, the Rambouillet made an average daily gain of 

 .37 pound, requiring 1029 pounds dry matter for 100 pounds gain. 



Fig. 236. Nine Rambouillet ewes in the flock of Illinois University. Notice the 

 uniformity of type. From photograph, by courtesy of Professor W. C. Coffey 



In the carcass test the Rambouillet dressed out 49.57 per cent, 

 the poorest of ten breeds, compared with 55.26 for the South- 

 down, and was priced at ;^5 per hundred live weight compared 

 with $5.75 for the Southdown. 



The Rambouillet as a wool producer is regarded with favor. 

 In 1838, on the farm at Rambouillet, 40 rams yielded an average 

 fleece of 10 pounds 4 ounces, and 201 ewes and 85 lambs an 

 average of 7 pounds. The years 1847, 1869, and 1877 saw a 

 gradual improvement in weight and quality of fleece, the latter 

 year 15 adult rams averaging 16 pounds 9.3 ounces weight of 

 fleece, and 521 ewes of various ages 10 pounds 3.1 ounces. 

 At the present time it is doubtful if the average ram will shear 

 over 15 pounds and the average ewe over 10 pounds, but this, 

 of course, does not apply to flocks as carefully bred as that at 

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