662 SHEEP 



below this long outer fleece, with some sheep, is a covering of 

 short, lustrous black hair which is regarded as undesirable. The 

 fleece on the lambs at time of birth is very thick, curly, and 

 extremely lustrous, and is usually a deep black in color, although 

 shades of gray or brown occasionally occur. In the course of 

 three to nine days after birth the fleece loses its curly character 

 and gradually assumes a straight appearance. An important 

 feature of the coat on the newborn lamb is that the curls should 

 be very close together, with a minimum of open spaces between 

 them. The curls should also cover the body completely. Alexander 

 Albright, a Texas breeder, states that lambs four months old in 

 July will shear 4 to 5 pounds of fleece. 



The fur of the young Karakul lamb is used for making ladies' 

 muffs, collars, coats, etc., and in the trade it is classed as Persian, 

 Astrakhan, Broadtail, and Krimmer. According to Marshall and 

 others, 1 the color is black in each class except the Krimmer, but 

 the character of curl varies. Persian has the most pronounced, 

 the most uniform, and the tightest curls and is most valuable. 

 Astrakhan is longer, more open, and less lustrous than Persian. 

 " Moire " Astrakhan has a skin that is light and soft, with straight 

 hair, but with marked luster. Broadtail skins are from lambs pre- 

 maturely born, the skins being light and the fiber wavy rather 

 than curled. ' Krimmer is a gray fur produced in the Crimea. The 

 skins in the above classes are graded, and all but the Krimmer 

 are derived from Karakuls reared in Bokhara. 



The grade or crossbred Karakul has its chief interest as a 

 producer of commercial fur. Pure-bred Karakul rams used on 

 ewes of the long-wool type, such as Lincoln, Leicester, or 

 Cotswold, sire lambs that tend to produce very good furs. The 

 Animal Husbandry Division of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture has conducted some interesting experiments in this 

 field and secured good skins from some crosses with long-wool 

 type ewes and poor results with medium and fine-wool ewes. A 

 cross of Karakul ram on Barbadoes ewes resulted in low-grade 

 furs, but the ewes of this cross, bred to another Karakul ram, 

 produced some excellent furs. A Texas breeder of Karakuls 

 secured good results from a mating of Karakul rams on half-bred 

 1 Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, 191 5. 



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