10 BULLETIN 313, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
material or methods available in Australia that can not be used 
in the United States. It has been stated that Australians are fa- 
miliar with what they call the Vermont sheep and that the use of 
that blood has mainly been discontinued. In fact the terms used 
nowadays in Australia in referring to the “ Vermont” sheep are 
far from complimentary, and would seem to overlook the improve- 
ment in density and quality effected by American Merinos. Objec- 
tion is made to the excessive wrinkles on the body, to excess of oil 
in the wool, to shortness, and too great fineness of the wool. These 
objectionable features are considered to be indicative of and asso- 
ciated with a lack of constitutional vigor. 
DIVERGENCE OF AUSTRALIAN AND AMERICAN MERINO STANDARDS. 
It would be unwise and un-American to fail to give due weight to 
the Australian criticism of a type of sheep which is still largely kept 
in this country, especially since until recent years the standards of the 
two countries were quite similar. The plan of selling wool, whereby 
the price received by the grower is set by the manufacturer’s buyer, 
enables the Australian to make a more accurate estimate of profit 
from various types of wool. The Australian argues that the extra 
price received for the very fine wools does not offset the value of the 
greater quantity of “ robust ” wool secured per acre of land used with 
the type of sheep now favored. ‘The clearly defined areas of leased 
land, with no transfer from winter to summer range, also give an 
added advantage in determining production costs. 
Corresponding to the A, B, and C types of American Merinos now 
recognized apart from the Rambouillet, Australia has the fine, me- 
dium, and strong types. None of these can be said to resemble the 
Rambouillet closely. The “strong” or “robust” wooled type pro- 
duces a fleece of considerably greater clean weight than is obtained 
from the finer, tighter-wooled type. The greater bulk and length of 
the robust fleeces, together with the lessened amount of oil, give a 
much greater weight of clean wool per sheep than is yielded by the 
finer-wooled sheep. While the coarser wool may at times be worth 
less per clean pound than fine wool, it has for some years suffered no 
discount, and it is found easier to maintain in that uniformity of 
crimp and brightness that has much to do with fixing values. A 
further claim for the production of this robust wool is that the sheep 
which produce it are larger and stronger in constitution. 
AUSTRALIAN OPINIONS AS TO ROBUST WOOL. 
The following extracts from matter published in Australia in this 
connection shows the development of opinion in that country. In 
1899 Mr. Jeffrey, Government wool expert in South Australia, wrote: 
FINE Woot Versus Ropust.—Because of the many different types in the 
Merino class, it is most important to know what particular type is most adapted 
