Vol. LYIII. No. 2598 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 11, 1899. 
$1 PER YEAR. 
THE AMERICAN MERINO IN AUSTRALIA. 
SOME FEATURES OF T1IE EXPORT TRADE. 
Fine Wool Sheep Again Popular. 
In talking sheep to experienced breeders, we have 
been quite surprised at hearing many of them say 
that, if they were starting now, they would select 
some strong family of the old American Merino. 
This breed is, without doubt, gaining ground once 
more. One reason for this is the fact that many 
breeders believe that the sections of the world where 
fine wool will be grown hereafter must depend largely 
on this country for new blood. Australia, South 
America and other warm countries seem destined to 
supply a large proportion of needed fine wool. It is 
argued that, in these warm countries, the Merinos 
will, in several generations, lose quality and quantity 
of their heavy fleece. Nature comes to the relief of 
aniimals, and takes the lining out of their children’s 
overcoats when they go to a warmer clime. Take a 
coon from Tennessee, 
and put him by the side 
of one from Wisconsin, 
and the difference in the 
fur will easily be seen. 
In order to keep up the 
density and fineness of 
the Merino wool the 
southern countries must 
import fresh blood from 
the Noi’th, so that, while 
the southern half of the 
world may produce a 
large part of the fine 
wool, northern breeders 
will still hold the key to 
the situation. In giving 
a picture of the Austra¬ 
lian prize-winning ram 
Premier, we also give 
the opinion of two 
breeders. 
What the Australians 
Demand. 
The Australians have 
bred for fineness of 
fleece, regardless of 
weight or density; con¬ 
sequently, they have a 
splendid Delaine sheep 
shearing about three or 
four pounds of wool, 
very fine, no wool on 
belly, legs or face. There 
is no breed of sheep 
more advantageous to 
them than the very wrinkly, thick, heavy-fleeced Ver¬ 
mont Merinos, or descendants from Vermont stock. 
The reason for this is plain. For nearly 100 years 
the heavy-shearing Merino has been bred for weight 
and fineness of fleece. More advancement was made 
by breeding wrinkles and grease than by any other 
points, in gaining the desired result. Until about 20 
years ago breeders were carrying this to the extreme, 
hence they have been breeding plainer sheep for the 
last 20 years. 
The Australians see what the Americans accom¬ 
plished by breeding for weight of fleece, and they are 
following in our footsteps by using their extreme 
wrinkly heavy-shearing rams on their light-shearing 
fine-fleeced ewes, and are getting great results, as you 
may know by the fabulous prices they are paying for 
American-bred Merino rams. As to the constitution 
of the get of American rams, I understand it is quite 
an improvement over their native sheep, as no one 
will dispute the hardiness of the American Merino. 
The great trouble with 'this Australian trade is that 
in a flock of 50 breeding ewes, the breeder will only 
get two or three rams out of the total number that 
will be suitable. The Australians require extremely 
fine rams, and where a breeder breeds for that trade, 
out of a possible 20 or 25 he may only get two or 
three fit for export, and no trade for the remainder, 
as they will be of a type not sought after by Amer¬ 
ican breeders. 
The Merinos of America have been bred up to such 
a point that any farmer can have a grade flock of 
Merino ewes of Delaine type that will shear nine or 
1.0 pounds of wool, unwashed, consequently, they will 
not breed to a small, wrinkly, heavy-shearing ram, 
but prefer one of more size, even if he does not shear 
as many pounds of wool. I think it more profitable 
to breed a larger Merino with more length of staple, 
even where the fleece is not so heavy in proportion to 
weight of carcass. In this type of purebred Merino 
there is an occasional lamb that is fit for the Aus¬ 
tralian trade, which may be sold at a profit. 
Xenia, Ohio. r. d. williamson. 
Prospect of the American Merino. 
This country is still supplying a good many fine- 
wool rams for the Australian trade. Originally fine- 
wool Merinos were imported into Australia from 
Spain, but later importations (with the exception of a 
few* Rambouillets from France and Germany) have 
all been made from the United States. The finest and 
heaviest-shearing Merinos have been most in request 
for this trade. Within the past few years some good 
specimens of Delaine Merinos have been taken also, 
but the need in Australian flocks grows out of the 
natural climatic effect, in that country, to “lighten 
up” in fleece, which can best be met by our best speci¬ 
mens of the oily thick-wooled, thoroughly-covered, 
heavy-shearing Merinos. 
As long as the wool industry is profitable in Aus¬ 
tralasia, ther« will be a demand for our best Merino 
rams. Tasmania has produced some fine specimens 
of the Merino by means of occasional infusion of 
American blood, but the general standard of Aus¬ 
tralian wools cannot be maintained without new 
blood. The climate is too warm; if left to depend 
upon local influences, the Australian wools would 
soon retrograde in both quantity and quality. Nature 
clothes the sheep 'in a coat to protect against the 
rigors of the climate—thus it is in keeping with 
Nature’s laws that the fleece of the sheep should 
“lighten up” when the animal Is removed to a warmer 
climate, just as the horse’s coat “lightens up” in 
Summer, and the quality of fur on our fur-bearing 
animals increases in fineness and thickness as we go 
farther to the North. 
The modern Merino is a product of the temperate 
zone; his best attainments have been secured not far 
from 40 degrees north latitude, with a variation of 
not more than four or five degrees, and this rather 
north than south. This is the latitude most con¬ 
genial to the successful 
propagation of the Me¬ 
rino and many other 
products. For this rea¬ 
son Australia will con¬ 
tinue to import our 
heavy - fleeced Merinos. 
Natural adaptation and 
economy of production 
both favor a continuance 
of the industry. Modern 
facilities for transporta¬ 
tion annihilate distance, 
so that Australian wool 
and mutton may each be 
placed upon the world’s 
best markets, for less 
than it costs to land the 
Kansas product in Bos¬ 
ton. Two-thirds of the 
wool and more than one- 
half of the frozen mut¬ 
ton imported into the 
United Kingdom is pro¬ 
duced on Australian pas¬ 
tures. 
The mutton craze 
struck Australia about 
the same time that it 
struck this country and 
Argentina. In this mut¬ 
ton craze lies the secret, 
in part, of the recent 
and very substantial ad¬ 
vances in fine wools. But 
to-day, in Australia as 
in America, the pride of 
the sheep and wool industry rests in the American 
Merino. These sheep have sold for more money, and 
produced greater money-making results, than any 
other known breed. Prices in Australia for rams 
range from $500 to $5,000 and upwards for fine speci¬ 
mens. While the younger ram always promises more 
years of usefulness, the age limit is not drawn upon 
animals of really great merit, up to six or eight 
years. Size and constitution are prominent factors, 
as the larger the animal the greater its capacity for 
usefulness, other things being equal. The rams re¬ 
main in service in the stud as long as they retain 
their vigor, which of course varies in different ani¬ 
mals. Some are well worn at eight years, while 
others are strong at 12 years of age. 
Is the business of furnishing rams for the Aus¬ 
tralian trade likely to continue? Yes, so long as wool 
production is profitable in that country, and Amer¬ 
ican breeders are able to supply the wants of Austra¬ 
lian flock-masters. I believe both these conditions 
