The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1874-08-13
4 COT5WOLD SHEEP.

England Farmer sent to the Office a
specimen Of wool from pure Cotswold
sheep, and asked an opinion of the wool
and whether such sheep are the ones
from which to breed profitable flock.
The inquiry was submitted to Mr.. Thom-
as Whitta9er Of Boston, an expert In
wool matters and sheep raising, and his
reply is es follows. gsti ae s
liz reply to your first question, "What
do you thInk-of tie wool ?" I think it
| is a good class ofwool, and, at the present.
time, is much wanted for the production
Eef buster dress goods known as alpacas !;
bat you must understand that much of
the value of this depends on how you
keep your sheep, ifsuch wool becomes
weak in the staple, or cotted, its value is
deprecated to a great extent. If you
allow your sheep to fall off in condition,
between fall and winter trade, you will
have weak place in the middle
of the staple. At that point it will break
into, making two short staples, instead of
one ong wool; tins renders it almost
worthless as a combng wool, and only fit
for blanket WOOL 6s - e3
II the sheep fall off in condition during
the winter, the weak places will be near
er the bottom of the staple, and though
! of more value than the former described.
its value is much less than if the staple
was perfect. If the sheep are turned
from dry feed to new grass in The spring,
| they will be likely to seour and fall off in
condition. and the weak points of the
staple will be near the bottom this will
produce much more waste than perfect
staple, and consequently be of much less
value than one which is perfect this,
with the showers we have in spring, are
apt to render the fleece ciotted, which
reduces It's value one-third Or fourth,
Just in proportion to the hardness of the
cott vfraea af..a
Beer this in mind that the long wooded
sheep emit little yolk, and their wool
does not shed the rain like merino sheep,
hence the necessity of having them hous-
ed during rains. The drying of the
fleece on the sheep robs the animal of too
much heat; reduces its condition and
weakeps the staple while moisture
acceIerates the cotting process. Remepl-
Der that nature generally furnishes pro-
lection to ANIMALS, and in the sheep the
protection afforded is at the expense of
the wool. In this case it is better TO
build shed to keep the sheep dry than
to allow nature to colt the fleece in order
81 keep tie body dry and warm.
Sheep are liable to disease of the skin
which are more apparent in the wool
than elsewhere; and the only bad effect
proceeding from them is to discolor, and
sometimes make tender the wool close to
the bottom of the staple this, however,
tends to depreciate It's value. Of course
in these diseases do not include the
scab. For this there is a very good cheap
remedy-roots.' For winter feed for
sheep nothing surpasses turnlps, and
unless you are disposed to raise roots TO-
winter feed, you cannot succeed we'll viii
this class of sheep. Corn induces the /.
disease OF which we speak, and should
only be fed in moderate quantities. You
must always bear il mind that flock
OF thirty of these sheep is equal to
lock Of one hundred merlnos, and the
quietness of their habits would require
less cost in fencing. But it is no use
trying to make breeding and raise this
class of sheep an object unless yoa have
made up your mind to raise roots and
FEED a sundantly. Farmers complain
that this class of sheep eat SO much, for.
getting that something is never made
from nothing that one OF these sheep
weigh az heavy ut two years a as three
merinos at three years old,
The Cotswolds are profitable breed
ofsheep to raise, not only for their lambs,
one of Which in August would be worth
as much for the buther as three merinos
! Of the ago. bat for their mutton, which is
worth more than beef. The fleece from
wel-Fed sheep will weigh eight pounds
and haze known them tn weiab s;xt,