Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1882-06-21

'" "OuJ N'u reg more Tangy ana Htfg'
Hneep. The same cause my produce thr
Inference that produces the difference II
build Of men raised in separate section
our country. The average siz, uf ~
ne soldiers that enlisted IRON Vefmu
'nring the Ia civil var was one IN
rger round The chest han tie avprag,.
the solli' r. from Ken urky. with II
n II urkN solder aver rgtd one Ilt
Ter than hr Vrrunnl odIer
Our 6'e' drts prefer n mrdlum sZ
erp with found "epp body, SHIT
Ick neck, broad, strait ht back, sQ,.uI
uuock, straight from tat 10 the n,nl
ea9th from nose to tail three to three fee
INT inch 8, hight 10 uup Of shoul
lv--eighi hs uf length. dep h nf body ir II
80 and one ha,f to four tines the leng,l
leg Our .oIl and climate f,vor II.
ooduction of this build of Merino.
OIL.
The large per cent Of wool to live weigh
hat is now produced is cause of aston
+hment TO some persons, and when the.
70 10 30 fieeces are cleansed and pr,huc
rnly from to 8 per cent, they say, WHY
not produce the same amount of wot
with less oilP that it must take a cert.,i,
mOunt of food to produce this oil, wbi /
In the end IL OF no benefit whatovor ,c.
Is only waste; and some from ignoranc,
imagine that while it is useless it is uls
detrimental.
In answer to the objection TO so mucf
oil in the Merino fleece, | will say tha
the best breeders do not believe that a,
profitable fleece can be raised without 4
large amount of oil, although they do no
propose to increase the amount only il
the same ratio rs the amount of wool i,
increased. | think it Is true that th,
per cent OF oil to wool is no greater th Al
it was twenty years age. Oil promote,
the growth OF wool. No breeder has bee,
able to produce heavy cleansed fepc,
without oil Breeders who have tried t.
dispense with oil or breed with less thar
the average amount have met with y
serious loss of wool and deterioration ol
strength, tiueness and evenness of fleece
After some of the heaviest rams and ewes
tieeoes raised In Vermont (and these mad,
heavy from the amount of oil in them
had been cle'.nsed, it was thought thu
some dry, bulky aeeces could be selecte
that would produce more clesnsel wool
but In no instance could dry fleece b
found that would produce the per cent o
wool as the oily ones. The bulky feec,
is bulky because it is dry. aud not for the
reason that 1t contains more pure wool
An oily fleece will always tie up tighte,
than dry one, just as n wet fleece woulc
not be half as bulky as when dry. Yo,
wet your fur and IL will press together
and occupy but little space; but when dry
will lay open and light A deficiency o
oil causes the staple TO be dry. harsh anr
weak. and the tendency will be to grad
ually become thin and coarse.
Years ago there was class Of Merin0,
thai had great excess of oil and wer
invariably feeble in constitution, and for
that reason were discarded from the llocks
Breeders who have attemp ed to breec
smooth sheep with wool free from oil hav,
not only failed in heft of fleece, but have
also failed in quantity and quality o
cleansed wool. Wool owes much of il
softness and brilliancy to the presence o
sutficiency of oil.
WRINKLES.
Breeders consider folds or wrinkles il
the skin an indication of heavy feeces
and therefore encourage their develop
ment over the carcass 1t is With wrink lie
as with oil-some breeders carry thes
points to an excess. 1t is true that tn
heavy fietces are produced on wrnk
sheep A, first thought it may appear
som" persons that tn" MernD has an OK
cess OF oil and wrinkles for the wants 1,
he praclcal wool grower. 1t will h
remembered that the focks OF sheep i,
WOOL growing sections are almost destitu
OF these Two qualities Of the NJ rino, ant
as we breed tor the improvement of al
tine wooIed sheep, for the produel ion O
wool and mutton it is best that these tw
qualities should be furnished in markr'
irgree.
There has been great change in breed
inl wrinkles for he past few years. Th
folds are not quite as large but thicker
with less gare or coarse wool on hem; i
fact, the coarse hair on the wrinkles an
thighs on our best bred Merinos hav,
nearly disappeared. Measurements G
wool from different parts of the fleece c
ram showed the wrinkles on the neck Il
| ine as the wool on the belly and lltll
finer than on tho thigh. The wool on tn
wrinkles appears much coarser than it |
| from the fact that it is almost entirely des
lilute eff oil. In this we ofen get yer
much deceived as 10 the quality of WOO
Randall said in his Practical Shepher
"that he never yet rad seen n wrlnk
! sheep which presented the maximum @
both length and density OF wool MS yieldo
II maximum In weight OF wool. Fu
reasons which cannot explain the WOO
though often very thick between the folds
is never very long, and it is usually com
paratively loose. dryish and light, as We
as coarse on the outer edges of the folds.
| What Randall wrote of wrinkly shee
twenty years ago is not true of them te
day. The best Merinos are wrinkly
They have good length of staple, heay
fleece of fine quality of wool 'Th
average length of staple of the Vernon
deeces at the Paris exposition was
inches. There were that measured
inches and over, and 2 that were fully
| inches" The tleeces were selected 70
heft of fleece as we'll AS quality and lengt
Of staple, and were taken from some q
the most wrinkled and heaviest shearin
rams and ewes.
The fashion of wrinkles now is to hav
from three to five heavy folds on the mech
not large on the upper side but large o
the under side. two or three short folds o.
and Immediately back of each elbow o
arm. fine thick wrinkles running dow
the sides, but not extending over the back
| Wrinkles across the hips. sometimes from
the tail in the direction of the stlfe. an
sometimes at right angles with them; fol
also around tho tail to give it wld
appearance and also folds across the thig
with deep flank. These folds except o
tho neck II not too large do not show whe
II years growth of wool is on the sheep
These folds are what please the eye of
breeder of taste. | will assert what
believe 10 bo true, that any breeder VIII
attempts to breed froma ram withou
wrinkles and q certain amount Of oil wi
fall 10 realize any improvement In th
wool producing capacity OF his stock.
In 1874 and 1916 Mr.. Charles s. Fleisct
man visited Germany and made minul
investigation of principles upon who
wool raising and sheep breeding was cor
Quoted in Silesia In their efforts TO in
prove the Spanish Merino sheep In il
capacity as producer of fine wool. Th
result OF these observations aud invest
| e.. ~ p.Iank n6Q.