The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1883-07-13

eaux, Mich % rains.
W L Mills Uondit, o., to j o Clark. Downing
ton, o., sheep from flock of Mills Il Green.
Fashion in Sheep Breeding.
In a late issue of one of our livestock
publications there appeared an article
entitled Fashion in Sheep" in which
the writer SAYS: st is not always that
the dictates of fashion are against nature,
reason and common sense; but some
times they are, and, in my opinion, the
present mania for wrnkled and folded
Merino sheep is evidence of it, We
not only cOncede that fashion demands
wrinkly Merinos. but that the great
majority of our breeders. especi lily the
successful ones. are aiming to produce
this type of sheep. and. furthermore.
this has been their aim for the last dozen
years or more; and the results for either
good or evil should be clearly manifest
throughout the whole land wherever this
class of sheep are bred. 1t is sheer nom
sense to advocate that any fashion that
is liable to prove disastrous to so valua-
BILE an animal as our improved American
Merno could long prevail with class of
men possessed of such sturdy practical
common sense as our MerinO breeders
ave long held that wrinkly. heavy
hNNNtu lduiS NtlC bhC Sltdu anu iiIPoi
tant factor in solving the breeding
problem for Merinos. and that without
their aid the maximum density and
weight of fleece could not be obtained.
TO claim that this type of sheep are
delicate in constitution and hard keepers,
and that their tleeces are necessarily
faulty in staple and quality. is to mani
fest ignorance of the representative
sheep whose impress and influence will
be as lasting as the breed. What would
be the standing of our sheep today
should we eliminate the blood of Golden
Fleece. Deans Wrinkly, Sea Lion, Tor
rent, Bloomfield, Bonaparte. Bismarck.
Fremont ir., Centennial, All Right, Mag
net and Il host of other famous stock
rams of the past and present that would
rank among the excessively wrinkled
sheep of their day? The greatest i'm
ers has been in the direction of size of
carcass, constitutional vigor and in
creased amount of fleece, which has
come in the way of better covering and
greater density; while, at the same. we
are improving the quality of fleece
grown upon the folds. which has been
one objection urged against the fleeces
of wrinkly sheep. ! can name several
stock rams that are excessively wrnkled
that yield highly crimped and fine WOO
at every point. and carry less gare thar
many absolutely plain sheep. The
Slckney a Williams ram. by Rip Var
Wrinkle, that won the first prize at the
last Vermont State fair, is one of thi.
class. II. G. Burwell's rams, 195 ant
1872 the former by his No. l57 and tho
other by Hercules. are two more of tn,
same sort. Prince Bismarck, owned by
Ibnx al h.,
out of MILDLY Morgan. inheriting his ex
cessive folds or wrinkles from both sir,
and dam. is also remarkable sheep il
this respect. and heavy shearer, as hi
record, made at Avon, n. Y, will show
Every American breeder. who devote
his time. means and talent to the cult
walton and improvement of the Merlin,
race, should aim to place his flock il
rank with the stud flocks of the country
the blood which is needed to improv
the fine wooded sheep of the world. Mr.
Markham's observations in Europe wer
to the effect that leading breeders of tn
Old World were aiming to develop il
their flocks the wrinkly or. as the
termed it. the Negretti type. Macfarla
Bros, of Australia, in giving him thei
first order for sheep, demanded plair
long stapled. fine-heeced sheep. who's
wool was absolutely free from care
but were prevailed upon to accept on
ram of the fashionable American M rim
type. In their recent order they wishe
it distinctly understood that they no,
no longer objected to wrinkles. bl
found them an important factor /
breeding. The gentlemen from Au
tralia Messrs. Macfarlan. Winter. Ha
Son. who recently made eXtensiy
purchases in New York and Vernon