Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-07-30

l
pounds. also find that of these weigh
ed l70 pounds or over, that one weighed
1872 pounds and one 1919 pounds; also that
~ of these sheared 30 pounds or over,
and. according to 4. G.. c.. we should
here find the greatest sacrifice of size to
obtain the weight of fleece; but instead
we have an increase of carcass also, for
these n weighed with their fleeces 1866 l-2
pounds. or 10 pounds more than the
average of the Il; and to more etiectuallY
dispruve the assertion of y. {. g., ! find
that & of these rams shearing 30 pounds
or more. averaging 3G pounds 10 ounces
lin fact lacking but one ounce on their
aggregate fleeces to average 81 pounds),
weighed on the average III pounds with
their heeces, or l34 - pounds after
being Shorn. So much for the facts in
regard to sacrificing size.
"Thc records of the Vermont Merino
sheep Shearng association do not Sus-
tain a. G. G.. on this point Let us see if
we can find i'm the records of the Michi-
gan sheep Shearing association that
which will sustain him. have the re-
port of the State shcaring. at which the
ram Diamond mentioned in his article
was shorn. but have not the records of
the other years at hand. | find there
were | rams three years or over Shorn
in 1854. or the one referred to the aver
are weight of these rams after being
Shorn was III pounds. find the weight
of 9 of the II exceeded the weight of
Sweepstakes. averaging 1870 Is pounds
and shearing an average of 81 pounds |
ounce. while the heaviest, the ram
Diamond, which he quotes to prove the
degeneracv of the modern Merino with
such severe terms of cXecration, weighed
l5G pounds. and shcared II IA pounds.
why did &C. G.. neglect to tell us that
this rams bare carcass exceeded the
weight of Sweepstakes - pounds, and.
with fleece and carcass combined, exceed
ed by go pounds those of that ram. and
by & pounds the weight he gives as an
ideal standard for Merino ram. SO
much then for the degeneracy in size.
The records of the Michigan association
show that \. {. &. had no grounds to
sustain such an assertion. and venture
to declare the records of other asSocia-
tionS will not sustain him, hut ON the
contrary. as these do. will show conclu-
Sivclv that improvement in size has kept
pace with increase of weight of fleece in
our representative Mcrino rams.
II will now notice the criticisms of
your correspondent in relation to SaCri-
ticing the quality of the fleece to obtain
weight. There is more difficulty in at
tanning satisfactory solution in this
than in the weight of sheep and ilccccs.
but there are plenty of good Judges now
living who remember Sweepstakes and
his characteristics. | remember him my
self. but not a. described by Mr. Randall.
also remember other rams described by
the same author. He gives the length of
staple in Sweepstakes and longwoOl the
same. or , ID inches, and in other res
poets makes the fleece of Sweepstakes
equal to that of Longwool. There Ger
tainly i Il mistake here. The staple of
Longwool most certainly exceeded in
length that of Sweepstakes, and in other
qualities that go To make up a fine and
valuable fleece. his was much the best.
II is difficult to establish anything in re-
lation to the quality of ilceccs ShOrn
twenty-five years ago, unless samples
have been preserved. and know of none
kept from Sweepstakes: but am conf
dent that all breeders who remember him
will say the quality of his fleece was
stronger or cOarSer than that of most of
the stock rams of Mr.. Hammond. and
in the body of the fleece, there was con-
siderable on the wrinkles on the back of
| the neck. This may not have developed
to so great an extent until after the ram
had reached maturity, as is generally the
case with the rams having the strongest
constitutions. and those that prove the
best stock getters. A. {. q. lays con-
siderable stress on the length of staple
and instances that of Diamond to show
degeneracy in that particular, which, by
the way. he gives at - inches. while
the record a published shows it to have
been Is inch longer, a material differ
chce in short wooded ram. While adj
nit that length of staple is too short to
be desirable, rams of no longer staple
have proved most excellent stock getters
but the rams among the modern Merino,
that have no longer staple are very few
and the exception rather than the rule
| return to the records of the Vernon
Merino sheep Shearing association, ant
find the staple from over two hundred
rams two years old or over there given
not one measures as short as that of Dia
mond, and only nine measure less than
inches, while Seventy-four measure n
long or longer than that given by DIR
Randall aS the length of Sweepstakes, o
, - inches. fortV-SpVpu pNpppd tho