Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-10-23
GROW WOOL.
How the Montana Wool Product Com
pares With / he Foreign Frcduet-
The Merino.

paTGS fsitt TIC Of CtS, u
The Merino.
/ About a year ago, | sent to the North
1leecas OF two Merino rams and two ewes,
bought by me Of Geo. Camphell's Sons,
| Vermont the same now being owned by
! Stems s. Arlington. The fleece Of one
ram, three years Old, weighing 251a lbs,
/ gave 915 lbs. Of secured wool, the shrink
| age being 591, per cent. The other ram,
| a yearling, whose fleece weighed 1884 lbs
in the grease gave o. = lbs. secured wool
the shrinkage being 60 per cent. The ewes
were each two years old, and their fieeces
which weighed il the grease 1913 and 12l4
| lbs respectively gave and SO lbs of seour-
ed wool-the silrinkage of the former be-
| ing 60 per cent and the latter 80 per cent.
| give these results for the benefit of the
wool growers Of Montana, to show to them
that not only high grade but pure-bred
| Merino wool Can be grown in this territory
that will not carry an excessive amount OF
grease and worthless yolk, and at the same
time that Will yield a large quantity OF
secured wool.
The thoroughbred Merino eve that will
shear 1871 lbs. of worsted wool, which
when secured will shrink only SO recent.
is a rare specimen of its race, and is in
marked contrast to the average greasy Me-
rino thoroughbred. The ram, whose fleece
| weighed 2315 lbs, and which shrank only
5915 per cent, was shipped by me from
Campbells' farm when yearling, and dur
ing the two years that [ owned him, never
was pampered like eastern stock rams of
note; and unlike those greasy, black top
fellows, he was very active, and was al
most as hardy as a Highland sheep. The
wool on his shoulders was from four to
five inches long, and he had scarcely
wrinkle from his horns to his tail. The
yearling ram whose fleece weighed 1874
lbs. in the grease, and which when secured
shrank 60 per cent, is one OF the most val
liable stock rams I have ever seen; and if
his owners winter him well this year, he
will give fleece of twelve months growth
that will not weigh less than 26 lbs, and
that will yield 1ofa to II lbs. of secured
wool
During nay experience as manufacturer
Of woolens. secured many hundreds OF
fleeces from thoroughbred Merino rams
many Of them having been sent to me Ia
test with special care; but | never saw any
that gave as large per cent. Of clean wool
as the four fieeces referred to above-and
[ never secured a Merino rams fleece. no
matter how much it weighed, that gave
915 lbs. of thoroughly secured wool |
have seen fieeces Of Merino rams that
would weigh in the grease from 80 to 40
pounds, which when secured would not
weld more than 6to ~ lbs. Can it be
profitable for US who grow wool on the
plains, to breed our fiocks to such stock?
Is it not evident to thinking men that the
strength and vitality of sheep are lost in
producing and carrying around such
worthless load Of grease and trash in their
wool?
The time has now come when American
Merino wool, like foreign wool, will be
sold on the basis of its shrinkage. With
this view OF the situation, let us produce
wool instead Of dirt, and at the same time
encourage the breeder Of hardy sheep. BY
breeding to the class of Merinos that / re
fer to- our q grade wool will not shrink
more than 50 to 80 per cent, which is
about the same standard as the fine Wools
of Australia If our wool growers persist
in breeding to produce SO much worthless
stuff instead of wool, the splendid reputa-
ton of Montana wool will soon be a thing
of the past. Pa}1s G55s2n III -Nontd1ad
Woog Grocer.