The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1893-08-11

S Tsury il American AEEieaitur5st-
Dropping The wool Is frequent
trouble with sheep. There are many
different explanations for this annoy
ance 10 the flock master, but few Of
these hint at at st the fact that wool
must be led, or 1t esnD0t grow, and
any failure 10 its nutrition mast result
II sueh weakness that the aeeee fails
TO keep mp its connection with the
skin. and thus drops Of IS IL it were
sgYsred--ss it really is--at ITS root
The fleece Of hundred-p0nnd sheep
makes up ten per eeng OF more Of the
animals weight, and it consists Of a
far greater proportion Of the most
ezsciiBg elements Of Nutrition than
the flesh Of The sheep does. Flesh
has seventy FIVE per cent Of water 10
It; WOOL has only fifteen per cent. The
flesh has in It's dry matter the follow
ing elements, and wOoi has the qaaoii
ties set opposite 10 them. Thus the
composition Of flesh il: Carbon, 81 80
per cent: bydrogeu, T.57; nitrogen,
II5.0l; oxygen, p 81; ashes, 4-2S.
Wool: Carbon, AZ 65 per cent; hydro
gen, 6.e3; Diirngen, II al Oxygen,
p II; ashes, 90; salphur, 30.
Taking iato account that the wool
has only 0ne-5fth as mach wEteT 10 i
a. the hssb, it is easily seen that il
acquires Eve times rs mach Of the ele
mentg Of nulritlon for each pound
zeigbt as The hesb. aad ihns, If The
fleece Of a MrrinO weighs fifteen
pounds, aud the carcass, after sbesring.
| weighs seyeniy-fv~ ppands, equal
quantities Of food ara required for The
| production Of each. THIS IL, perhaps,
never thought Of by any feeder Of tbr
/ aUck, for, SO far, 1t seems 10 hsy~
been completely ignored by all wrI'eT-
npon sheep busbzudry; and yet th"
! imoFtance Of 1t IS paramount The
common ignorsDca of these urgent
demands Of the flee for special
| Rutrim-nts is. doubtless, the cause
why the sberp suffers so m0eh iron
/ tho exhaustive requirements OF the
wool. As the fleece must be suFpl,rr
after the animal Itself, the wool suffer
Bhiie the sheep escapes, at least Il
some extent; aud as the wool caBnO
exist without its necessary aecOmpaOl
meut of the yolk and grease, wbie
naturally protect it from iPjuTy by 10
Eaiae, beat or cold, this Is 10 be cor
EldeFed as calling for requisite Bulr
ment as we'll as the actual body Of Ii
animal. Il is worthy of note, TO,
that as wool contains eoDsidersb
sulphur, this is also 10 be provided
: the food.
;, Every time the sheep is underle
!, Or cutters from any other cause,
sppesrs 10 the wool, the fiber of viii
,. shows thin place in ii, and each
y these weak spots represents a fault
y feeding or other part of the mama
w ment. This weakness iB the fiber
Y FuiBoas 10 the wool as it causes it
break in the earding or combing, 4
7" thus become too short for the spinu
u and fit only for felting. This def
= is known by the wooden msnufselnT
y and buyers as "break," aud makes
u = unstable. Consequently, the mat
Su Of feeding, and the regularity of
1e ale special points TO be regarded
D the shepherd. Yet it mast not
Al supposed that the wool only suf
u, the sheep most necessarily suffer,
the damage to the wool is only one
-. :" the visible signs of injury TO the WI
W. animal.
." 10 estimating the amount of f
necessary for a sheep, all these POI
are 10 be taken into account, and
gross weight Of the animal is to
Increased, for estimating the all
,an snce OF food by the proportion to
- added, on account Of the extra
substance Of the fleece. To be on
~ safe side, it will be qaite reaspn'
TO add to the live weight of the Sd
,.n fully one hundred per cent; that is
g. double the weight, aud estimate
.i5 Eation accordingly TbenOrmai all
M ance of three per cent Of dry ms
- per one bn0dIed pounds of car
~ may thus be doubled, without
~ fear Of overlooking.