Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-01-20
FEEDING WOOL.
A Sleeps Wool Must Re Nourished. or 1t
VIII Drotl OF,

:
A Sleeps Wool Must Re Nourished. or It
VIII Drop or
I Dropping the wool is 4 frequent trou-
BILE with sheep. There are many differ
ent explanations of this annoyance to
the flock master, but few of these hint
at all at the fact that wool must be fed,
or il cannot grow. and any failure in its
nutrition must result in such weakness
that the fleece fails to keep up its con-
nection with the skin, and thus drops off
as if it were severed-as it really is-at
its root.
The fleece of 100 pound sheep makes
up 10 per cent or more of the animals
weight, and it consists of far greater
proportion of the most exacting ele-
ments OF nutrition than the flesh of the
sheep does. Flesh has IS per cent of wa
ter in it; wool has only 10 per cent. The
flesh has in its dry matter the following
elements, and wool has the quantities
set opposite to them. Thus the compost
ton of flesh IS: Carbon. 81. S3 per cent;
hydrogen, 7.57; nitrogen. 1901; oxygen,
2l.37; ashes, 4.23. Wool-Carbon, 40 65
per cent; hydrogen, .93; nitrogen, 1871 :;
oxygen, 22.1l; ashes, 20: sulphur, 20
Taking into account that the wool has
only one-fifth as much water in it as the
flesh, it is easily seen that it requires
five times as much of the elements of
nutrition for each pound weight as the
flesh, and thus, if the fleece of merino
weighs - pounds, and the carcass, after
shearing, weighs IS pounds, equal guam
titles of food are required for the pro-
duction of each. This is perhaps never
thought of by any feeder of the flock,
for SO far it seems to have been COM
pletely ignored by all writers upon sheep
husbandry, and yet the Importance of it
is paramount. The common ignorance
of these urgent demands of the fleece for
special nutriments is doubtless why the
sheep suffers so much from the exhaus-
tive requirements of the wool
As the fleece must be supplied after
the animal itself, the wool suffers while
the sheep escapes, at least to some ex-
tent, and rs the wool cannot exist with
out its necessary accompaniment of the
yolk and grease, which naturally pro-
tect it from injury by the rains heat or
cold, this is to be considered as calling
for requisite nutriment as well as the
actual body of the animal. 1t is worthy
of note, too, that as wool contains con-
siderable sulphur this is also to be pro-
vided in the food.
Every time the sheep is underfed or
suffers from any other cause, it appears
in the wool, the fiber of which shows a
thin place III it, and each of these weak
spots represents fault in feeding or
other part of the management. This
weakness in the fiber is ruinous to the
wool, as it causes it to break in the card
ing or combing and thus become too
short for the spinner and fl only for
telling. This defect is known by the
woolen manufacturers and buyers as
break" and makes it unstable. Con-
sequently the matter of feeding and the
regularity of it are special points to be
regarded by the shepherd. Yet it must
not be supposed that the wool only suf
fers. The sheep must necessarily suffer,
for the damage to the wool is only one
of the visible signs of injury to the whole
animal.
In estimating the amount of food nee
essary for sheep, all these points are to
be taken into account, and the gross
weight of the animal is to be increased
for estimating the allowance of food by
the proportion to be added on account
of the extra dry substance of the fleece.
To be on the safe side, it will be quite
reasonable to add to the live weight of
the sheep fully 100 per cent-that is, to
double the weight and estimate the ra-
ton accordingly The normal allow
ance of 3 per cent of dry matter per 100
pounds Of carcass may thus be doubled
without any fear of overfeeding.
Henry in American Agriculturist.