Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1900-01-15

W|NTER|NG Sheep
- - IT. !
Influence. of Feeding Upon Lambs !
and Wool. \;
~S~

There are many ways to white"
sheep, varying with the age of the ami
mails and what is expected from them.
To merely keep them through the win
ter in what is called store condition is
the way that many old farmers adopt,
ever with breeding ewes, says The
American Cultivator. But such man.
agement does not pay. for the lambs
will show the effect of the poor keep.
ing, and many Of them will die. The
fleece will also be deteriorated, for
whenever the animal is badly nourisll-
ed it makes a weak place in the wool
and lessons it's value. All wool deal
ers and manufacturers know that the
wool from a flock Of wethers is. al
ways presumably better than from q
ram or q flock of ewes. In the ewes
especially there is sure to be some fe.
yer during CESSATION. and this has a
bad effect upon the wool that is being
formed during this period. So long as
the sheep is free from fever there is a
natural secretion of oil that keeps the
skin and the fleece moist. Fever dries
this up, making the skin dry and the
fleece harsh to the touch. Such wool
cannot be easily combed and carded.
More often the injury to wool is done
by overlooking animals that are being
fattened. The sheep can digest eve
poor feed, keeping itself vigorous and
it's fleece healthy so long as it gets
sufficient in amount and of the proper
nutritive value. 1t needs plentiful sup
plies of proteids to make the fleece
grow properly. Unless these are given
in some form there is sure to be trou-
BILE with the fleece when it comes to
the manufacturer. Yet this is a nat
ter hat average wool buyers very
seldom look into. Quite frequently in
looking over a fleece there will be
found a streak running through it at
about the same distance from the sur
face that will show hard and dry.
while beneath the wool will be moist
OF rather oily, as good wool ought to
be. Sometimes this will stop further
growth. But if the check was only
temporary and quickly recovered from
there will be fine threads Of wool grow
ing through the harsh portion and
branching out into good wool at the
surface. But this no less than where
the wool growth is entirely arrested
makes a weak place when the cloth is
to be woven.
There is not enough discrimination
made in judging the quality Of wool as
brought to the market by farmers.
Most of the buyers are not so good
judges as the farmers themselves, who
car tell when shearing a sheep many
Of the conditions under which different
parts of the fleece were grown. The
manufacturer knows the effect which
is produced in the fleece, but he can
only guess the cause. By putting to-
gether what the farmer knows and
what the manufacturer finds in work
ing up the fleece a great deal of valua-
BILE information may be secured how
to keep sheep at all times and how to
feed and manage them so as to secure
the best feeces. We knew many years
ago a wealthy wooden manufacturer
who was also a keeper Of fine wooded
sheep. He told us that it was his ex-
perience in working up wool from ami
mails that he had himself kept that
convinced him that to make the best
wooden clothing the beginning must be
made in feeding and caring for the
flock, SO as to produce suitable wool
for the purpose.