Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1903-01-30
BLACK SHEEP.
Their Wool IL Especially Valuable.
Flock OF Mr.. John n. Wing

oooA fGQCCAully Valuable
Flock OF Mr.. John n. wing.
It's a common saying that there's n
black sheep In every flock. and in a fig
nratiye sense no doubt this assertion is
true That there are fiOcks or sheep en-
trely composed OF black individuals
may not be generally known, says w.
]. Clarke In Wool Markets and Sheen.
One or the most valuable, IL not the
most valuable. is that which was
left by the Late Hon. Allen OF Braeside.
Queensland. Australia. This flock Is
composed entirely OF MerinOs and was
established more than twenty years
ago by the deceased gentleman and
numbers CPS ewes and TWENTY-FIVE
rams. 1t Is said that there is In our
own country a flock Of black Shrop-
shires. but as we have no data at hand
concerning this flock we offer no COM
ment thereon other than that Of saying
that cases where Shropshires produce
black lambs must be extremely rare
except 1t be In the case OF poorly bred
hocks, for In our experience OF yea.s
OF handling large focks OF this breed.
both on their native heath and I'm this
country, we have never yet had an eve
bring forth a black lamb Further
more. we would not care to invest In a
ram from a flock that we knew had
produced one. 1t Is said that the i'm
mortal Blackwell kept black ram for
use In his work OF improving the
Leicester. We have reasons for be-
heving rather than doubling this con
tention. In Quebec the common stock
OF the country appears to ali intents
and purposes to be OF the pure Leicester
blood. and no doubt II is, as the founda-
ton OF that stock is said to be from an
early importation OF that - eed The
locks are very uniform In type, but one
thing which drew our attention while
there was the large number OF black
individuals found In every flock. In
quite number of cases % per cent OF
the flock was made up Of black sheep.
In one case we noticed that no less
than 90 per cent were black or of a
very dark gray color. Whether or not
they had been selected and bred with
view OF establishing n flock of black
sheep we could not learn.
The only black flock coming under
our notice that has been bred with a
view OF establishing n pure bred flock
OF black sheep is that OF Mr.. John Is.
Wing, Millbrook, y. Y. While In this
flock there are individuals that are as
black as the ace OF spades. there are
others that are not black on the sur
face. but rather OF n very dark gray.
II should be mentioned, however, that
the under color Of the fleece is almost
perfectly black. Mr.. Wing is TO be COM
plimented ON the progress he has made
In regard 10 the establishment of his
flock, and there is but little doubt that
he Will In the course OF few years be
the owner OF very valuable flock not
only from n curiO point OF view, but for
the reason that black wool is worth con
siderably more than the ordinary white
fleece. This value accrues from the
great demand for that class of wool in
Great Britain and certain countries of
continental Europe. where 1t is used In
the manufacture OF gowns for certain
religious orders. which by their vows
are compelled to use undyed wooden
clothing.