Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-01-14
CARELESS MARKING or aAskp.

/
The Commercial Bullelin OF Boston
has an article under the above head.
ing which should bs given careful
attention by sheep raisers of this
section. being as follows:
The careless marking OF sheep
with paint in certain sections OF this
country is fast becoming serious
matter, and the merchants through
whom the wool Is marketed are a
unit In demanding remedy for the
abuse. Ii is, of course admitted that
sheep must be marked or branded. in
order that the identity of the dlifer.
ent brands may be established, but
the manner in which the operation is
performed to the great detriment Of
the wool is the bone of contention.
After the spring shearing, and be.
fore the sheep are again turned out
on the public ranges, the flockmas.
ters mark their property with stem
ellis. using a so-called paint or tar
preparation, which Is generally
claimed to be soluble, Some owners
are naturally more careful than 9th.
ers. but with the passing Of sheep
through many masters hands the
generous applications Of paint gen
orally cover a large part of the AMI.
mails back. Although all prepara-
tions are claimed to be soluble, when
the wool has been put through the
securing process the discoloration
generally remains.
Montana WOOL in general, holds
an enyiable reputation. as a result Of
the greater care given the sheep, but
in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho. Nevada.
and in some parts of California aud
Texas, too much paint Is used. All
the wool thereby affectted must he
clipped of and thrown away. The
result is farther reaching than the
loss of some of the fleece. for in the
clipping of part OF the staple is de
stroyed and the shrinRage is In.
creased.
Another and a more important re-
suit is the practical impossibility of
eliminating all the stained wool in
the fleece, so that in the manufac
ture of light colored goods the fab.
ric is smirched and its value destroy
ed. So common is this becoming that
the larger manufacturers are now re-
fusing TO consider the purchase OF
clips thus carelessly marked, as
they refused for yew years to take
woods that were tied with sisal
wine.
In these days of competition, and
of the increased use of fine wools, II
behooves the domestic grower to ex-
ercise greater diligence in marking
sheep and the packing OF his neeces
A continuance Of present methods
will surely result in serious loss of
prestige, and In discrimination
against his product. Marking cannot
be done away with entirely, for
sheep mixed promlscuously on the
public ranges In the United States
cannot have their ears nipped as in
Australia, where they are mostly
fenced in, but smaller marking sten-
ellis can be used, and the branding
can be done as well with a smaller
quantity Of paint II soluble prep
aratlon cannot be obtained. and
perfect one is said 10 be yet undis-
covered, the only remedy seems to
be light application Of the most
soluble one that will withstand
heavy rains.
Accordingly, between now and
shearing time. few months hence,
the sheep man of The west would do
well to look into this matter, and
remedy the evil If for no other ref-
son than that he may obtain the
full value for his wool that It's quail
lty warrants"