Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1911-10-20
RAISING OF PERSIAN SHEEP
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head, tail, feet and sides; wool long
and hard. with an absence OF soft
underwood, grayish in the adult, ex-
cept the wool on the head, ears and
a.. four legs, which is jet brilliant
black. the same color as the new born
lambs. After about two weeks the
vcung lambs lose their beautiful tight
curls and Mstre, which makes 1t
necessary to kill them quite young
if the skins are wanted for fur.
"When a few months old they aften
turn brownish, but in one year become
grayish. The mutton is absolutely
void of the musk flavor which gives
common sheep. especially the Merlno
family, the chara and to
many people, disagreeable SLEEPY
taste and it is the most delicious
meat known. Average weight about
one hundred and fifty pounds .
TO find a dozen Arabs that will
answer this description requires
months of camel travelling. with a
bodyguard of Cossacks-the more the
better-as the natives resent the in
trusion of foreigners, who fall an
easy prey 10 thievish nomads, who
have a sacred regard for the full
booded Arab, and a trip through the
"Hungersteepe" has cost many an
adventurous Caucasian his life, espe'
cially when encountering Turkomen.
Tadiicks and lzbecks. whose religion
permits them to rob travellers. IL
requires thousands of dollars to make
the caravan trip, as the klshlacks
are far apart, and still more to get
possession of the full blooded sheep,
and to effect a safe delivery at the
nearest railway stations. often hun
dreds of miles away from the in
terror, is no easy task.
The Arab is capable of storing, IN
short time. great quantities OF fat
in it's tail and buttocks, upon which
it draws for sustenance when neces-
sary, This is transmitted on any
sheep receiving a kara-kul straln'
making possible much quicker fatten-
ing and great increase in weight.
When common sheep receives as
much as Is per cent of Arab injec-
ton it develops a most appetizlng
mutton. with the "sheepy taste" COM
pletely eliminated.
Tests made on American MerinOs
proved this, and fair results were OBJ
tanned with as little as twelve per
cent of kara-Kul blood. In north
ern Michigan is raised a so.called
Persirano, which is quarter breed
Kara-Kul Shropshire resulting from
crossing Persian broadtail-the best
of them are only half bred Kara-Kul
Shropshire eve, and
vet even this small amount of Arab
blood gave some satisfaction. Need
less to say that quarter bred Kara
kul Lincoln would give better results.
as any of the American longwools
excel the Shropshires in quality of
mutton. and also weight, and do not
lessen the natural lustre of the Kara
Kul, thus assuring the breeder OF
salable lustrous skin (gray krimmer)
that will bring from S. to So.
The Michigan tests also proved con-
that Merinos that received
a slight strain of Kara-Kunl were
very hardy and able to withstand the
greatest cold, and seemed to prefer
to remain outdoors in the snow, which
is remarkable, as the Merino is not
fond of severe cold weather.
Bokhara is noted for it's severe cold
winters and extremely hot summers.
and this explains why the Arab, be-
ing Injured to such climate, is able
to withstand any amount of cold or
heat, and it is doubtful if there is a
harder animal in the world. This
animal is able to 60 for weeks with
out water, and possesses wonderful
power of resistance. The small hero
which was brought to this country +,
was a year and half in transit and
half of that time was spent in quar-
antine.
For more than four months they
were held in quarantine at Athena.
N. j., where they were confined to a
dark barn, and the only photographs
that were taken during that time were
flashlights This rigid quarantine is
necessary in order to ascertain the
presence of surra, which cannot be
detected unless the animal under in
spection is kept away from sunlight.
Notwithstanding this and the tedious
trip across the desert, detention in
quarantine in Russia and the long trip:
across the ocean, we did not suffer
the loss of a single head.
1t is an easy matter to cross the
Arab with any domesticated sheep
known, and we believe that this could
be done with the Rocky Mountain
sheep. The Kara-Kul in it's habits is
no doubt nearer to the goat than to
the sheep family, and quite recently
We succeeded in crossing a half breed
Kara-Kul Shropshire ram to an An
CORA goat. AS the Arab seems to
possess the property Of neutralizing'
the strong musk flavor of the Merino