The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1913-12-04
FAT-TA|LED SHEEP
PROMISE CHANGES
PROF. N. e. HANSEN BRINGS BACK
WONDERFUL ANIMALS
FROM SIBERIA
EXTREMELY HARDY AND VERY LARGE
Thrive and Multiply Under Adverse
Conditions, Says w. p. kirkwood
In the Minneapolis Journal

w. p. Kirkwood, country life editor
Of the Minneapolis Journal, who was q
B~rookings visitor last week, writes an
interesting article for his paper on the
fat-tailed sheep that Prof. N. E. Han
ser of the State College brought back
from Siberia. Mr.. Kirkwood said,
under date of BrookingC:
A revolution in the sheep industry Of
the United States is promised.
Prof. N. e. Hansen Of the South Da-
kota College of Agriculture and Me-
chanic Arts here, on his return from
Siberia a few weeks ago, brought to
the United States for the first time
Kirghiz fat-tailed sheep.
These sheep are wonderful animals.
Their average weight Is much in ex-
cess of the average for the best
breeds grown in this country, they
yield a very fine-fiavored mutton with
out the woody taste so Objectionable to
many. also a generous though some
what coarse fleece, they thrive and
multiply rapidly in regions of extreme
heat and cold-from SO below zero in
winter to 1O6 above In summer-with
a minimum OF are a protection
from wolves, they are the best Of for
ayers, and in extremes of winter cold
can and do survive on the ~stored-up fat
of their bustle-like tails, which the
natives call kurduks. In seasons of
great want in the sparse regions north
of Turkestan and west Of Mongolia
they are the salvation OF the natives.
Prof. Hansen believes that these
sheep will be OF vast aid in conquer
ing extensive areas Of the west that
are now by many onsidered impossi-
BILE. So great was his faith In them, at
least, that at no end Of hardship and
trouble he obtained two rams and four
ewes and brought them with him
thousands of miles to this country, SO
that they might be tried out. They
will be placed in the hands Of Prof.
James w. Wilson, director Of the ex-
pertinent station here at Bookings, for
scientific breeding and the outcome
will be watched with the greatest Of
interest. They are now in quarantine
in the east, under the care Of govern
ment veterinarians, but will be re-
leased before long to be shipped west
ward.
Prof. Hansen first discovered these
sheep several years ago, on one Of
his plant-exploration trips to Siberia.
On his return he called attention to
them as desirable for importation.
But nothing was done. Several times
afterward he la%ughingly remarked
that he was going to bring ONE of
them back in his valise some day.
While he was in Siberia this last sum-
mer, collecting alfalfa seed, and other
desirable things in plant life, for the
people Of his state, he resolved that
the time had come to bring some Of the
fat-tailed sheep to the United States.
Before making final arrangements,
however, he made a most careful in
quiry Of the Russian officers in the re-
gions of southern Siberia, and of the
natives. The more he studied the sit
u~ation, the more he felt that in bring
ing plants to the west, especially for
the high and dry uplands, he was only
doing half the job that was to be done.
To complete the work, he must bring
some of the animals OF the same re-
gion, which thrived IN the plants he
vas bringing over. And these sheep
seemed among the best things Of all,
for they were absolutely hardy, unlike
the sheep commonly grown in the
United States, which are importations
from France, Germany and England,
and are not able to Withstand the ex-
tremes Of heat and cold Of the north
western and western uplands without
most careful attention, such attention,
in fact, as cannot be given.
His inquiry disclosed the fact that a
good average weight vas close to 800
pounds, while often the weight was as
great as 430 pounds. He frequently
sampled the meat, and found 1t Of ex-
ceptional flavor, quite free from the
woody taste Of the common mutton
breeds. He found that the wool Of the
white animals was shipped to this
country. and that sausage-cas.ngs from