The Monte Vista journal., 1917-03-24

cerned, but not to keep the increase
from that cross for the range ba.
cause of their short life. and their
pad herding qualities. But for the
farm or for enclosed pastures he ad-
vlsed them very strongly. because of
their early maturity and their fond
ness Tor weeds, etc, and their quick
ness for gain in the feed lot.
Here in Amerca the idea was any,
thing will do. The main idea W: 9
1t must be cheap. And when a man
went to buy ram, the first consid-
Grafton was is 1t cheap, never mind
the breeding if it's cheap.
The finer the animal the finer the
wool, and the stronger the fiber. also
the better the crimp. He explained
what the crimp was 1t was due to
the wool pushing it's way through the
skin which made those little marks
and the better bred the animal the
more crimp it would have in the
WOOL He described the different
kinds of wool, worsteds, clothing
carpets, and so forth, showed how
they were combed, some making one
some making another, and some good
wool had beeen made to stretch 7
miles long in a strand. He then
showed how man could judge by
the wool the ram lambs to save for
his herd for breeding, and how an ex-
pert shut his eyes and could tell by
the feel which end of the wool had
grown next to the skin. He then
passed on to the shearing sheds, and
it was very interesting to see the
more humane and kindlier way the
sheep were treated in these modern
shearing sheds. He described the
whole building, then passed on to the
interior, how the sheep were penned
by the system of light and dark, the
sheep always running to the light,
and two good men could keep 20
shearers going. He then passed on to
the shearing, how the sheep were
caught, and that he could break the
worst Shearer in a day and make a
good shearer out of him. How the
wool was gathered up, which is an
art in itself, and takes practice, so
as to let the fleece fall parachute
a c chi0n tn bo
but at the same time to let the dirt
fall out, and the fleece open, to show
the different part qualities of the
wool. The inferior parts being sep
arated, it was then transferred to the
sorters' table and passed on as to
what class of wool it was, and from
there to the bin, and thence to the
baler He then described a new
dipping plant, where the sheep had a
shower instead of the swim, how the
water was sent from above, sideways,
and from the bottom. 1t appeared
to be a far more humane way, and
would reduce the danger of loss to a
| minimum.
All sorts of questions were asked
and the more they asked, the more
pleased Mr.. Ritch seemed to be. A
vote of thanks was extended to them
and thus ended a very interesting
and eventful meeting of the sheep,
men of the San Luis Valley.
A meeting was called for half past
l seven the same evening, when al
ready the seed sown by these lee
lures seemed to be taking good eff
feet, and if we are not mistaken, two
or three Australian shearing sheds
seeem likely to De erected this
spring, which will mark the opening
of new era in the sheep industry OF
this splendid valley, one of the best
stock countries in the world.
In conclusion, the association
wished to imburse these gentlemen
for their lectures and expenses, but
they would not hear of it. This
showed a splendid spirit on theiI
part, and that they have the interest
| of tho inductry al heart