The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-04-02
TREASURE STATE FARM AND LIVESTOCK
Ewes increases the.
Wool Production of Flock

from eve culling than in recent
years. The flock with the low aver
age fleece weight and a high percent
age of short staple wool is under a
serious handicap when the price
curve is on the downward swing.
Results of culling experiments car
ried on for the past three years in a
flock in n of the neighbOring
states, indicate the improvement that
can be made by eliminating light
shearing ewes. Starting in 1928, the
owners of the flock decided to Gull
out all ewes which carried less than
seven pounds of wool. There were
1915 sheep in the band and 241 were
found to be below the ~seven-pOund
standard. In 1924 the flock had in
creased to 1851, the standard was
raised to rs pounds and 10 ewes
were found that sheared less than
this amount. Last year the standard
was raised to eight pounds and out of
the 1912 sheep, $50 were cUlled out
for being below the eight-pOund
mark.
Thus in 1923 the flock contained
1873 per cent of sheep which sheared
less than seven pounds, in 1924 but
1912 per cent sheared less than rs
pounds and last year 9.3 per cent
sheared less than eight pounds. The
average fleece weight for all sheep
in the flock was S.3 pounds in 1928,
9.87 pounds in 1924 and 9.9 pounds
in 1925. The average weight for
sheep shearing above the standard
for the different years was 8.72
pounds in 1928, 1921 pounds on
1924 and 1927 pounds in 1925.
The improvement in the flock is
indicated even mOre s~trikingly by a
comparison of fleeces falling in diff
ferent weight classes. In 1928 the
flock in which the culling experiment
was conducted, contained $50 sheep
which sheared more than 10 pounds
of wool, in 1924 there were 465 in
this class and in 1925 there were III
that passed the 10 pound mark. In
1928 there were Is sheep in the
flock that sheared less than five
pounds, the following year but six
and last year there were no sheep in
this class.
Shearing records of seven bands oil
sheep located in different parts OF
NlOAlIdud STU IudI eve Culllu6 WOuAl
give excellent results in this state
The records were taken last year anC
out of 6,949 head, gil sheared less
than seven pounds of wool. The aver
age fleece weight was 8.44 pounds
The sheep that sheared less than sew
en- pounds averaged 6.O3 pounds o
wool while those that sheared NOR,
than seven pounds averaged So
pounds of wool. With wool at 4
cents a pound the heavy shearini
|, group would have brought Sill,
more per head than the light shear
j., ing group.
Due to the fact that light shearin.
ewes usually produce short staple
wool from such sheep brings less pc
] pound than the wool from the heav
! shearers. This is reflected in tn
following market quotations for Fet
=ruary %, 1925. The word ''comL
ing refers to long staple and tn
word clothing to short staple:
Fine combing, $1.2O- $1.25 lb.
Fine clothing, S1.10- SLIP ID.
II blood combing, $1.14 S1.18
u blood clothing, $1.0O $1..O5
3-8 blood cOmbing, S SO $1.OO
3-8 blood clothing, 5 .S5 s .88
The prices quoted are on a secure
basis.
At the above quotations a secure
fleece weighing 1928 pounds wit
wool one and a half inches or less
length would bring 1894 while
five pound fleece with a three
three and a half inch staple wOul
|, bring $6.75.
The length of the staple and weigl
of fleece are determining factors
!, the sheep business. The present 81
uatiOn in the wool trade makes
necessary for the sheep man to pr
: duce the highest quality prOdu
: possible.
; Eve culling is a comparative
U simple matter and it is an effecti'
: way Of getting rid of both the lig'
shearers and the producers of sho
staple wool. All that is necessary
to weigh each fleece at shearil
time and to brand the ewes viii
Les produce less than the standard, L
ually around seven pounds. At t
- proper time the branded ewes m
- be disposed Of thus leaving only t
- desirable producers in the band.