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    Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool
    Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool
    Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool

    By Read Books Ltd.

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This classic guide to sheep farming contains information on every step of the process, from breeding and rearing to wool production and beyond. With detailed descriptions and clear explanations, “Sheep Farming” is highly recommended for anyone with a practical interest in keeping sheep for pleasure or for profit. Contents include: “Sheep Farming”, “Sheep And Goats”, “Length”, “Uniformity in Length of the Different Fibres in the Staple”, “Strength and Elasticity”, “Crimp”, “Colour”, “Lustre”, “Behaviour to Dyes”, “Uniformity of the Different Portions of the Fleece", "British Breeds”, “Sheep Breeding, Rearing, And Feeding”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on soil science.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateNov 16, 2011
    ISBN9781447491323
    Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool

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      Sheep Farming - With Information on Breeds, Rearing, Fattening and Wool - Read Books Ltd.

      SHEEP AND GOATS

      SHEEP and goats, with certain intermediate species, are generally regarded as forming one group of the Cavicornia or hollow-horned ruminants.

      The true sheep comprise a considerable number of wild species which fall into two rather distinct natural groups. The one includes the Mouflon (Ovis musimon) of Corsica and Sardinia, together with the closely related species of Cyprus (O. cypria) and of Asia Minor (O. orientalis); and the Urial (O. vignei) of Persia, Northern India, and Tibet. The other group consists of the Argali (O. ammon) of Western Siberia and the Altai; Marco Polo’s sheep (O. Poli); and the Bighorn of Northern Siberia (O. nivicola) and of the Rockies (O. montana). The true goats include the Markhor (Capra falconeri) of Afghanistan and the common wild goat or Bezoar (C. aegagrus) of the Caucasus, Persia, and Crete. The Steinbok and the Tur are included in the genus Capra, while the Bharal or Blue Sheep of Tibet, the Barbary Sheep, and the Tahr of Nepal and Kashmir, represent types intermediate between sheep and goats, and are referred to separate genera.

      Nothing is known for certain regarding the origin of domesticated sheep. The view most widely held is that the Asiatic Mouflon supplied most of the foundation stock, but the Urial and even the Argali have sometimes been regarded as the ancestors of some domestic types. The older view, to the effect that the wild ancestor must have been quite different from any surviving species, is not now accepted. The common goat is descended from the Bezoar, and the Cashmere goat from the Markhor, while the valuable Angora is generally believed to have been derived from a cross between the two.

      Sheep are valued commercially for their mutton and wool, and occasionally also for milk. With some breeds, such as the Merino, wool is the primary product, while British breeds are kept mainly for mutton—wool being a secondary, if still an important, consideration. The points of the mutton sheep correspond rather closely to those of the beef ox, the valuable qualities being a tendency to fatten early in life (early maturity)—a thick covering of lean meat and an even and not wasteful distribution of the fat. The head varies greatly with the breed, but should be of good depth and width, strong of jaw, and broad through the nose; the neck moderately short, and thick at its junction with the body; the body deep, wide, and square; the shoulder top wide, level, and well covered; the chest deep and wide, and the ribs well sprung or rounded; the shoulder neatly laid and thickly covered, and the region behind the shoulder well filled up; the hind quarters long, broad, and level, with the width well carried out to the rump; the gigot or leg of mutton thickly fleshed, and the flesh well carried down, both inside and out. The back should be wide and level throughout, thickly covered with firm, muscular flesh; the legs moderately short and set well apart, the bone neither too coarse nor too fine, but clean and hard. The thickness of the tail is a useful measure of condition or fatness. The carriage should be stylish and springy, indicating activity and robust health.

      Sheep’s wool is commercially by much the most important fibre of its kind, although other wools and hairs—for example, mohair, cashmere, alpaca, and camel’s hair—are all used as textiles. Wool is used in the manufacture of a great variety of articles. The chief are, of course, articles of clothing for the inhabitants of the colder regions of the world, but carpets, tapestries, and blankets absorb a considerable quantity of certain classes. The characteristics of the wool fibre on which its value mainly depends are as follows:—

      1. Length.—This varies from under 1 in. to over 2 ft., the coarser wools being generally the longer. Other things being equal, the longer wools are the more valuable.

      2. Uniformity in Length of the Different Fibres in the Staple.—This is important, because, for certain purposes, the short fibres require to be separated and put to a different use, bringing a lower price.

      3. Strength and Elasticity.—Strong, elastic fibres suffer a minimum of breakage in the process of manufacture and naturally give a strong yarn. Fine fibres are stronger in proportion to their size than coarse. The staple should be free from any weak part or break, as wool with such a break cannot be combed without great wastage. The condition is generally due to the sheep having suffered a severe check during the period of growth of the wool. In Britain the common causes of a break in the staple are a period of undernutrition or partial starvation, which may affect the whole flock (particularly in the case of hill sheep), and illnesses of various sorts. The weaker part of the fibre is that produced at the end of the period of malnutrition—e.g. just before the commencement of fresh growth on a hill grazing. In extreme cases the sheep casts part or the whole of its fleece.

      4. Fineness.—The mean diameter of the fibres may vary from about 1/1500 in. in the finer Merino wools to 1/600 in. or more in the coarser long-wool fleeces. The smaller the individual fibres the finer the yarn that can be spun from them, and in yarns of the same weight the finer wool gives a softer and fuller character, which in turn gives the finished cloth a better appearance and handle. Softness is due chiefly, but not entirely, to fineness of the individual fibres.

      5. Crimp.—The aptitude of the different fibres to interlock depends on the fineness and extent of the waviness or crimp. Fine Merino will often show more than twenty waves to the inch, while most Longwools give only three or four. Crimp also gives springiness or elasticity to the finished cloth. Felting further depends on the number of epidermal scales and on the extent to which their upper edges project. Fibres with a smooth surface, like those of the Lincoln or Wensleydale sheep, are naturally slippery. On the contrary, Merino or Down wool (which has the appearance under the microscope of a series of irregular flowerpots set

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