Merino Sheep Ready for Shearing at Firestone Farm in Greenfield Village, April 2014
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Nineteenth-century wool producers preferred wrinkled Merino sheep. More skin yielded more wool, which shearers carefully cut away using blade shears. Ultimately, electrically powered mechanical shears became more practical. Shearers operating these much faster tools had difficulty navigating around wrinkles, and farmers began breeding out the now undesirable trait. The Merino sheep at Greenfield Village have been selectively bred back to resemble their wrinkly ancestors.
Nineteenth-century wool producers preferred wrinkled Merino sheep. More skin yielded more wool, which shearers carefully cut away using blade shears. Ultimately, electrically powered mechanical shears became more practical. Shearers operating these much faster tools had difficulty navigating around wrinkles, and farmers began breeding out the now undesirable trait. The Merino sheep at Greenfield Village have been selectively bred back to resemble their wrinkly ancestors.
Artifact
Digital image
Subject Date
15 April 2014
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
EI.1929.639
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Technique
Digital imaging
Color
Black-and-white (Colors)
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