HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wolf, H. W. Articles by Pohle, E. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Wolf, H. W. Articles by Pohle, E. M.

Fiber Density and Some Methods of Its Measurement in the Fleeces of Rambouillet Sheep

United States Department of Agriculture

Abstract

Conclusion: The two groups of 10 Rambouillet yearling ewes which were studied were shown to be quite similar in mean fiber density and in the density of certain regions, but to vary for certain other regions.

Five locks per region would be necessary to reduce the standard error below five per cent of the mean.

Increasing the size of the skin area sampled increases the accuracy of determining fiber density at least until approximately three square centimeters have been reached.

Increasing the number of sheep sampled from 10 to 20 reduced the uncontrolled error and made the variance between sheep and between regions more significant.

The eight body regions fell into three groups of similar fiber density. Three regions, rump, hip, and belly, were highly correlated with the total of eight regions and were superior to any one region in the prediction of the fiber density.

The Wyedesa caliper appeared slightly more accurate than either the Wira or Hairpin calipers.

¹ The authors acknowledge assistance of R. H. Burns in obtaining samples in part 2 of the exepriment, of J. I. Hardy in various technical phases of the work including the construction of the Hairpin caliper, and D. A. Spencer, R. W. Phillips, J. E. Nordby, W. V. Lambert and R. G. Schott in the planning of the study and in interpreting results.