riNE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. BY HENRY S. EANDALL, LL. D., ATTTHOK OF SHEJPP HXTSBANDKY OF THE SOXJTir, PE^CTICAL SHEPHEltD, ETC , ETC. READ BEFORE THE SEW YOEI STATE AGEICULTURAL SOCIETY, FEBEUAEY 12th, 1862. WITH AN APPENDIX, CO^TATNI:NG VALUABLE STATISTICS IN EFFEIiE^CE TO WOOL OXTLTITEE, mPORTS, PRICKS OF FINE WOOL FP.OM 1840 TO ATTaUST IST, 1S6S, KTO, NEW YORK: 0. K SAXTOJSr, AaBIOULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER. BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS & 00. PHILADELPHIA: J, B. LIPPINOOTT & CO. EOCHLSTEE: D. D. T. MOOEB. 1863. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S68, BY C. M. SAXTON, In tlie Clerk^s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Kew York. O. A. ALTOEU, STEREOTYPEK AND PEIOTEB. OTE ¥00L SHEEP HUSBiroEY. Ijst rising to read this paper on tlie steep of our country, prej)ared at the request of your President, I cannot fail to have it forcibly recalled to my memory tliat twenty-five years ago this very month, at the an- nual meeting of the Old New York State Agricultural Society, in this city, I was appointed chairman of a committee of breeders to draw up a report on the same subject ; and that, twenty-four years ago, I read that report before the Society. On that occasion I was aided by the far riper ex- perience of some of the most eminent breeders of our State, and might therefore without presumption, em- body their knowledge in respect to breeds with which my own acquaintance was limited. Having no such assistance now, I shall confine my descriptions chiefly to those varieties of which I can speak from an ample personal experience. These include the Merinos which, at various periods, have been imported fi-om Spain, France, and Germany into the United States. The inquiries of your President embraced the fol- lowing topics : The origin of the Merino ; its varie- ties ; its introduction into the United States ; the cir- cumstances which have afiected its success ; 'the com- parative profitableness of its varieties ; the expediency 4 FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBANBEY- of crossing between varieties and the effects of in-and- in breeding ; tlie proper mode of selecting a flock ; tlie art of breeding ; the present course of breeding in the United States ; and suggestions as to the future of the fine wool hnsbandry in onr country. The Spanish Merino* The origin of this animal is involved in obscnrity. The commonly received aceonnt is^ that Columella, a Uoman, who resided near Cadiz, in the reign of Claudius, coupled fine wool Tarentian (Italian) ewes with wild rams brought from Barbary, and thus laid the foundation of the breed; that some thirteen cen- turies after, Pedro lY. of Castile, improved it by a fresh importation of rams from the same country ; and that two hundred years later still. Cardinal Ximenes a third time repeated this ameliorating cross ;— from which period, we are left to infer, the breed became established about as it was found when it first began to attract the special attention of foreign nations in the seventeenth century. All the early varieties of Africa had long, straight, hairy wool, like the present long-wooled sheep of England, and no writer, ancient or modern, has pretended that the rams imported from that country into Spain, were any different in this particular. How recurring crosses between such ani- mals and fine-wooled ewes should have commenced, improved, and finally fixed the characteristics of a breed like the Merino, is a problem which admits of no rational solntion to a practical sheep breeder.* * Strabo, -who was a* contemporarj of our Saviour, and wlio conse- quently lived a generation earlier titan Columella, says that the fin© FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 5 This pedigree is probably entitled to about as mucli confidence as tliat wliicli tlie Greek poets gave to tbe wonderful ram wliicli bore the " Golden Eleece." He, according to this very respectable authority, was got by the sea-god Neptune, dam the nympb Theophane. The only well settled facts on tbis subject — and fortunately they are quite sufficient for all practical purposes — are, that at a period anterior to the Chris- tian era, fine-wooled sheep abounded in Spain ; tbat they were preserved and made themselves heard of in the channels of trade and the domestic arts through all the conquests, reconquests, and other sanguinary convulsions^ of that kingdom ; that tliey were, or gradually ripened into, an exclusive breed unique in its characteristics, and essentially unlike all other breeds in tbe world. "Wlien the Merinos of Spain first attracted the ob- servation of other nations, they were found scattered over most portions of their native country, divided into provincial varieties which exhibited considerable differences; and these again were separated into great permanent flocks or cabanas, as the Spaniards termed tbem, which had so long been kept distinct from each other and subjected to special lines of breeding, that they bad acquired the character of sub-varieties or families. cloths -worn by tlie Eomans in Ms time were maimfactured from wool brought from Traditania, in Spain. Pliny, himself Governor ol Spain, writmg just after OolumeHa^s time, describes several fine- wooled varieties in that country, which must have existed there a long time anterior to Columella. The Barbary crosses undoubtedly were made with, or formed, the Ohunah or long- wooled breed of Spam, which is altogether distinct from the Merino. FINE WOOL SHEEP nUSBANDBY. Varieties and Sul)-Yarieties in Spain. Tlie first division recognized in Spain was into Translinmantes or travelling flocks, and Estantes or stationary flocks. The first were regarded as the most valuable. They were mostly owned by the King, and some of the principal nobles and clergy, who, at an early period, fastened on the kingdom a code of regulations which sacrificed every other agri- ciiltTiral interest for the convenience of the proprie- tors of these sheep.* The system of Spanish sheep husbandry is a curious and not uninstructive leaf from the records of the * These -will be found described in detail by Lasteyrie, Livingston, and other writers. The sheep were driven from the southern prov- inces in April or May, according to the weather, to the mountains in the north of Spain, a distance bout four hundred miles, and driven back again in the autumn, generally leaving the mountains towards the close of September and through the month of October. The Tribunal (Oonsejo de la Mesta) which both made and administered the laws which regulated their transit, was composed of the rich and powerful flock-masters. The following remarks are from Lasteyrie's most valuable Treatise on Merino Sheep : "A Spanish writer, Jorvellanes, in a memoir addressed to tho King of Spain, pays 'the corps of Junadines (proprietors of flocks) enjoy an enormous power, and have, by the force of sophisms and intrigues, not only engrossed all the pastures of the kingdom, but have made the cultivators abandon their most fertile lands; thus they have banished the stationary flocks, ruined agriculture, and depopu- lated the country.' It is easily conceived that five millions of sheep traversing the kingdom in almost its whole extent, for whom the cultivators are compelled to leave a road through their vineyards and best cultivated lands, of not less than ninety yards wide, and for whom, besides, large commons must be left; I say, it is easily conceived that such a flock must greatly contribute to the depopula- tion of the country, and that the revenue that the King draws by the duty on wool, is snatched from the bread of his people." FINE WOOL SHEEP HTTSBAjNDET. 7 past, but does not come within tlie scope of this paper. It will be found described with, sufficient fulness by Mr. Livingston, wbose valuable " Essay on Slieep," now recognized autbority tbrougbout tbe world, was laid before tbe New York State Agricultural Society in 1809."^ Livingston mates tbe following territorial classifica- tion of tbe Merinos in Spain at tbe opening of tbe present century : " Oastile and Leon bas tbe largest witb tbe finest coats. Tbose of Soria are small, witb very fine wool. Tbose of Yalencia, wbicb, like tbe last, do not travel^ bave fine wool, but a very sbort staple." Tbe Leonese Transbumantes, considered tbe best sbeep of Spain, were tbe only ones wbicb, ever at- tracted mucb foreign notice, and tbey composed tbe principal importations into tbe United States. Some of tbe most esteemed families of tbem were tbus briefly cbaracterized, by Lasteyrie, one of tbe best inforiedt and most'rebable writer's, early or late, in respect to tbe Merino : * I have thus termed the Society, because it will convey a more correct impression to many readers of the present day, than to give it its actual desigikation, which was, " The Society for the Promotion of Useful Arts." It was the lineal ancestor of our present organi- zation. Eolbert R. Livingston, LL. 3)., Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the American Articles of Confederation, Chancellor of New Torfc, &c., &c., went as American Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1801. He there gave much attention to the Merinos preparatory to an im- portation of them. He is an able, -and in matters of fact, extremely reliable, writer. He was one of the most spirited and influential agricultural improvers in our country, and is never to be forgotten as the patron and coadjutor of Fulton. f Lasteyrie travelled into every country in Europe, where the 8 FIKE WOOL SECEEP HUSBAKDEY. "The Escurial "breed is supposed to possess the finest wool of all the migratory sheep. The Gaude- loupe have the most perfect form, and are likewise celebrated for the quantity and quality of their wool. The Paulars bear much wool of a fine quality ; but they have a more evident enlargement behind the ears, and a greater degree of throatiness, and their lambs have a coarse, hairy appearance, which is suc- ceeded by excellent wool. The lambs of the Infanta- dos have the same hairy coat when young. The ISTe- gretti are the largest and strongest of all the Spanish travelling sheep. ^ The Merinos, as they appeared as a race at the opening of this century, are thus described by Living- ston: Merinos had been introduced, to ascertain how the experiment suo- oeeded and to observe the effect of the different olimates and systems of management on the animal. * Livingston's descriptions coincide with these, except that he says that the Paulars have " similar fleeces" with the Q-audeloupes, and are " longer bodied." These celebrated flocks were the property of individuals or of re - ligious orders. The Escurial flock belonged to the King, until Philip II. gave it to the friars of a convent attached to the Escurial palace. The Paulars were purchased by the Prince of Peace of the Carthusian friars of Paular. The Negrettis were owned by the Oonde Oampo de Alange — ^the Infantados, Aqueirres', Montaroos, etc., to the nobles of those names, Hon. WiUiam Jarvis, of Termont, hereafter mentioned as a con- spicuous importer of Merino sheep into the United States, in a letter to L. D. G-regory, which was republished in Morell's American Shep- herd (pp. Tl-tG), describes the Spanish cabanas somewhat different- ly. But his opportunities for judging, good as they were, were not equal to those of Lasteyrie, and Mr. Jarvis wrote some years after jhe had seen any pure bred animals of the separate cabanas. Las- teyrie's description is adopted by some eminent writers, familiar with the Spanish sheep near the opening of this century, and I do not re- member to have seen it contradicted by any European author of re- FINE WOOL SHEEP HIJSBAIJTBBY. 9* "The race varies greatly in size and beauty in different parts of Spain. It is "commonly rather smaller than the middle-sized sheep of America. The body is compact, the legs short, the head long, the forehead arched. The ram generally (hnt not inva- riably) carries very large spiral horns, has a fine eye and a bold step. The ewes have generally no horns. The wool of these sheep is so mnch finer and softer than the common wool, as to bear no sort of com- parison with it ; it is twisted and drawn together like a cork-screw; its length is generally about three inches, bnt when drawn ont it will stretch to nearly donble that length, Thongh the wool is, when cleaned, extremely white, yet on the sheep it appears a yellowish or dirty bx'own color, owing to the close- ness of the coat, and the condensation of the perspi- ration on the extremities of the fieece. The wool com- monly covers great part of the head, and descends to the hoof of the hind feet, particularly in young sheep ; and it is also much more greasy than the wool of other sheep." To supply data which will enable any one curious on the subject to make some practical comparisons between these sheep and their descendants in the United States, I select the following, from a more extensive table by Petri, who visited Spain in the early part of this century, for the express purpose of examining its sheep ; and I add similar admeasure- ments of American Merinos : putation. Like aU the descriptions of animals "by writers of that day, it iSj however, exceedingly meagre and vague. But I do not think the writers of that day considered the distinctions between a few of the best cabanas as of much importance — ^regarding them as about equal in value. 1* 10 FIKB WQOL SHEEP IIUSBAJSfDEY. NAMES OF I'LOCKS. NEaBETTX, Earn Ewe ...» Ikpantado. Earn Ewe GrTTABELOirPB. Earn ... Ewe ESTANTES or SnSEBA BE SOMO. Earn Ewe Small Estantes. Earn Ewe , Ajvuerican MrsBiNo, Earn Ewe Ewe .,,, Ewe ?5( lbs. 67 TO mi 60 96J 62^- 42 80 100 m. H 8* 1€ 8 9 9 n 9 T 9 9 9 5 S «3 ft in. 1 7 1 5 1 6 1 5* 1 6 1 2 1 6 1 2 1 3 1 1 10 10 10 11 a** ft. in, 2 2 2 1 2 8 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 1 9 1 6 2 4 2 4 2 5 2 8 o ft. in. 4 6i 4 2* 4 7 4 3^ 4 5 3 11 4 S* 4 3 H 8 2 O ft. In. 4 li 4 li 4 2 3 11 4 5i- 3 9 4 2i 8 10 3 2 2 10 ^ to 03^ w ft. in 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 101- 1 11 10 8 11 4 4i 11 8 IH 4 li 11 4 4 3 9 3 11 4 J 8^ ■J5 in, 10 9i 9 8 6i 8 7 6^ 9 9 9 8 eg in. 6 4i- 6 6 4 These weights and measures^ except those of the American sheep,* are Austrian. The Austrian pound * The American Merino ewes were taken from one of my flocks, composed of sheep of good medium size, and I think they wore a little heavier than the average of the flock. They were weighed, &c., in December, 1861, and had been sheared only five months — so that their weights did not, like the Spanish, include full fleeces. They were in good ordinary condition, and no more. The same is true of the ram. He is a small, short animal for one of his family, but has great substance, and is specially prized for the uniformity of his off- spring, for their low, broad, beautiful forms, and for the great length and thickness of their wool. His own fleece has reached to about 21 lbs. In other respects there was nothing unusual in the appearance or form of any of the four; and their shape, &c., would about cor- respond with that of the flock they were taken from, or that pro- bably of any other prime full blood flock in the country. The ram was 25 inches high on the shoulder, the ewes about 2S inches each. I wish Petri had given the heights of the Spanish sheep. When the diflerence in weight is taken into account, it is remarkable that there FIN-E WOOL SHEEP HUSBAITDET. 11 is equal to 1.037 lbs. avoirdupois ; tlie Austrian foot to 1.234 English feet. Mr. LivingstoUj in describing tbe Spanish. Merino of bis day, as compact and sliort-legged, took for bis standard of comparison, doubtless, tbe gaunt, tall slieep of America ; and Colonel Humphreys's descrip- tion, sent to the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture, requires the same explanation. Most British writers, With their eyes on their own mutton- breeds, fall into the opposite extreme. Petri's meas- urements show that the Spanish sheep were far less compact than their American descendants, though they ran to no extraordinary excess in the opposite direction. We should gather the impression from Livingston's remarks — and Humphreys expressly says — that they were broad-chested."^ Compared with other sheep, or their own descendants of the present day, this was quite otherwise. The concurrent testimony of both writers and observers, who had more practical acquaintance with the points of an animal's carcass than either of the above distinguished gentlemen, as well as my own observations thirty years ago, when should be no greater difference in the "circumference of the iDelly" between the Spanish and American sheep in the table; and one would infer that a good portion of the weight of the former must be made up of a belly so disproportioiied in size. But I have no doubt that Petri measured their circumference in full fleece, and without any compression of the wool. I shall reserve any further comparisons until I describe the improved American Merino. * '* The neck short, the chest broad. The members more compact and thick than those af our former breed of sheep ; and the carcass is thought to have smaller bones, and to be more rounded in the hinder •piXfV— Colonel ffumphre7ji>'s Leii&n to Massmhusetis Society for Fro- nwUng AgricuUure^ 12 FIKE WOOL SKEEP IITTSBUSTDKY. our own Merinos tad. bee«i bred closely to tlie oris^inal xnodel, Bho. that the Merino of Spain wa. decidedly a narrow-cliested aBimal.'^ But what lie tlms lost in symmetrj, was made up, so far as room for the lungs and other viscera was concerned, by his great depth of carcass. In these respects he was to the English mutton ^ breeds what the Spanish barb was to the thick-winded English dray horse ; and he exhibited a corresponding superiority in locomotion and energy.f Mr. Livingston unquestionably wrote from a vague recollection^ or at least without making actual admea- surements, when he stated the length of the un~ stretched Spanish wool at three inches. The Spanish breeders intentionally kept the staple short enough to meet the demands of the broadcloth manufacturers of that day, and two inches, unstretched, would have been regarded as a long staple then, and is so still. All old Merino breeders concur in the statement that the Spanish wool has increased in length in this coun- try, yet it may be doubted whether a thorough bred sheep of this variety can be found in the United States, the wool of which, at one year's growth, aver- * And it appears to me that tlie same fact is deducible from Petri's table. Witli tlie length, and helly circumference which he gives to them, they would far exceed the weights he gives, if they were as hroad-chested as their descendants, f The Merino would travel almost twice as fast, and more than four times as long as a mutton sheep, particularly in hot weather. Think of a great drove of ewes and lamhs, of any of the mutton varieties, sweeping along eight or ten miles a day, for 400 miles twice each year, and kept on the most meagre pasturage during every trip I The Spanish ram would readily vanquish in battle, an English ram of twice his size. In "bottom," ''pluck," and hardmess, there is no com- parison between the breeds. FINE WOOL SHEEP HXJSBANDBY, 13 ages three inclies over tlie carcass. I neyer yet saw or lieard of one. The fleece of the Spanish Merino was exceedingly dense, level on the snrface, uniform as between ani- mals of the same family, and even in quality m the individual. The sheep of the Escurial cabana were destitute of external "gum" (indurated yolk), and therefore quite light colored. Most of the celebrated flocks, however, had more of it, and were more or less dark — some as dark as the unhoused Merinos of the present day. The wool was free from indurated yolk within, and it opened with a fine lustre and the other general characteristics which still distinguish the breed. Gilbert, a French writer of great reputation, stated in a report to the National Institute of France, in 1796, that " an the wool of Spain he had examined, not excepting the prime Leonese, the most esteemed of any, appeared to contain much more jar than that of Kambouillet." This would imply that the best wools of Spain exhibited this defect,* but Gilbert says " they pretend the best of the Spanish wool is not imported into France." The weight of the Spanish fleeces was placed by Livingston at eight and a half lbs. in the ram, and five lbs. in the ewe, which he stated lost half in washing. Touatt gives the average weight of the ram's fleece * There lias "been some donfusion as to the use of the term "jar" in our country. I think the foreign writers do not mean by it that firmly rooted hair which projects from the wool on the thighs, necks, &c., of some sheep, but that sharp-pointed, shining hair which is found detached from the skin within the fleece, and usually much shorter than the wool It becomes detached when the wool has partly grown. li ¥m^ WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. at half a pound less, T)iit of the ewe's the same. The Spanish system of washing alluded to, was much more perfect than our own. Brook-washed, on the hack, in the American way, the shrinkage would not have exceeded one-third.* These are hut general averages, and do not indicate the weight of fleeces of prime animals. The King of England's flock of Negretti's, about one hundred in number, yielded during five years (1Y98-1802) an annual average of SJIt pounds of brook-washed wool, and 2 |ff pounds of wool scoured for manufacturing.f Some of the Spanish sheep first imported into the United States yielded still more wool, if well-preserved tradition can be credited ; but I have not been able to find any precise records of weighing, except in re- * If I have not made tlxis distinction, In previously pnblislied papers on this subject, it was because I entirely overlooked tlie ftiet. The Spanish wools, after being shorn, are beaten on hurdles to remove loose dirt, then placed in a vat of hot water and stirred about five or six minutes, then put into the head of a trough or aqueduct of cold running water, and trampled on and rubbed by men's feet as they pass slowly through. They are nezt drained on an inclined plane and spread on the grass to dry. But four to seven per cent, of yolk is left in them. One-third of gross weight is the usual amount of de- duction on our American unwashed wools, to put them on a par with our brook-washed wools, f The flock included a very small number of wethers (the number is not given) and no rams. -To exhibit the sorting of the Spanish wools of that day, by the English mode, I subjoin the following table : Lbs. of wool Lbs. of Lbs. of No. of washed on scoured " prime" sbeep. sheep's baok. wool. wool. 1T08.... 89 295 20S 107 1799,... 101 846 254 207 1800.... 100 398 294 284 IftOl.... 108 89T 285 2S7 1802.,.. 96 852 256 221 I have drawn these facts from Sit Joseph Banks's five annual re- porta in relation to His Majesty's flock. Lbs. of " clioice" Lbs. of •wo>l. "fnbbs," 23 18 28 19 84 26 81 17 82 8 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAiTDRT. 15 lation to a dozen or two of tliem. Our early writers on suci. topics appear to have escliewed nothing so mnch as exact and definite facts. Youatt ascertained, by actual admeasurement, that the fibres of a specimen of picMock (the best) wool from a Negretti fleece, had the diameter of jio part of an inch. Another " fair sample" which he thought was probably Jina^ or IsTo. 2, and a third one taken from Lord Vestern's. Merinos, in England, gave the same admeasurement. This may probably be assumed as the average fineness of the good Merino wool of that day. Having attempted to show the principal character- istics of this celebrated breed of sheep at the period of its highest development in its native country, com- ments and comparisons will be reserved until its French and German offshoots — also introduced into the United States — are first examined. The French Merinoi Colbert, the eminent French statesman, was the first, so far as I have ascertained, who attempted the trans- plantation of the Spanish Merino into other lands. Nor have I learned the date of that attempt. Colbert was born in 1619, and died in 1683. Occupied in in- cessant and harassing cares, he could give no personal attention to his experiment, and it is to be presumed the sheep encountered among his dependents that ob- stinate antipathy which subsequently met them among the ignorant in every other country outside of Spain. As would be expected under such circumstances, they attracted no notice, and soon disappeared. A subse- 16 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. quent importation of Merinos by M, de Perce, result- ed so favorably as to attract tbe notice of the goyern- ment, wMcb instituted a series of experiments on the subject, under tbe direction of tlie celebrated Dauben- ton. These proved satisfactory, and Louis XYIII. of France applied to the King of Spain for permission to export a tiock. The latter not only granted the re- quest, but ordered " that they should be selected from the finest flocks of Spain." A little over three hun- dred of them arrived safely in Trance in 1Y86, and were placed in an agricultural establishment, devoted to the improvement of domestic animals, at Eambouil- let, about forty miles from Paris. G-ilbert, in his already cited report to, the National Institute of Prance, in 1796, thus describes them, and the course of breeding to which they were subjected: " The stock from which the flock of Pambouillet was derived, was composed of individuals beautiful beyond any that had ever before been brought from Spain ; but having been chosen from a great number of flocks, in different parts of the kin2:dom, they were diBtmguked by ver/striking local dWence/wMcK formed a medley disagreeable to the eye, but immate- rial as it affected their quality. These characteristic differences have melted into each other, by their suc- cessive alliances, and from thence has resulted a race which perhaps resembles none of those which com- posed the primitive stock, but which certainly does not yield in any circumstance to the most beautiful in point of size, form, and strength, or in the fineness, length, softness, strength, and abundance of fleece. * ^ The comparison I have made with the mobt scrupulous attention, between this wool and the high- est priced of that drawn from Spain, authorizes me to declare that of Eambouillet superior." FINE WOOL SHEEP EUSBAlTDRT. 17 Judging ty tlie taste unifbrrQly displayed by the Prenct in that particular, there is little douht that " abundance of fleece" was the first rather than the last consideration — as it here happens to be named — which guided the original selection. And the far more liberal feed which the sheep received in France, their exemption from the exhausting annual migra- tions of Spain, and a course of breeding specially de- signed to produce that result, rapidly carried the weight of their fleeces beyond any point ever known in their native country. Ten years after their introduction into Prance, Las- teyrie gives their average weight of fleeces, unwashed, and thus continues it through a series of years : in 1Y96, 6 lbs. 9 oz. ; 1Y97, 8 lbs. ; 1798, 7 lbs. ; 1799, 8 lbs. ; 1800, 8 lbs. : 1801, 9 lbs. 1 oz. While all practical wool-growers know that some seasons produce lighter fleeces than others — ^without reference to the apparent condition of the sheep, or to the weather, or any other circumstance known to influ- ence the growth of wool, the disparity here exhibited between 1796, and the succeeding years, cannot be thus explained, and it would be preposterous to imagine that the course of improvement had advanced thus abruptly within so limited a period. Gilbert, writing under government patronage, said, in 1796 : '^ Almost all the fleeces of the rams of two years old, and upwards, weigh from twelve to thirteen pounds, but the mean weight, taking rams and ewes together, has not quite attained to eight pounds, after deducting the tags and the wool from the belly, which are sold separately." This is probably the correct 18 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANBKT. statement,"^ for Livingstoiij so familiar with tlio Eam- "bouillet flock, accej)ts it as such, and subjoins the fol- lowing remarks: "It is proper to observe that the French pound is almost one-twelfth heavier than the English ; but, at the same time, to note that from the general cnstom of folding the sheep in France, of feed- ing them in fallows, and wintering them in honses, they are very dirty,t and their fleeces, of course, pro- portionably heavier ; the loss in washing is about sixty per cent., so that the average weight of the ram's fleece wonld be, when washed and scoured^ about six American pounds, exclusive of tags and belly wool." ^' Scouring," even as Mr. Livingston uses the word,:}: is a very dilierent process from brook-washing ; and the belly wool, and clean tags, which are done up with the fleece in this country, would, I think^ equal the weight acquired from additional yolkiness and dirtiness; so I infer that to place these unwashed French fleeces on an equality, in respect to cleanli- * * The supposed statement of Lasteyrie, under examination, may be a misprint. Haying suffered my wool library to become scattered, I cannot verify the accuracy of the quotation from the original. I copy it from my " Sheep Husbandry in the South," and on turning to Touatt, I find he gives the same figures. I will, in this connection, add that, for the reason already given, I shall generally, in this paper, be under the necessity of re-quoting for- eign authors from the work of mine alluded to. It is possible that occasional misprints have crept into succeeding editions of that work. f A sheep, housed nights, and from storms, retains an addition il amount of the soluble yolk in its fleece, which would far outweigh tlio more '*dirt" which adheres to the fieeco. j: I do not apprehend that Mr. Livingston here refers to a process as thorough as that now employed by manufacturers in cleansing wool; but, judging from his remarks on other occasions, I infer that he meant something about equivalent to the Spanish mode of washing, described in a previous note. MNE WOOL SHEEP JimBAJ^DB.Y, 19 ness, witi. Americau brook-waslied Merino fleeces, Ave should not deduct more than one-tliird of the given gross weight. There is something exceedingly un- satisfactory in statistics which are so vague as not to mention the respective number of rams and ewes, the fleeces of which go to mate up a mean-weight — ^whcn all know the produce of the former is nearly double that of the latter.^ But here we have something more definite, and it shows another decided stride upwards in the Kambouillet sheep. Lasteyrie, in his report to the ITational Institute in 1802, states "that the me- dium weight of fleece of full grown nursing ewes was 8 lbs. T oz. ; of the ewes of three years old, which had no lambs, 9 lbs. 13 oz. ; and two-tenths [grade] ewes 10 lbs, 8 oz."t By the rule of estimating above adopted, the E-ambouillet grown ewes, sixteen years after the foundation of the flock, produced, on an average, not far from six pounds of wool, washed in the American way. It is true that Mr, Liringston's own. sheep, im- ported from France in 1802, bore less W00I4 but it is evident that he made fineness, instead of quantity of wool, the leading consideration in their selection. * As already said, not having Laste3nrie's works to refer to, I am not certain tliat lie does not supply tMs omission j but I think not, or, 1 should have quoted his statements on former occasions, f Quoted by Livingston. J Yiz., in ISOt, three ewes, having lambs, bore 11 lbs. 12 oz., or nearly 4 lbs. each, of unwashed -wool. In 1808, "he did not keep a separate account, but as they were in better order he thought the average was near 5 lbs." In 1809, seven ewes bore 36 lbs , or 5 lbs. 2 oz per head. The same year, his three rams bore, respectively, 12 lbs. 14 oz., 9 lbs. ; and a ram fourteen months old, of " uncommon size" (imported from France in 1808), bore 9 lbs. G oz., aE un- washed. 20 FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBANDBT. Ttere is BotMng incredible in these stated results of tMs most successful Erench experiment. The gain in "wool is no greater, in proportion, than we witnessed in the American Merino in the sixteen years which succeeded 1840. Leaping over a chasm of twenty-fiye years, let us again examine the Eambouillet sheep, and ascertain the progress of this most interesting experiment through the eyes of an English breeder of Merinos. Mr. Trimmer, the author of the " Practical Observa- tions," visited this fiock in 1827, and the following is his often quoted description of it : " The sheep, in size, are certainly the largest ^ure Merinos I have ever seen. The wool is of various qualities, many sheep carrying very fine fleeces, others middling, and some rather indifferent ; but the whole is much improved from the quality of the original Spanish Merinos. In carcass and appearance I hesi- tate not to say they are the most unsightly flock of the kind I ever met with. The Spaniards entertained an opinion that a looseness of skin imder the throat, and other parts, contributed to the increase of fleece. This system the French have so much enlarged on that they have produced, in this flock, individuals with dewlaps almost down to the knees, and folds of skin on the neck, like frills, covering nearly the head. Several of these animals seem to possess pelts of such looseness of size that one skin would nearly hold the carcasses of two such sheep. The pelts are particu- larly thick, which is unusual in the Merino sheep. The rams' fleeces were stated at 14 lbs., and the ewes' 10 lbs., in the grease. By washing they would be re- duced half, thus giving 7 and 5 lbs. each." Washed, in the American way, these rams' fleeces FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBAKDET. 21 would liave jdelded an average of about 9^ lbs., and the ewes' fleeces, about 6j lbs. Trimmer described only tbe Eoyal flock. It ap- pears tbat it was already beginning to be outstripped, in weight of fleece and size of carcass, by private ones. On tbis subject I prefer to quote the language of John A. Taintor, Esq., of Hartford, Connecticut, by far tbe "most extensive importer of Preneb sheep into the United States, and a gentleman long fami- liar with all the National varieties of the Merino. It will add to the interest of his remarks on this subject to mve his reasons for preferring the French, J Mb cJcisms on other vaLties. f should say] in justice to Mr. Taintor, that his letter to me, from which I quote, was written in haste, on the eve of a journey, and with no expectation that I would adopt its phraseology in making use of its facts. But its terse and careless off-handedness does not de- tract from its value. He writes (dated January 2d, 1862 :) " In 1828 I imported a lot of Saxony sheep, and, at various times, have selected, in Trance, nearly one thousand of their best Merinos. In 1842 my friend, D. 0. OolHns, of this city (Hartford), bought, by my advice, fourteen ewes and two rams of the JEioyal flock at EambouiUet. About half of them were ^good sheep, but for want of care and attention the importation was of but little value to the owner or the country, * ^ ^ ^' I caiinot aiford to keep any other sheep (for wool) but French Merinos. 1 call them iest because they pay best, and that is the true test. ITot the sheep that can crawl through the year with the least possible care and feed, but one generously fed and cared for, and bred with close attention and judgment, with always an eye for the most valuable 22 FINE WOOL SHEEP HtTSBANDBY. fleece for tlie maimfactuTer, and tlie most yalnablo carcass for the bntclier. "Since 1828 I liave teen seyen times across tlie water, and at one time took a year and a lialf to visit every part of Europe, and examine the flocks and see the owners, hear all they had to say, and then nse my own judgment. Ton are aware that the Spanish Me- rinos have become almost lost. They are so small, neglected, and miserable, that I wonld not take one of them even as a present, " Improved machinery, too, has had a ruinons ejBPect on the Saxony flocks, as they have learned the art of using medium wool in the place of very fine. The sheep of Saxony, proper, are more than half a million less in number than ten years ago. "In France, the Koyal flock (now the private pro- perty of the Emperor), at Rambouillet, which, for years, attracted all the sheep masters of Europe to its annual auction sale, bred the fleece so fine, and the animals so delicate, that they could no longer attract attention ; and, four years ago, they changed the plan, and now sell (when they can) at private sale. The sheep have no wool on the head or legs, and but little on the belly. They are ruined by high breeding. The wool is short and fine. " In Prance forage is more than double the price that it is in this country. The price of mutton is also about double, and the price of wool, on the average of the last fifteen years, about twenty-four to twenty- six cents per pound, always in the grease. Ewes' fleeces average 14 lbs. (in flocks of 5001 and rams 20 lbs. to 24: lbs. Say average weight for ewes (all ages) 100 lbs., and rams 200 lbs. One ram I bought (for 3,000 francs or $600) weighed 309 lbs., carrying a fleece, unwashed, of thirty-two lbs. Eair estimate of loss, in cleansing, sixty per cent. " It is from this class of flocks I have selected my Merinos. It is from wool of this class that the fine PINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 23 rrencli muslin de lames are made, as it Las lengtli of staple and fineness, with requisite stxength, wliicli is all important, " Three years ago a gentleman sent me, from Estre- madura, a number of SpanisL. Merino fleeces as a sam- ple (as circnmstances did not allow me to see Ms flock when in Spain). They were little wads of fleeces. I can send yon one if you have any curiosity to see it,"^ The remarkable fact is made to appear, from these statements of Mr. Taintor, that, at the period of his importations, there were flocks of 500 in I'rance which produced 14 lbs. of wool to the ewe, and from 20 to 24 lbs. to the rams. If we are to suppose the belly and tag wool excluded from these also, then the ewes produce nearly 9 lbs. 6 oz., and the rams about 14 lbs. 11 oz. of brook-washed wool. If, as I conjecture, grown sheep are only referred to here, the weight of the ewes probably averaged not far from 150 lbs., and the rams at least 200 Ibs.f I have traced do^n the history of these sheep to the period of their comparatively recent emigration to the United States, although two or three importa- * One of these fleeces has been forwaided to me. It is in the dirt, and weighs five lbs. eleven oz. It is difficult to judge its exact qual- ity, as exposure to the air has converted much of it to the color of a sponge, and altered its appearance in other particulars. It is about as long as American Menno wool— is not very even in quality, and I think I am not mistaken in saying that in fineness it would be below mediocrity in any prime full blood American flock. Having been sent among specimens from Spain it ought to be up, at least, to the average quality and quantity of fleeces in that country. f I have seen flocks of Mr, Taintor's imported sheep, and their im- mediate descendants, numbering thirty or forty each, and I judge this about the average weight of the fuU grown ewes when in good con- dition. They varied from 125 to 180 lbs.— an occasional one reaching 200 lbs. 24: FIl^E WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. tions of tliem, liereafter to be mentioned, were made about tlie "beginning of the present centnry. Bnt I cannot learn that all of the latter included more than a dozen living sbeep on tbeir arrival in this country. And it is probable eitber tbat these were soon mixed with the Spanish Merinos of the country, or else that they had not yet obtained established characteristics differing sufficiently from those of the latter to found a separate family. At least no family, bearing any resemblance to the present French sheep, sprung from them. The Saxon Mermo. Though France took priority in the introduction of the emigrant Merinos, Saxony effected an earlier suc- cessfal colonization of them. In 1Y66 Prince Xavier, administrator of the Electorate during the minority of the Elector, Frederick Christian, obtained the per- mission of his brother-in-law, the King of Spain, to introduce three hundred Merinos into Saxony, and other flocks on Bnbse,ue.t occasions. It is understood that the sheep were principally drawn from the Es- curial cabana. The course of breeding adopted in the Electoral and private establishments tended to develop an ex- treme fineness of wool at a material sacrifice of other properties. Size of carcass, weight of fleece, and constitutional vigor, were rapidly diminished. The loss of hardiness was mot by an extreme care of the animal, extending to those minute and methodical arrangements which are so congenial to the spirit of German agriculture, and which were rendered economically practicable by the cheapness of labor. FIIN^E WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 25 The sheep were housed during the winter (usually in spacious and well arranged structures of brick or stone). They were housed at night, and generally brought in for a time at noon, in the warm weather ; their carefully selected and constantly varying food was portioned out to them with the strictest nicety ; they had a daily routine, and a monthly routine of nutriment ; they were never allowed to go out when dew was on the grass ; they were most carefully pro- tected from rain, and fed in stables during its con- tinuance ; they were not allowed to run on particular kinds of ground in damp weather, etc., etc. And, during the yeaning season, the regularity and care of the attendance they received did not fall far short of those of a human lying-in hospital. These sheep, when introduced into the United States, lacked at least one-lifth, and often more, of the weight of the parent Spanish Merino, as it then was : they were longer legged in proportion to size, slimmer, finer boned, and thinner in the neck and head. At every point they gave indications of a more delicate organization. Their fleeces averaged from one and a half to two pounds of washed wool in ewes, and from two to three pounds in rams. There was sufficient yolk in the fleece to give it pliancy and brilliancy, but the yolk was colorless, limpid, and easily liberated in washing. It never assumed a viscid, waxy con- sistency, or became indurated into "gum'' either within or on the outer extremity of the wool, and consequently having nothing on the surface to catch and retain dirt, the fleece remained almost white ex- ternally. The stanle unstretched was usually from an inch to 3 26 FINE wool. SHEEP HUSBAKBEY. ail incli and a half in length, on the hack and sides, shorter on the helly, and formed a considerably less compact mass than that of the Spanish Merino. In the hest sheep, the surface of the fleece was smooth and even (as if it had heen cut off at a uniform length), and it broke into masses of some size ; but in inferior animals the wool grew in small discon- nected tufts, which ended in points externally ; these fell apart on the shoulder and along the back, and in some instances partly hung down like hair or Leices- ter wool, instead of standing at right angles to the surface. The last indicated extreme thinness of fleece. When to this was added a gauzy, half-peeled nose and ear — an ear as thin and almost as transparent as parchment— a pale skin, a carcass without depth and about six inches thick, a camel-shaped neck, and long spider legs, the " lower deep" of debility and de- generacy was reached. But there was an atoninai: beauty about the wool of the Sa^on wMch it ^as Lard to resist. It flashed with such a gem-like lustre ; it was so beautifully fine and even ; it had such an exquisite downiness of touch, that all other wool seemed base by the side of it. I haye seen it so pliant, that a lock of it held upright by the outer end, between a thumb and finger, and gently played up and down, would bend and dance like a plume. According to Touatt's measurements, the fibre was about ^i^ of an inch in diameter ; but he did not ob- tain fine specimens of the wool. This variety had " touched bottom" in physical de- generacy at the period of its importation to the United States, and a reaction was commencing in breeding. riNE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDBT, 27 As tliere Laye been recent American importations of them, I will present a brief view of the present prime sheep of Grermany. That the former inferiority both in weight of fleece and carcass continues to exist in the flocks of Saxony, Silesia, and all parts of Germany where these sheep have become established, is certain. But snch breeders as Baron Yon Sternbnrg in Saxony, Prince Lichnowsky and Mr. Fischer in Silesia, and varions large proprietors in Hungary, have bred on the principle that good size and compactness of form and fleece are essential to profit. Von Stern- burg (Alexander Speck Yon Sternbnrg, generally called Baron Speck by Americans) is now better known in this country than any other G-erman breed- er. I think most if not all of onr late Saxon im- portations have been made from his admirable flock. In a letter to Mr. Wright, the American Minister to Berlin, written in 1859,^ the Baron gave the follow- ing as the average weights of his sheep : fall grown rams, 110 lbs. ; ewes, 82 lbs. ; wethers when fat for the butcher, 110 lbs. to 115 lbs. The average weight of the washed fleeces of his ewes was 2 lbs, 7 oz. ; of his wethers, 2 lbs. 8 oz, ; of his yearlings, 2 lbs. 5 oz. : of his rams, 4 lbs. to 6 lbs. 14 oz. The flock numbers 1,200. His best ewes undoubtedly produce as much as 3 lbs. a head, and kept in smaller flocks and pampered, would produce nearly or quite 3 lbs. 4 oz. Mr. Charles L. Meichmann, formerly draughtsman * For liis sensible and practical letter containing much information m respect to Grerman sheep husbandly, see Patent Office Beport, 185^, p 288. 28 FIKE WOOL SHEEP HCSBANDRT. of tte United States Patent Office, attended tlie great meeting of German agriculturists at Breslan, in IS^S, wliere particular attention was given to tlie subject of wool ; and tliat gentleman communicated the re- sult of Ms very minute observations in an instruc- tive paper prepared at the request of the Commis- sioner of Patents * In this paper, the sheep of the manor of Alcsuth, in Hungary, are mentioned as a flock of high reputation throughout Germany. I do not observe that their average weight of carcass is given, but Mr. Pleichmann speaks of their "sur- prising size" and says, "there are some rams that measure five feet from the muzzle to the root of the tail, and twenty-nine inches from the bottom to the chine.^t The average weight of their fleeces was as fol- lows : rams 3 lbs., wethers 3 lbs. 8 oz., ewes 2 lbs. 8 oz., lambs 14 oz. The wool was extremely well washed. The flock numbered ten thousand. A di- minution of numbers, a selection of the heaviest fleeced, and pampering, would produce the same in- crease in the weight of wool that has been assumed the like circumstances would produce in the Baron Yon Sternburg's flock. The Baron sells his wool from 2s, 8d. to 3s. 2d. per pound (English currency, I take it). The Alc- suth wool was sold in 1838 for 72]- cents a pound, in ^ See Patent Office Report, 1841, p. 239, et seq. f This is a considerably longer and taller slieep than the Spanish Merino, or than the American Merino of approved size and form. See Petri's table, already given, with subjoined American measurements, and remarks. I cannot think that such length and height -would find any favor in Germany, in animals producing only three pounds of wool* rmE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAKBRY. 29 1839 for 79 cents, and in 1840 and 1841, wlien prices were depressed, for 64 cents. At Breslau is the most celebrated wool market of G-ermanj, frequented by mannfactnrers and wool mer- chants from England, France, Belgium, Enssia, and other nations. The following table of what is abont the average annnal prices of the seven qualities into which the German fine wools are sorted, will be found instructive for the purposes of comparison :* Cwt. ^ r^dchthalers. Dolls. 3, 000 are of the finest quality and average about , 130 = 98 per cwt, 4,000 110 «= T7 do. 5,000 10O=« 10 do. 10,000 90 =« 63 do. 15,000 80= 56 do. 15,000 ^0= 49 do. 8,000 50a60 =35a42 do. Baron Von Sternburg's sheep farm has some other stock. He realizes 5|- per cent, from the whole, and appears well satisfied with his profits. It is probably a high rate of profit for any of the great German or Hungarian sheep establishments. Tlie SilesiaH Merino. There is not, perhaps, properly speaking, any dis- tinct family of Merinos entitled exclusively to this appellation. There are in Prussian Silesia numerous flocks descended from the Saxon, Merinos, and not a few descended from Merinos brought direct from Spain. In the only important importation made from Silesia to the United States, of which I have information, the sheep belong to the latter class, * See Pleichmann's paper, Patent Office Eeport, 1841[, p. 293. 30 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. and so far as tMs country is concerned they have re- ceived the distinctive name of Silesian Merinos. I will reserve a description of this flock, until the subject of importations of Merinos into the United States is specially considered. Introduction of Merinos into the United States. In 1793, William Foster, of Boston, Massachusetts, heing on his return from a residence at Cadiz, in Spain, "with much difficulty and risk" got out of that kingdom, and brought home with him three Merino sheej) — ^two ewes and one ram. Their fate was some- what characteristic of American knowledge of sheep at that time. Mr. Foster writes: "Being about to leave this country for France, soon after my arrival in Boston, I presented these sheep to Mr. Andrew Craigie, of Cambridge, who, not knowing their value at that time, ^ simply ate them,' as he told me years after when I met him at an auction buying a Merino ram for $1,000."* In 1801, Dupont de ISTemours, the head of the com- mission appointed by the French government to select, in Spain, the large flock of Merinos given up by the latter by the treaty of Basle, together with a Mr. De- lessert, a Parisian banker, shipj)ed four ram lambs to America, three of them intended for farms owned by those gentlemen in the United States, and the fourth * George Livermore, Esq,, of Boston, writes me: "Mr. Foster is still liying at the advanced age of nearly ninety years, and I have this day called on him, and heard from his own Hps an account of his importation of Merino sheep substantially the same as that given ahove (January 20, 1862)." FINE WOOL SlIEKP UUSBxlNDKY. 31 for President Jefferson. Tliree perished on tlie pas- sage, but ttie other arrived safely, and lived to effect a vast deal of good/^" Later, tlie same year, Mr. Setli Adams, of Zanes- ville, OMo, imported a pair of Spanish sheep which had been carried into France. They arrived in Bos- ton in October, and received the ]3i'€imium of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, the following year.-j* In 1802, Mr. Livingston, the American Minister in France, sent home two pairs of Merinos to his estate on the Hudson. They were purchased from the French IsTational flock, at the Veterinary school, at Chalons. They cost him, delivered at Paris, five miles distant, 1,200 francs, and about twice that sum deliv- ered at his farm, though the patriotic captain of the vessel refused to take any freight4 One of his rams * "Don Pedro" was taken to Dupont's place, near New York. In 1802 he was placed on Delessert's farm, called Rosendale, near King- ston, IsT. T., and was used there for four years. In 1805 Delessert rented his farm, and sold his sheep at auction. The ram was bongh.t by Dupont's agent for sixty doUars- The half and three-quarter blood ewes were sold to the surrounding farmers "at a price inferior to that of common sheep," and above half of them " perished of neglect tlie following winter." (Preface to Livingston's Essay.) Chancellor Livingston found twenty-four of them and bought them after the in- troduction of his Merinos. "Don Pedro" was removed, in 1808, to E. I. Dupont's farm, near Wilmington, Delaware. That spirited gen- tleman offered the ram's services gratuitously to his neighbors, but scarcely any of them availed themselves of the offer I He, however, founded a valuable flock for his owner. This superb animal, for that day, weighed 138 lbs., and his fleece, well washed in cold water, 8 lbs. 8 oz. His wool was fine and even, and he was a model of form. f Mr. Adams published this statement m the Albany Cultivator many years ago, and its authenticity has never been disputed. :[: They were treated, on their arrival, exactly like his other slieep — 32 FraE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. is figured from a drawing furnished by himself, in Vol. I, of the " Transactions of the {N, T.) Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufac- tures." It represents a low, compact animal, with a smooth, long face, a skin free from folds on any part, and legs without w^ool below the knees. Though somewhat o\xt of drawing, it is, obviously, the figure of a class of Merinos very common twenty years ago, and yet to be found in ordinary unimproved flocks. The type is essentially Spanish, there not being the most remote resemblance to the French sheep of the present day. Mr. Livingston made another importation of a sin- gle French ram in 1807, and he speaks of having pur- chased some choice ewes brought to France from Spain. Eut I do not learn that the latter ever arrived in this country. His sheep attracted no special notice until 1807 or 1808, when he began to sell his rams for $150 apiece.* Half-blood rams and ewes, bred from his rams on common sheep, sold for twelve dollars a piece. This eminent public benefactor had too many pur- fed on hay, and had no shelter. Thej brought two lambs the first year, and three of them (he had let his brother have one of the rams) sheared 11 lbs. of washed wool — nearly 3 lbs. 12 oz. each. The next year the lambs came in January, "were neglected, and died I" In 1805 "one of the ewes was sick and brought no lamb; the other dropped a ewe lamb ; and the five fleeces (from the three old sheep and two shearlings), when washed, weighed 18 lbs., besides the tags and waste wool," upwards of 3 lbs. 8 oz. each. The Chancellor "thought this a considerable yield from smaU sheep, kept upon hay, in a flock with twenty other sheep I" See Livingston's Essay, &c., in 1806, subsequently expanded into his more elaborate Essay of 1809. * I'or a choice one raised by himself, ten months old, he refused $1,000. FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 83 suits to be able to give mncb of Ms personal attention to breeding. His sbeep improved, and were of good quality, but be established no distinct family, of special value, which has survived until the present time. In the same year with Mr. Livingston's first im- portation (1802), Colonel Humphreys,'^ the American Minister in Spain, being about to return from that country, after an official residence in it of seven years, brought home with him a flock of Merinos, I quote the following statements from Ms " Dissertation," &c., addressed to the Massachusetts " Society for Promoting Agriculture" (August 25^ 1802) : " Convinced that this race of sheep, of which, I be- lieve, not one had been brought to the United States until the importation by myself,f might be introduced with great benefit to our country, I contracted with a person, of the most respectable character, to deliver to me, at Lisbon, one hundred, composed of twenty-five rams and seventy-five ewes, from one to two years old. They were conducted with proper passports, across the country of Portugal, by-three Spanish shepherds, and escorted by a small guard of Portuguese soldiers- On the tenth of April last they were embarked in the Tagus, on board the ship Perseverance, of 250 tons, Caleb Coggeshall, master. In about fifty days, twenty- one rams, and seventy ewes were landed at Derby, Connecticut, they having been shifted, at New York, * He was an aide-de-camp of Washington in the ReYolution, and an inmate of his family at Mount Vernon from 1788 to 1*190. He was an elegant, learned, and public-spirited gentleman. f Livingston said his own " arrived safely in the spring of 1 802, and were, he believed, the first couples ever imported into the United States." (Pref. to Essay,) It is probable, therefore, Livingston's arrived a little the earliest. The point is of no consequence, but I am told it created some feehng in its day. 2^ S4: FINE WOOL SIIKEP HUSBANDRY. on board of a sloop destined to that river. The nine winch died were principally killed in consequence of brnises received by the violent rolling of the vessel on the banks of JSTewfoiindland."* It does not appear, from his writings, that Colonel Humphreys paid any attention to the diJfference in the cabanas in Spain.f It has been suggested to me, by * See Col. Humphreys' Works, p. 349. In tMs gentleman's poem "On the Industry of the United States of America," after a glowing doscription of the times : " When true utility, •with taste allied, Shall make our homespun garbs our ligation's pride," he proceeds to say — "Not guarded Colchis gave admiring Greece So rich a treasure in its golden fleece. " Oh, might my guidance from the downs of Spain, Lead a white flock across the western main ; Pamed, like the bark that bore the Argonaut, Should be the vessel with the burden fraught 1 Clad in the raiment my Merinos yield. Like Oincinnatus, fed from my own field, Par from ambition, grandeur, care, and strife, In sweet fruition of domestic life ; There would I pass, with friends, beneath my trees, What rests from public life in lettered ease." f "I am indebted to George Livermore, Esq., of Boston, for several MSS. letters of Colonel Humphreys, specially on the subject of his sheep, addressed to different correspondents, and not one of them mentions or alludes to this subject. If I recollect aright the name of any separate cabana does not occur in Ms published papers. He was the son of a clergyman, and, not long after leaving college, entered the army. During his two years' residence at Mount Yernon he doubtless acquired many agricultural tastes, but he could have known httle or nothing of it practically until his return from Spain. Prior to that pe- riod his leisure hours appear to have been devoted to polite literature. Ho does not mention ever even seeing any of the great Spanish flocks ; and alone mentions, as the sourcf^s of the information given by him in his Dissertation, " the facts stated, in some instances, by respectable individuals, and, in others, by oiScial reports." FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 35 a most inteEigent correspondent, tlaat, being an am- bassador, be was, probably, allowed to draw Hs sbeep from the Escurial flock, and I find that tbis impression is somewbat prevalent. Tbose wbo bave read bis writings, and observed tbe old-scbool ceremonious conrtesy, as well as tbe otber tastes developed in tbem, will bave no difficulty in arriving at a very posi- tive conclusion tbat, bad Colonel Hnmpbreys been indebted to any proprietor of a cabana for a selection from bis flock, or for any otber particular favor in tbe premises, tbe fact would bave been carefully stated. It is to be presumed be made inquiries in tbe proper place, and was referred to a tborougbly capable, as well as "respectable" person, to make tbe purcbases for bim, and tbere is no doubt tbe commission was most intelligently and faitbfuUy executed. ls"o flock enjoyed a better early reputation in our country, and none enjoys a better traditional reputation now. "Witb tbe Spanisb ideas in respect to mixing cabanas, sucb a Spanisb agent as be employed would not bave pro- cured different varieties as tbe foundation of a flock. It is singular bow few tilings, in relation to tbese sbeep, can now be agreed on by different recoUectors; and tbe contemporaneous descriptions are usually so vague and general tbat tbey wiU. apply to one variety as well as anotber. In a manuscript letter of Colonel Humpbreys, be fore me, be says, as if be tbougbt it wortby of note, tbat a ram, raised on bis farm, yielded 7 lbs. 5 oz, of wasbed wool. In an Essay, obviously written by a gentleman, and a man of tbe first intelligence and standing, but wbosename is torn from tbe copy before me. tbere is a more careful description tban I bave 36 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAHDEY. elsewhere seen, of a full-blood ram of tliis flock, owned by Mr. BulHey, of PMladelpHa, and lent by Mm to tbe writer in 1807."^ This ram was very small, very fine, and produced but 4 lbs. of washed wool His " length of staple was somewhat less than that of Mr. Livingston's rams." " He was extremely gentle, and strongly marked with the carnation hue of skin ; had spiral horns, and brownness of fleece surface, all of which qualities he faithfully transmitted to his progeny in their tisual proportions." The " brownness penetra- ted to some depth from the surface." His lambs, w^hen they came, were " covered with coarse hairs," to the great suspicion of their paternity, until it was found this hair dropped ofl', and that his subsequent crops of lambs exhibited the same peculiarity. Here we have a distinct hint of Paular or Infantado character- istics. Yet Colonel Humphreys' sheep could scarcely have been Paulars without some one alluding to their throatiness — a point which then attracted peculiar notice, both because it was unusual and regarded as unsightly. Besides, the sheep we now have among us, which can trace a clear descent from Colonel Hum- phreys' flock, are not marked by this peculiarity unless it has been bred on them within the last fifteen or twenty years. It can hardly be presumed that the American Ambassador would have been placed by his Spanish acquaintances in the hands of an agent who would have purchased from an obscure flock, or one not among the first. I do not build up a hypothesis '*• This writer mentions that life wrote the article on wool in the Cyclopaedia; and he was the importer of the Uack Mermo'? next to be described I have had considerable search made in Philadelphia to discover his name, but as yet without success. riNE WOOL SHEEP IIUSBAi^DEY. 37 on the single fact above given ; it is only one among a number of scattering hints and circumstances wMci. have led me to the opinion that the sheep were from the cabana of the Dnke of Infantado/^* One thing is certain. No snch ram as Mr. Bulk- ley's conld have been of Escnrial blood. And the darkest and yolkiest sheep bred in the United States (Mr. Stephen Atwood's family), which trace directly to sheep bred by Colonel Humphreys, cannot be de- scended from the whitest and dryest fleeced sheep of Spain. ^ Judging from the statements in Colonel Humphreys' manuscript letters lying before me, he not only found great satisfaction but great success in breeding his sheep. The very ones he brought from Spain, he says, increased half a pound in their fleeces ; and their descendants continued to improve in that and every other particular. He speaks glowingly of their hardi- ness and propensity to fatten: and in the his-hest terms of tL/B..tton. This gentW. (to who^ the farmers of New England should erect a statue) died in 1818, when causes, hereafter to be detailed, had sunk the Merinos into contempt and neglect. His invalua- ble sheep were then scattered, and, as a general thing, they appear to have fallen into the hands of those who attached no great value to their blood, for I can learn of but two or three instances where they were preserved distinct after 1826 ; and it is a lesson of * Colonel Humplireys ^yas a favorite at both, tlxe courts of Portu- gal and Spain. He had been made Mghly wealthy by marriage. H© had the means to pay for the best ; and those who know any thing of him, know how absurd it would be to suppose he failed to instruct his agent to obtain the bofct. 38 FINE WOOL SnEEP HUSBANBEY, some value to those wto term themselves " breeders," to know tliat those who had the good sense or good luck thus to preserve them in their purity were far- mers of little information, and wholly obscure until their connection with these sheep raised them to notoriety, ]ij[r. ^^ of Philadelphia, had, as early as 1796-'97, sent on order to Spain for a Merino ram. The animal reached the Capes of Delaware safely, but was there washed overboard in a storm. He sent an order for a pair in 1801, instead of which two pairs of hlacJc ones reached him in 1803 I This he supposed done to " increase the profit of the commis- sion," for black Merinos " cost but little, being held in no estimation in Spain." This gentleman bred from these assiduously for a few years, but nobody would buy them, and they had to be abandoned. Mr. Mnller imported a pair of Merinos from the flock of the Prince of Hesse Cassel in 1807, and they, and their descendants, were kept about Philadelphia, and in K'ew Jersey and Delaware. James Caldwell, Esq., of Philadelphia, interbred, with success, betw^een tliese and sheep from Colonel Humphreys' flock. But by far the most extensive and important impor- tations of Spanish Merinos into the United States w-ere * See second note Iback, and the text to ■wMeh it is appended. I find tliis account of his importation of black sheep in the fragmentary Essay mentioned in such text. The Essay will be found in a volume of the State Agricultural Library, made up of miscellaneous papers and extracts. It appears to have been pubhshed in 1808 or 1809. The author says the price of his sheep, in Spain, was $60, freight §20 The quantity of wool yielded by the two rams was 4=1 and 4^ lbs. ; by the ewes, 3^ and 3 J- lbs. This was washed wool, I suppose. FINE "WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 39 tlms described in a letter to me, in 1841/^ from Hon. William Jarvis, the principal person engaged in them : " "When the second irruption of the French armies into Spain, in the winter of 1809, drove the Spanish Junto from Madrid to Badajos, the Junto was with- out money and without resources, and they durst not levy any taxes on the Estremaduras lest they should disgust that province, and the people should declare in favor of the Trench. No alternative was, there- fore, left them other than to sell the four flocks of Merinos which had been confiscated witli the other property of four grandees who had joined France, with license to transport them out of Spain. Those flocks were the Paular, which had belonged to the celebrated Prince of Peace, the ISTegretti, which had belonged to the Conde Campo de Alange, the Aqueirres (the wool of which was known in England as the Muros, this flock having been the property of the Moors before their expulsion from Spain), which had belonged to the Conde de Aqueirres, and the Montarco, which had be- longed to the Conde of that name. These flocks were then in the vicinity of Badajos, and, when confis- cated, the two former numbered about five thousand each, and the two latter about twenty thousand each ; but they had been reduced, by being unceremoni- ously slaughtered for the use of the armies, to about seven thousand five hundred Paulars, six thousand Negrettis, four thousand Montarcos, and three thou- sand Aqueirres. Four thousand of the Paular flock were sent to the King of England, in compliance with the application of his Minister, and General Downie and I purchased the remainder. Sir Charles Stewart, the British Minister, purchased the Negretti flock, of which I selected a small part, and the remainder he * Publisbed in tlie Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society that year. 40 FINE -WOOL SHEEP IIOSBANDKY. sent to England. I also pnrchased about one thousand tliree liandred A-* T-4 CO 003 OSW C3si(3 O Oi OOO-I •is CO CM CO o«o r-t OSO lO r-lr-t OS b-'r-* cm" coco 53 carh ■^ 1 t-'on OS orcN ^ P'i. T-^ipi-Hr-'$t-oosT-<'**--«oCCCSJCOo -^ r-i CO go ©2 /J a o Q a g ..... .oo OS«C> . • . . . OS Tf^ * I I I I .23 53? I ; C I I oj i-< .CO T-* «w < •tH CO c^ »o ^- .-< CO flSi o O « O O no rH --J oq_-rd< O C/5 iO »0 CO_ t-J"*-- OS 1-" >rf OS ir— O* CM rH 1-t lO 00 CO cNcooaoSi .«pCOCOOx!t*05C» HUSBANDEY. jSieeccSj &c., &c. It wonld be difficult to give the cliaraeteristics of these various importations of sheep, as there has been so great a difference in them, they having been of all kinds and qualities, from good to very inferior. Some of them have been of large size, were well proportioned, being short in the leg, broad in the chest, had strong hardy constitu- tions, were easily kept, and always in good condi- tion. With ordinary care and on ordinary feed, they sheared heavy fleeces, and their wool was even and of good quality, while others of them, and by far the greatest number, v/ere the opposite of these in all the different qualities mentioned, some having been the discarded and refused sheep of good ilocks, and others were grade sheep from flocks having no reputation as being of strictly pure blood ; but these kinds of sheep were bought up by speculators at low prices, brought to this coxmtry and sold on the reputation and credit of the better class of Trench sheep that had been previously imported. They were long in the leg and long in the neck ; were slab-sided, thin-visaged, gaunt, thin through the shoulders, narrow in the chest ; their constitutions so puny and delicate that it was impossible to keep them in fair condition even with the best possible care and attention; their fleeces were light,^ their wool uneven in quality, some being quite too fine for profit (because too lifi:ht), while others would be exceedingly coarse and filled with jar. In France, as in this country, there are all descriptions and grades of sheep, and it does not follow, as is sup- posed by many, that all that have been imported from there are of the same kind and quality, even if called by the same name. *^ ^ ^ -^- " In answer to your inquiry as to the weight of fleece of the French sheep and their live weight, I can only reply by giving the result of my own flock. My French rams have generally sheared from 18 to 24 pounds of an even year's growth, and imwashed ; FIJS^E WOOL SlirKP nUSBAKBKY. 85 but some of tliem, witli liigli keeping and liglit nse, have sheared more, and my yearling rams have generally sheared from 15 to 22 pomids each. My breeding and yearling ewes have never averaged as low as 15 pounds each, unwashed, taking the entire flock. Some of them have sheared over 20 pounds each, but these were exceptions, being large and in high condition. " The live weight of any animal of course depends very much upon its condition, My yearling ewes usually range from 90 to 130 pounds each, and the grown ewes from 130 to 170 pounds each, and I have had some that weighed over 200 pounds each ; but these would be above the average size and in high iiesh. My yearling rams usually weigh from 120 to 180 poimds each, and my grown rams from 180 to 250 pounds each — some of them have weighed over 300 pounds each, but these were unusually large and in high flesh and in full fleece. I have had ram lambs w^eigh 120 pounds at seven months old, but they were more thrifty, fleshy, and larger than usual at that age, " As you request the height from the top of the shoulder to the ground, I have measured some of those of m-edium height, and find that yearling ewes run from 26 to 28 inches, the grown ewes from 28 to 30 inches, the yearling rams from 28 to 32 inches, and the grown rams from 30 to 34 inches. You also in- quire the color of the great body of French sheep, externally ; what color the wool is when opened on the sheep, whether the oil in the wool is white or yel- low, and if they exhibit much gum ? " When running out and exposed to the storms, they are, as a whole, light-colored when compared with the Spanish Merinos, for the reason that they have much less yolk or gum in their fleeces, besides their oil oi yolk is more of a soap-like substance, and separates from their wool so readily tliat the rains will wasL their surface comparatively clean, leaving them light 86 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. colored, while the oil or gum of tlie Spanish Merino is so adhesive and sticky it is difficulty and in many of them impossible, to wash it out of their wool by ordinary brook-washing ; and as it is the yolk or oily matter contained in the fleece, causing the dnst and other matter to adhere to it, w^hich gives the external color, the Spanish Merinos are generally darker on the surface than the French, and it is this excess of oil in the Spanish Merino which causes their fleeces to lose so large a percentage in weight when cleansed for manutaeturers' use. Experiments made with the two kinds of wool, by reliable and experienced manufac- turers have j)roved that as much cloth can be made of the same number of pounds of unwashed French Merino wool as can be made of an equal number of pounds of Ivook-wasJied Spanish Merino wool in the condition it is usually sold. " In answer to your inquiry as to the color of the wool of the French sheep when opened on the back, and if their oil is white or yellow, I would say their w^ool is generally of a cream-color, or has a yellowish cast, and the oil or yolk in their fleece is a similar color ; still, when washed, their wool is of a pure white. " The wool of some of the French sheep is natiirally quite white when opened on the body, without being washed ; but I have invariably found those having the whitish wool (when alike in other respects) were the lightest shearers."^ The following statement of E. L. Gage, of De Euyter, N, T. (made in behalf of his father and himself), contains interesting details in respect to the management of these sheep, by persons whose skill and success in that particular have not been ex- celled : * This letter is dated January 11, 1862, FINE WOOL SHEKP HDSEANDEY. 87 " We bred French slieep, from September, 1852, till Eebriiaiy, 1861. Our first purchase was of John A. Taintor, of Hartford, Conn. AVe have since bought of John D. Patterson, of Westfield, Chautau- qua Co., N. Y., and F. M. Eotch, Morris, Otsego Co., ]Sr. T. About forty is the most we had at any one time. '' The average weight of the ewes' fleeces was 10 lbs. 8 ozs., well washed. " In addition to hay in winter, we fed them about a pint of a mixture of grain and roots each per day. " We also fed a small amount of grain in summer, to attract them to the barn at night for their safety from dogs. '' They were always kept housed in winter, except on clear days, when they were allowed to go out or in at will. They were also allowed to go into the shed at will in summer. " The French Merinos always afforded us good re- turns in wool and lambs. The ewes were good nurses, often bearing twins. Our full-grown rams weighed from 180 to 225 pounds ; the ewes from 125 to 170 pounds. " We sold our entire flock of French Merinos and crosses to J. D. Patterson, Esq., last winter. " We have now commenced a flock of pure blood Spanish Merinos of the Atwood and Hammond stock, and have about fifty in all. " With the experience we have in both breeds, it is our impression that the Spanish are the most profita- ble for all classes of wool growers, and will keep iu better condition on short keep and rough usage ; but it always paid us better to keep well than poorly. Part of our Spanish ewes sheared last spring lbs. washed, and a part 8 lbs. 4 oz. unwashed. I think by good breeding and care a few generations, we can in- 88 MhE AVOOL SIliiDP IIDSBANDKY. crease tlie lieft very mncli. I enclose two samples of "wool, from two of the ewes."*^"* I subsequently inquired of these gentlemen whether their French sheep were driven to the barns at night, and in rain storms in summer, or if they went there without dri\dng. Their reply was, that they some- times drove them in during cold rain storms in the fall, but otherwise not ; that, however, the sheep gen- erally went under shelter at all times when wetted by rain ; that in fair nights they " seemed to prefer sleep- ing out in the yards." The means used to guard them against dogs, brought them also to sleep on the dry straw of the barnyard, instead of the damp sod of the pasture. Introduction of the Silcsian Merino. Still another Eichmond was to appear in the field of competition — the exquisitely wooled Silesian Me- rino. The following account of its introduction and characteristics, is contained in a letter to me from the principal importer of the variety, William Chamber- lain, Esq., of Bed Hook, New York. He writes : " Tour favor, dated 24th ult., is received, and it gives me pleasure to furnish the required information in regard to my fiock of Silesian sheep, with full lib- erty to make such use of the facts as you please. " 1st. I have made importations for myself and George Campbell of Silesian sheep, as follows : In tlie year 1851, say 40 ewes and 15 bucks. " 1853, " 27 " 4 " " 1854, " HI " 13 " " 1856, « 34 " 2 » 212 » 34 * Tins letter is dated January 2, 1862. FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 89 " In 1864: 1 visited Silesia and made tlie purcliases myself. " 2d. The slieep were bred "by Louis Ksclierj of Wirchenblatt, Silesia, except a few which were bred by his near neighbor, Baron Weidebach, who used Fischer's breeders. 3d. Their origin is Spain. In 1811, Ferdinand Fis- cher, the father of Louis Fischer, the present owner of the flock, visited Spain himself and purchased one hundred of the best ewes he conld find of the Infan- tado flocks, and four bucks from the Nigretti flock, and took them home with him to Silesia, and up to the present day they have not been crossed with any other flocks or blood, but they have been crossed within the families. The mode pursued is to number every sheep, and give the same number to all her in- crease ; an exact record is kept in books, and thus Mr. Fischer is enabled to give the pedigree of every sheep he owns, running back to 1811, which is positive proof of their entire purity of blood. The sheep are peihaps not as large as they would be if a little other blood were infused ; but !Mr. Fischer claims that entire pu- rity of blood is indispensably necessary to insure uni- formity of improvement when crossed on ordinary wool grower's flocks ; and siLch is the general opinion of wool growers in Germany, Poland, and Kussia, which enables Mr. Fischer to sell at high prices as many bucks and ewes as he can spare ; and as he and his lather have enjoyed this reputation for so many years, I am fully of opinion that he is right. From these facts you will observe that my sheep are pure Spanish. ''4th. Medium aged ewes shear from 8 to 11 pounds; bucks from 12 to 16 pounds ; but in regard to ewes, it must be borue in mind that they drop their lambs from November to February, which hghtens the clip somewhat. I do not wash my sheep. 90 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDKY. " 5 til. I Imve sold my clip from 30 to 45 cents, ac- cording to the market. ^' 6th. We have measured the wool on quite a nmn- ber of sheep, and find it from one and a lialf to two inches long, say eight months' growth ; but I have no means of knowing what it would be at twelve months' growth. " 7th. Their external color is dark. The wool has oil, but no gum whatever, they having been bred so as to make them entirely free from gum — German manufacturers always insisting on large deductions in the price of wool where gum is found. " 8th. As above stated, the Silesians have oil, but no gum, like what are sold for Spanish and French, and the oil is white and free; the wool does not stick together. '' 9th. We have weighed five ewes. Three dropped their lambs last month ; the other two have not yet come in. Their weights are 115, 140, 130, 115, and 127 pounds; three bucks, weighing severally 146, 158, 155 pounds ; one yearling buck weighing 130 pounds; but this would be more than an average weight of my flock when young and very old sheep were brought into the average. My sheep are only in fair condi- tion, as I feed no grain. They have beets, which I consider very good for milk, but not so good for flesh as grain. '' 10th and 11th. For the first time my shepherd has measured some sheep ; ewes from 24 to 2S inches high, fore-leg 11 to 12 inches; bucks, 27 to 28 inches high, fore-leg 12 to 13|- inches. '* 12th. We find the Silesian hardy, much more so than a small flock of coarse mutton sheep that I keep and treat quite as well as I do the Silesians. "' 13th. They are first-rate breeders and nurses. " Some of these facts I have given on the statement of my shepherd, Carl ITyne, who was one of Mr. Fis- cher's shepherds, and came home with the sheep I MKE WOOL SHEEP IIUSBANDEY. 91 purchased in 1854, and a man wliose honor and in- tegrity I can fully indorse, '^My sheep do not deteriorate in this country, hnt the wool rather grows finer without any reduction in the weight of fleece."^ In a subsequent letter Mr. Chamberlain writes : " Cai4 has weighed a few more of our Silesian sheep, and their weights are as follows : Four full aged ewes, respectiyely, 120, 125, 107, 107 pounds; two ewe lambs, 90, 87 pounds; two two-year old bucks, 124, 122 pounds ; one three-fourths blood, 143 poxxn'ection " Here we have the solution of the Es- cunal cross ; and now for the Saxon : " I hare repeatedly heard him say his Merino ewes sheared about four pounds till he was persuaded l)y Mr. Shepherd [Ool. James Shepherd^ of isTorthampton, Mass ], the great manufacturer of that day, to get some Saxons to cross with, as the finest wool toas to he m the most demand in future ; and as re- peatedly heard him end his allusion to the subject by declaring that if he iiad thrown his pocket-book, with the price of the Saxons into the Connecticut river, as ho was crossing for the purchase of them, he fehould be better oil." 110 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. meneed. They are great favorites witli the farmers both of Vermont and New York, and are to be found in nearly every fine-wool growing comity of the latter. Mr. P. F. Myrtle and C. IST. Ackerson, of Steuben county, ]^ew York, have a very superior flock, and Gen. O. F. Marshall, Julius Stickney, and others, of the same county, fine specimens of them, descended from the flocks of Tyler Stickney and Erastus and Lucius Eobinson, of Vermont.^ I have not at hand any statement of their average weight of fleeces, but they rank high in this particular. Messrs. Myrtle and Ackerson cut 13 lbs. of well washed wool from a ram lamb, the carcass of which weighed 60 lbs. after shearing. Gen. Marshall cut 9 lbs. of well washed wool trom a ewe about sixteen months old, which weighed 45 lbs,f It had previously, of necessity, received two heavy taggings. These sheep have ob- tained several first state premiums. They cross ex- cellently with Merino flocks, pi-eviously in that county, owned bv the Messrs. Baker and others ; and indeed with all other Merino families with which I have known them to be intermixed. The mixed Leonese (Jarvis) and Paular (Eich) * Mr. Stickney and tbe Messrs. Robmson started with Paular (Rich) ewes. In 1844, Hon. M. W. Wright, of Shoreham, Vt., purchased a ram bred and brought to the Kew York State Fair by Stephen Atwood. From this ram and one of his own ewes, Erastus Eobm&ou bred the " Old Robinson Ram," whose descendants on Robinson ard Stickney ewes constitute the ^crossed family mentioned in the text. Mr. Stickney had taken a previous cross with a very superior Jarvis ram Whether his brother-in-law, Robinson, had done so I am noi informed. ■{ For some valuable and interesting statements in regard to the propoition of wool to meat in. sheep of different ages, sexes and sLses, see Appendix E. FIKE WOOL SHEEP HUSEANBKY. Ill families have been crossed successfully. " Fortune," one of the best early sire rams ever known in New England, was of this cross.'^ The ewes and ram with which I offered to meet Mr. Collins's imported French sheep in a sweepstakes, were the get of Fortune on Eich ewes. The late John T. Eich, Esq. (son of the first Yer- mont proprietor of the Paulars. and father of the present proprietors of the old Eich flock), took one cross with Mr. Jarvis's family, through a ram selected by a most competent judge,t who informs me that he was the only one of Mr. Jarvis's entire number which he considered suitable for that purpose. He was thicker-fleeced, darker, and more compact of form than the others, evidently breeding back less than the others to the Escurial strain of blood, and his get cor- responded with himself in this particular; but my impression is, that he did not beneht Mr. Eich's family. In a recent examination of that admirable flock (now ovmed by John T. Eich, the younger, and Yirtulan Eich, who lived on the old homestead in Shoreham, Termont), I found no difficulty whatever in selecting out the nearest descendants of the Jarvis ram, and they struck me much less favorably than those displaying the characteristics of the original family. These valuable sheep have kept pace with the improvements of later times without any sacrifice of their early valuable qualities. Hon. M. W. 0. Wright, of Shoreham, Yermont, commenced breeding with Paular sheep, and crossed * He was got by a Jarvis ram on a Bich ewe, bred or owned by Mr. Stickney. t Hon. M. W. 0. Wright 112 FME WOOL SHEBF HUSBAITBJBY. them witli mixed Leonese, and subsequently with In- fantado rams, thus uniting the three most distinguish- ed families of American Merinos. His rams were scattered widely through New York a few years since, and they and their descendants have given much satisfaction to purchasers who wished to breed a high quality of wool. They have obtained many pre- miums at our lairs. The Messrs. Cutting, of Shoreham, Yermont, have produced flocks of excellent character by a cross be- tween Infantado sheep and an early family of Meri- nos from Newport, Ehode* Island. They have bred steadily towards the former. Henry Lane, Esq., of Cornwall, Yermont, has bred superior sheep of the Paular and Infantado cross, and also pure Infantado sheep improved by Mr. Ham- mond. The same remark applies to Loyal C. Eeme- lee, of Shoreham. On the other hand, it has been signally demon- strated that crossing is much less necessary than has been usnallj^ supposed, either to avoid in-and-in bleeding, or to obtain characteristics not usual to the variety. The pure Infantado (Atwood) sheep have, in the space of eighteen years, been completely changed in some of their most essential qualities. They have been converted into animals as large, low, broad, round, short-necked and symmetrical as any other family of Merinos in our country or the world. In short, some of them seem to me to have reached the perfection of form in a fine-wooled sheep. This change, quite as great as that which Mr. Bakewell produced in the Leicester sheep, is principally due to the still and perseverance of Edwin Hammond, of FINE WOOL SHEEP nuSBAKBET. 113 Middlebury, Yermont. In 1861 he sheared 193 ewes and 7 rams. Porty-foiir of the first were yearHiigs, and smallish on acconnt of the drouth of the season. Among the seven rams three were smallish yearlings and one a smallish two-year old. The whole 200 yielded an average of an ounce or two under 10 pounds of unwashed wool. Three grown rams yielded together 73 pounds unwashed wooL On account of the great scarcity of hay and the comparative abun- dance of oats, tlie sheep w^ere wintered mostly on the latter/^ This undoubtedly increased the weight of their fleeces, but the yield was still a most marvellous one. Mr. Hammond's wool is a shade coarser than it was when he commenced his wonderful improvements, but it is of a good quality, even, sound, and less yolky than that of the original sheep- Nelson A. Saxton, of Yergennes, Yermont, breeds a small and choice flock of the same blood, drawn from Mr. Hammond's flock. Di\ Ira Spencer, of De Euyter, New York, has made a vigorous commencement in improvements of Infantados drawn from Mr. Atwood's flock.f At the last shearing his flock consisted of 40 ewes three years old and upwards, 10 yearlings, and 2 grown rams and 8 wethers. Tlie average weight of the whole fleeces, washed on the back, was a fraction over 7 pounds. He weighed and measured the height on shoulder of a few of these, on the 18th of January last, and subjoins the weight of their last year's fleeces. * The entire ewes of all ages received on the average a pound a piece daily- f The ram, however, mentioned in the following table (recently pur- chased), is of the Hammond family. 114 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. Livo weight Hei«:ht "Weight of fleece, pounds, inches. pounds. Ram 132 29 IH Ewe 91 23 1 Ewe 87 23i 6^ Ewe 107 Ui^ 8 Ewe 89 24 7 Ewe.. 98 24-1% 1 The ram's fleece was of eleven montlis' growtli and unwashed. The sheep ran between two and three weeks between washing and shearing. Their winter feed was hay, and each received daily half a pint of provender, made np of three parts, by measure, of oats and one part of oil-meal. The ram received more. I have ewes of the same blood which have produced from 7 to 8 lbs. 4 oz., of well washed wool per head ; but 1 am unable to state any average, their fleeces not having been kept separate from those of my other sheep. The ram which I have given measurements of in Petri's table, is of this blood. He was bred by Mr. Hammond. I am informed there are pure Paular sheep in some of the western counties of this State which produce very heavy fleeces, but I am unable to furnish any detailed facts on the subject.*^ The -result of my experience and investigations is embodied in the conclusion, that to attain very eminent success I would prefer to breed from a single * I have by no means attempted to name aU the choice pure blood flocks, either in this State or Vermont. This was not the object of this paper. In the former I have mentioned a few of which I happen to lxB.ve personal knowledge. In Vermont I have only spoken of tlie 'flocks which (with the exception of Mr. Saxton's) I found time to ex- amine during a three days' reconnoissance among the sheep of that State, made within a week of the time of reading this paper, for the purpose of enabling me to express opinions concerning the present quahties of the several varieties on the evidence of my own Judgment. FINE WOOL SHEEP HITSBANBIIY. 115 family Tiamng within it all the prober elements of im- jorom7nent^ if it could be done without breeding in- and-in too closely. And some persons are quite too easily frightened on the latter subject. What can be made an evil by being carried too far, has, by much talking and writing on the subject, been made an in- discriminate bugbear at every stage of its progress. It is by no means true that it is either unsafe or im- proper to interbreed animals of any degree of re- lationship. If it is, what has saved the Spanish cabanas for ages ? or to take a specific instance (where there is no latitude for conjecturing impossibilities), what has kept up, nay, increased the size and vigor and improved the form of Ferdinand and Louis Fischer's flock for fifty years, when that flock started with one hundred ewes of one family and four rams of another family, and these families have since been interbred without the admixture of a drop of fresh blood ? Mr. Atwood's sheep present a still stronger example. According to his statements, his entire flock, now scattered by colonization into nearly all the States of the Union, originated from one ewe^ and neither she nor any of her descendants in his hands was interbred with other sheep not descended exclu- sively from Col. Humphreys' flock. Mr. Hammond bought a small number of Mr. Atwood's flock in 18M, and he has since, he assures me, interbred solely between the descendants of those identical sheep. Is it probable that the Creator, who organized all animals into either families, flocks or herds, which strongly incline to remain together, and implanted in none of them but man a disinclination to incest, at the same time established a physical law which ren- 116 FIKB WOOL SHEEP HTJSBAKDBY. dered incesttious connexion jper se an element of dete- rioration and final destruction ? Among wild brutes, brothers and sisters must constantly pair together. Some kinds of birds are hatched in pairs as if for the express purpose of remaining together and interbreed- ing. And the connexion of brothers and sisters is the closest possible interbreeding. Has any one dis- covered or even conjectured a decay of the wild deni- zens of earth or air on this account? Does any one imagine that the elephant is smaller or weaker than he was when he trampled down armed squadrons on old barbaric battle-fields ages on ages ago, or that the Afiican lion is a less formidable animal than when his angry roar shook the Koman Coliseum ? It may be said that inasmuch as the strong males destroy or banish from the herd the weak males, and that in times of scarcity and hardship the weaker animals of both sexes perish, a natural provision has been made to guard against deterioration, whether arising from in-and-in breeding or any other cause. In respect to animals which herd together in large numbers, and which are periodically exposed to se- vere vicissitudes of climate and periods of scarcity of food, this would be in a great measure true ; but there are portions of the earth where some classes of animals, particularly those of the lower organizations and soli- tary habits, cannot be supposed to be subject to such casualties, or to any which would have the effect of regularly weeding out those possess.ed of less than the average of strength and hardiness. And I apprehend we shall find no natural laws necessary for the protec- tion of animal life and vigor, enforced in respect to the higher and not the lower organizations, or which FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 117 require a special and local set of circumstances to bring their benevolent effects into operation. Interbreeding between near relatives becomes fatal to physical imperfection ; but the drift of testimony goes to show that it is innocuous to perfection.* * A majority of the most celebrated breeders and improvers of English, cattle have been close in-and-in breeders, such as Bakewsli, the founder of the improved long-horn or New Leicester cattle, Price, "the most successful Hereford cattle breeder on record until twenty years ago," the Collins, Mason, Maynard, Wetherill, Sir Charles Knightly, Bates, the Booths, &o, &a, breeders of Short-Horns. In tlie first volume American Short-Horn Herd Book (edited by Lewis F. Allen, Esq.), are diagrams showing the continuous and chse in-and-in breeding which produced the bull Comet, by far the most superb and celebrated animal of his day, and which sold at Charles OoHing's sale, for the then unprecedented price of $5,000. His pedigree cannot be stated so as to make the extent of the in-and-in breeding, of which he was the result, fuUy apparent except to persons familiar with such things, and such persons probably need no information on the subject. But this much all will see the force of: the bull Bolingbroke and tho cow Phenix, which were more closely related to each other than half brother and sister, were coupled and produced the bull Favorite. Fa- vorite was then coupled with his own dmn and produced the cow Young Phenix. He was then coupled loiili Ms own daughter (Young Phonix) and their produce was tho world-famed Comet. One of tho best breeding cows in Sir Charles Knightly 's herd (Bestless) was the result of fefcill more continuous in-and-in breeding- I will state a part of tho pedigree. The bull Favorite was put to his own daughter, and then to his own grand-daughter, and 60 on to the produce of his produce in regula) succession for six generations. The cow which was the re- sult of the sixth interbreeding, was then put to the bull "Wellington, " deeply interbred on the side of loth sire and dam in the Uaod of Favonte,^^ and the produce was the cow Clarissa, an admirable animal and the mother of Restless. Mr. Bates, whose Short-Horns were never excelled (if equalled) in England, put sire to daughter and grand- daughter, son to dam and grand-dam, and brother to sister, indiffer- ently, his rule being "always to put the best animals together, regardless of any affinity of blood," as A. B. Allen informs me he dis- tinctly declared to h m, and indeed as Ms recorded practice in the Herd 118 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANBET. I do Bot recommend it ^er se^ for wlio shall decide what perfection is? There comes a time, generall}^. Book fully proYes. It is true that his Duchess family became impo- tent — ceased to breed; and this has been seized on as a proof of the danger of in-and-in breedm^. But Mr Bates did not so regard it. He continued his previous course of in-and-in breeding with his other animals until his death, and with triumphant success. The editor of the American Short-Horn Herd Book writes me: "As to Mr. Bates's cows being barren, that defect related to one family only, the Duch- esses, which was constitutional in the first of them, and probably ac- cidental'* To the point of their ceasing to breed, they apparently grew more perfect in every particular. Mr. Price, whose Herefords were the best in England in his day, declared, in an article published in the British Farmers' Magazine, that he had not gone beyond his own herd for a bull or a cow for forty years. It is not denied that Bakewell selected his original flock of long- wooled sheep from different flocks and families wherever he could ob- tain most perfection, but after that he bred in-and-in to the period of his death, and the Dishley sheep did not evince their subsequent fee- bleness of constitution, when under his direction The same state- ment will apply to Jonas "Webb, the great breeder of South Downs. The Stud Book is full of examples of celebrated horses produced by close in-and-in breeding. Favorite varieties of the pig have been pio- duced in the same way. There are families of rabbits, game, fowls, pigeons, etc., which have been bred in-and-in for a long course of gen- erations without deterioration of constitution and with a constant im- provement of the points regarded in such animals. But the misfortune of it is, that while in-and-in breeding is the readiest road to uniformity and perfection in the thoroughly compe- tent breeder's hands, it is the "edge tool" mth which the incompetent one is sure to inflict swift destruction on his animals and his own in- terests. And there is another misfortune. Every man who owns animals fancies himself a competent breeder. He who has spent his life in other pursuits, reads a few books, picks up a few phrases, watchCto the proceedings of bis shepherd a little, and then fancies ho is a hreederl And he is not more mistaken in this supposition than is the unreading man, brought up on the farm, who has no knowledge on the subject outside of its traditions, and who, with the cant of " e^- f&rimc^'^ ever on his tongue, never tried a carefully and properly con- ducted experiment in Ms life. Ko man can be a really able breeder FINE WOOL SHEEP nUSBANDEY. 119 when close in-and-in breeding between tlie artificial f>2}ecies which have heen partly moulded hy vian pro- duces loss of vigor and degeneracy, and sometimes tiiis fatal overthrow is but one step away fi^om the pinnacle .of apparent success. Bnt I would qnite as sedulously abstain from run- ning round from family to family and individual to individual to obtain a perpetual recurrence of disturb- ing and unnecessary crosses. And when crossing is resorted to, let it be in a uni- form way and direction. Let every breeder establish his own standard and breed steadily to it. Tlie French did this. Mr. Jarvis did this. Both, there- fore, succeeded in establishing a new variety, not as uniform as an old variety, yet far more so than if either had pursued a deviating and changeable course. Tlie sheep owner who changes the family and style of his rams every two or three years — now, for ex- ample, getting short, thick fleeced, and now long, open fleeced ones ; now yolky and dark, and now dry and light-colored ones ; now low, broad carcassed, and who has not an ahundance of theoretical knowledge, and an ahundanee of experience and long observation united. And even then I am in- clined to think that, like the poet, he must be lorn to his business I Inasmuch then as it recj^uires so much skill to detect those qualities and tendencies (some of them invisible and only to be ascertained by inferences drawn from numerous minor facts) which should prevent in-and-in breeding in one instance, or indicate its propriety in another, it is perhaps best that the time-honored public and traditionary belief on the subject should remain unshaken, viz. : that interbreeding be- tween animals of any degree of affinity is wrong and highly danger- ous As long as mankind started peopling the earth in this way, under the direct eye and provision of their Creator, it will hardly do to pronounce it malum in se, but let tit be considered malum proJdbitumj if the public pleases, in the strongest sense I 120 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAJ^TDKY. now tall, narrow ones, &c., &c.,— will never attain that degree of tiniformity wliich. is essential to a de- cently bred flock. There is another kind of crossing between varieties of the same Ireed for a different object than the one I have discussed, viz : to Iring one of the varieties so crossed to the standard of the other. In this no mid- dle line between the varieties is aimed at, but to give the offspring the characteristics of the best one by crossing steadily towards the best one. I regard this as strictly legitimate breeding. For example, if a flock master has one hundred ewes of Mr. Jarvis's family, described under ISTo. 1, and wishes to convert them into such sheep as those described under 'Eo. 2 or No. 3, it is his true course then to bred them steadily to rams of the preferred flock, and so far as possible to those of the same individual character. If the Merino blood is absolutely pure on both sides, the assimilation viall usually go on pretty rapidly and burely. Many former owners of good Saxons even, who had judgment to select proper American Merino rams, and who have held on in a steady line, now own flocks superior in actual value to very many pure American Merino flocks. I have alluded in a preceding note to the former admirable Saxon and Spanish flock of James M. Ellis, Esq, of Onondaga — called Saxon in the wool market, but built up on an early Spanish Merino foundation * Fifty ewes were taken from this flock in 1852, the fleeces of which weighed from SJ to 3|- * Gen. EUis (father of James M Ellis) piircbased several slieep of Col Humplireys, and kept a ram and ewe for Ms own use, Their blood mingles m that of the present flock. FINE ^OOL SHEEP HUSBAITOET. 121 pounds. They and their descendants were bred steadily to heavy but fine fleeced American Merino rams. In the year 1860 the flock was 284, and yield- ed an average of five pounds of thoroughly washed wool (with an excess of 11 pounds on the whole flock) ; and such \Vas its condition on the sorter's table, that it lost but 5|- pounds out of 1,431 pounds, inclu- ding strings and every thing else rejected. It sorted as follows: No. 1, 71 lbs.; IsTo. 2, 831 lbs. ; No. 3, 493 lbs. ; No. 4, 195 lbs. ; fribs, 189 lbs. ; No. 5, 102 lbs. ; No. 6, 29 lbs. ; No. 7, 12 lbs. ; No. 8, 3^ lbs. The wool of this flock, from its beautiful quality, style and condition, has sold for 50 cents a pound for five years past — within half a cent of the average price of the best wool during that period in the Boston majfket. It thus gives on the average $3.50 net to the fleece. How many unpampered flocks of Ameri- can Merinos will equal this ? This is the fruit of a true cross. These sheep belong to James Geddes, Esq., of Eairmount, Onondaga Co., N. T.*^ In attempting thus to change the character of a flock, violent crosses are to be avoided so far as ma- terials will allow. First, the inferior variety should approach the characteristics of the supei-ior as far as practicable ; second, even the superior variety should avoid the greatest extremes in certain particulars, and unquestionably so in size. In breeding up a Saxon flock to the American Merino standard, that cross should not be commenced with an overgrown ram of the latter. How far this rule applies in respect to * There are other excellent flocks of a similar cross, and a number of excellent American Mermo flocks m the samo county, "bnt I am m possession of no definite statistics in relation to them. a 123 FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBANBBT. the qualities of the ileecej &c., there is a difference of opinion. Hie Germans are disposed to avoid too great disparities in all particulars. Selectioa of Flocks. Carcass. In a climate like oilrs, and under a genei^al system of sheep husbandry like ours, carcass is unquestionably the first point to be regarded even in the fine wooled sheep — ^because on the proper con- stitution j or the proper structure and connection of its parts, depends the health, vigor, and hardiness of the animal ; and without these, all other qualities are houses built on sand. Plump medium size, for the breed or variety, is the most desirable one. The body should be round and deep, not over long, and both the head and neck short and thick. The back should be straight and broad ; the bosom and buttock full ; the legs decidedly short, well apart, straight and strong, with heavy forearm and fulness in the twist. This "pony-built" figure, as the farmers term it, indicates hardiness, easiness of keep, and a predis- position to take on flesh. SMn. The skin should be of a rich, deep, rosy color. The Spaniards ever justly regarded this a point of much importance, as indicative of the fatten- ing or easy-keeping properties of the animal, and of a normal and healthy condition of the system. The skin should be thinnish, mellow, elastic, and particu- larly loose on the carcass. A white skin, when the animal is in health, or a tawny one,ris rarely found on a high bred Merino. A thick, stiff, inelastic skin, like that found on many badly bred French sheep, is highly objectionable. FIFE WOOL SHEEP ETJSBANDKT, 123 Folds, The Spanish, French, and German breeders approved of folds in the skin, considering them indi- cations of a heavy fleece. The French have bred them over the entire bodies of many of their sheep. I have seen two hours and a half expended by an active and skilful shearer, in my barn, in getting the fleece decently off a ram of this stamp. This might do better in a different climate, and in countries where labor costs nothing ; but the additional quan- tity of wool will not pay for it in this.* Besides, it is nnsightly, because excessively unnatm-al. A deep, soft, plaited dewlap on both sexes, and some slight corrugation on the neck of the ram, were all our older breeders of the Merino desired in this way. The fashion has extended to heavy neck folds, particu- larly on the ram, a short fold or two back of the elbow, and some small ones round and on the roots of the tail and on the breech — the latter running in * I mean additional quantity canned by the folds of tlie skin, for as a mere " sign''^ of a thick fleece they amount to nothing. The cost of additional labor is not the sole consideration. It is frequently a diffi- cult thing to find time to shear a large flock of sheep between the rain storms from 15th of June to 10th of July. The farmer is often compelled to house his flocks for twenty-four hours m succession, to k«ep them dry for the shearers j and besides getting miserably dirty with gieen dung, they become so hollow and lank (for they will scarcely touch dry hay), and their skins so flabby, that it almost doubles the difficulty of shearing them. And this is tery injurious treatment to ewes having young lambs. Prime sheareis are scarce. What then would he do, who had BOO or 500 such sheep as I have named in the text, to get sheared! Suppose he obtained five or even ten pounds more wool from 100 sheep, would it not be vastly more economical to go to the expense of keeping one or two additional sheep to obtain it ? There is no sensible point of view in which this ex- cessive folding or wrinkling of the skin over the whole body is not an unmitigated nuisance I 124: FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. tlie direction of lines drawn from tlie tail to the stifle. Grentle corrugations over the body, which can he pulled smooth in shearing, are also tolerated. Fleece. Wool long enough to do up in the fleece is not desirable on the nose under the eyes,^ or on the legs below the knees and hocks, though a thick coat of shortish wool on the latter, and particularly on the hind legs, is regarded as a good point. The arm-pits and most of the base of the scrotum must necessarily be bare ; but these cavities should be as small as the freedom of movement permits ; and all * Long wool oa the nose under the eyes is, like the preceding, a nuisance, on account of the obstruction which it offers to the sight. I have several sheep which would become totally bhnd at least twice a year, by the wool closing over their eyes, if it was not cut away. And long before it thus closes over, the sheep can only see laterally, so that they can be closely approached in front or rear, by man or dog walk- ing noiselessly on the grass, or amidst the other noises of the barn- } ard. When they at last discover the approaching body so near them, they bound away in an agony of fright even from their familiar keeper. This obstruction of the sight is therefore very destructive to the quietness and docility which should characterize a well managed flock. And such sheep do not do as well m the winter, unless the wool is repeatedly clipped from around their eyes, because their com- panions are constantly taking advantage of them at rack and trough. Let us have no such "fancy" monstrosities as this and the preceding inflicted on our valuuble American flocks. But a good foretop is justly regarded as a fine point. It should be of good length, dense, and tlie wool stand at right angles to the forehead. It should descend in a curve on the nose a little below the line of the eyes, circle round the eyes at just sufficient distance not to obstruct the sight, and join the wool on the cheeks and upper part of the neck, without break or opening. I have omitted speaking of the ears. They should be small, coated with thick, soft, mossy hair, about half way to the roots, so as to give them a feeling of thickness and softness ; and the remainder of the outer surface should be covered with wooL A thin, hard, and espe- cuUy a naked ear, is highly objectionable. FINE WOOL SHEEP nUSBANBllY. 125 the other parts of the body and limbs should be densely covered with wool of as uniform length as is attainable. It is a specially j&ne characteristic to see it of full length on the belly, forehead, cheeks, and on the legs as far down as the knees and hocks. The wool should stand at right angles to the sur- face, except on the inside of the legs and on the scro- tum ; it should present a dense, smooth, even surface externally, dropping apart nowhere ; and the masses of wool between those natural cracks or divisions which are always seen on the surface, should be of medium diameter. If they are too small, they indi- cate a fineness of fleece which is incompatible with its proper weight; if too large, they indicate coarse, harsh wool.^^' The good properties of wool are too well understood to req[uire many words. Length is no longer an ob- jection to the finest staple, as it once was.f The maximum, both of thickness and length, cannot be attained on the same animal, and the object of the breeder should be to produce that particular combi- nation or co-existence of these properties which will give the heaviest fleece. * Kr. Meichmann gives the Grerman standard of their diameter at one-sixteenth of an ineh. I should say one-quarter of an inch was quite small enough for the American Merino. Yiewed very closely, these masses are not, in many high bred American Merinos, strictly flat on the surface, hut slightly butroidal, each tuft composing it hav- ing a rounded end. Pointed ends, particularly if their extremities are culled or twisted, and have a hairy appearance, indicate thinness and unevenness of fleece. f The long fiinG wools, say two inches and over, are now manufac- tured into delames, &c. j and as already said, broadcloths are not made in our country. IM FINE WOOL SIIEEF nUSBAITOEY. Fineness, Tlie grower knows his market, and must produce an article adapted to it. In the Ameri- can market there is a much larger demand for medium than fine wools, and the former commands much the best price in proportion to cost of production. It is to be hoped, however, that the demand for fine wools will increase. Whatever the quality aimed at, it should be the same throughout the flock so far as it is practicable. JEvenness, Evenness of quality in every part of the fleece, so far as tins can be attained, is one of the first points of a well bred sheep. Jar is very objection- able, but not as much so as what the Germans term dog's hair — hair growing out through the wool on the thighs, the edges of the neck folds, about the roots of the horn in rams,"^ or standing scattered here and there through the fleece or inside the legs. This indi- cates bad blood or a defective course of breeding. Trvjeness and Soundness. Wool should be of equal diameter from the root to the point of the fibre. It should especially be free from any finer and weaker spot or " joint" in it, occasioned by a temporary ill- ness or other low state of the animal. This can often be detected by the naked eye, and always by pulling the fibre. Wool is said to be sound, where it is strong and elastic. Pliancy and Softness are considerations of the first importance, not only as indicia of other qualities, but intrinsically. If we can suppose two lots of wool exactly to resemble each other in every other particu- * When the back of a ram*s head has been severely bruised in fighting, hair sometimes succeeds to the original wool, and offers no proof of bad breeding. FIKB WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 127 lar, but that under the same treatment one is com- paratively stiff and hard to the touch, while the other lia^ a silky pliancy and softness, the latter is decidedly the most valuable, because it will produce manufac- tured articles far superior in beauty and for actual use. But in point of fact, full blood wool is almost invariably soft in proportion to its jSneness, and is al- ways so in proportion to its marketable value. A practised buyer can decide on that value in the dark. Style is, perhaps, a word which has rather vague boundaries to its meaning ; but it includes that com- bination of useful and showy properties which give value to the choicest wool, viz : fineness, clearness of color, lustre, uniformity and beauty of curving, and that peculiar mode of opening on the body, or disposi- tion of the fibres in the sheared fleece, which indicate the last extreme of pliancy and softness. These quali- ties, in combination, present an appearance which at once, without a sufiicientlj^ close inspection to discover the separate fibres, or even without a touch of the hand, point out the best fleece in the pile. Yolh, This, in its most usual fojmi, is a semi-fluid, unctuous secretion from the skin, found in the wool of various breeds of sheep, and particixlarly in that of the Merino. Sometimes there is only enough of it to lubricate and make a shining coating on every fibre. In others, it appears additionally in little brilliant globules amono; the fibres. In others still, it forms a separate, visibll and abundant mass in tKe lower part of the wool. In some instances it is as thin as the most delicate oil ; in others, pasty and viscid ; in others it has the spiasitude of soft wax, and appears in particles or even in concretions of considerable size 128 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDET. within tie wool ;* and wlien it is sufficiently abundant in the fluid form to ooze constantly to the outer ex- tremity, it catches and retains dust, the pollen of hay, &c., and gradually inspissates into that black gummy mass now so eagerly sought for by a class of Merino breeders. Yauquelin, a celebrated French chemist, found that various specimens of yolk contained about the same constituents : 1. A soapy matter with a basis of pot- ash, which formed a greater part of it. 2. A small quantity of carbonate of potash. 3. A perceptible quantity of acetate of potash. 4. Lime, whose state of combination he was unacquainted with. 6. An atom of muriate of potash. 6. An animal oil, to which he attributed the peculiar odor of yolk. He found the yolk of French and Spanish Merinos essentially the same. This substance is, then, substantially a soap — and the usual terms of grease, oil, etc., are not correctly applied to it. It washes freely from the hands, except that an unctuous feeling is left by the trace of fatty matter in it. The hands of shearers, kept covered with it for a number of days, grow perceptibly softer and whiter at every washing. With a few hours' previous soaking, it will wash al- most entirely out of wool in soft, warmish brook water, except perhaps, the external black gum. Let sheep be exposed to a warm rain long enough to wet tliTOugli the wool, and let them then be thoroughly * In the fleece of the first imported French Iferinol ever opened — not apparently a yery yolky one, and quite light colored externally — I found some of these concretions as large as an ordinary boan flattened. FINE WOOL SHEEP HXTSBANDKY. 129 wasted tlie next day in soft water falling in a swift lieavy current over a mill-dam, or from an aqueduct, and the owner will find (perhaps to his consternation) that even his black gum has disappeared, unless, per- haps, on old rams and a few incorrigibly dirty and " gummy" ewes. Yolk of any form that will remain in visible masses in the wool after such a washing, is improperly there ; and he who cultivates it pursues an illegitimate line of breeding. Few or none of our farmers wash their sheep thus, on the ground that buyers will make no adequate compensation for the cleaner and lighter condition of the wool. In the hard water of the limestone regions, wool washes much less cleanly. And I am informed by experienced wool buyers that much more yolk appears in the same wool and sheep in some regions than in others. Ohio and Michigan fine wools are said to be ten per cent, freer from yolk tlian New York wools, and JSTew York ten per cent, freer than Termont wools.* I know by my own experience that sheep driven from the wheat soils of Onondaga county be- come lighter colored in Cortland county. Taken back, the same sheep again resume their dark color. There are some incidental and easily explainable reasons for a part of this. On wheat lands, sheep are put on stubbles and become dirtier. The heaviest fleeced flocks of Yermont, from which high-priced breeding sheep are sold, are sheltered in summer as well as mnter from rain, and thus all their natural yolk is retained. There is another explanation of the difference in this particular between Ohio, New York and Yermont * I am not sure ttat tMs remark applies to all parts of Ohio. 6* 130 "EmVj WOOL SHEEP HUSBAin)BY. wools. This is in tlie breed of the sheep. Ohio has a smaller proportion of the heavy fleeced yolky Meri- nos than New York,*^ and New York a less propor- tion (though a larger nnmber in the aggregate) than Yermont. The nses of yolk have been stated by all writers to render the wool pliant and to promote its growth. * According to the census of 1860, the average weight of fleeces in Ohio fell not greatly below that of JSTew York ; but that, I take it, was owing to the fact that the common, low grade, diy-wooled farmei's sheep of Ohio are larger and heavier fleeced animals than those of New York. If limestone land and water, feeding on stub- bles, etc., either increases the yolk (which is very doubtful) or increases the amount of dirt caught and retained by the yolk ; and if limestone water /aife to remove these as thoroughly as soft water (both of which are undoubtedly facts), then much of the grain growing por- tions of both Ohio and New York should produce heavier washed or unwashed fleeces than New England, or than the southern tier coun- ties of New York ; and so I have no doubt they would, if all other circumstances were made strictly equal. On the best wiieat lands of New York, Sheep do not require to be fed on stubbles to get dirty. Those lands are generally seeded down with red clover, which does not, under any circumstances, form so close a sod as the timothy, June grass, white clover, etc., of the grazing regions, and particularly not where it is broken up every two or three years in the usual way for grain. It is rare to see a clover pasture in the grain regions closely fed down, where the ground is not in every direction visible between the stools of clover ; and the sharp hoofs of the sheep loosen the dirt in summer, so that in one way or another it soils the surface of the wool. In the old pastures of many portions of New England and our own southern counties, it would be difficult to see the ground on one hundi ed acres. Unless the sheep have it blown on them from the roads or plowed fields, by the winds, they scarcely come in contact with a particle of dirt during the summer. These facts explain the differences in the color of the sheep in the two regions. The violent and pouring rams of the Southern States prevent a great accumulation of either yolk or dirt, so that all Merino sheep from the North grow lighter colored there, and clim--ite may add to the effect. FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDBY. 131 The structure of wool, discovered by modern iiivesti- gation, suggests other uises. Wool is covered with sharp projections, running in a uniform direction from the root towards the outer end. They may be com- pared to the projections on the beards of wheat or barley, only they are so fine that it requires a power- ful microscope to observe them. Mr. Youatt, the dis- coverer of them, found 2,560 in the space of an inch on fine Merino wool, 2,720 on an inch of Saxon wool, and that thei^ number increased in proportion to the fineness of the fibre. These inconceivably minute points occasion the felting of wool. Eemove them by heated combs, as is done in the manufacture of wor- steds, and wool will not felt more than hair. Every motion of the sheep causes the portions of the fleece between the surface cracks to slide on each other. Those cracks are the joints of the fleece. If these masses were utterly dry, instead of being lubri- cated with yolk, the continual friction of their sides would cause injurious abrasion. The sharp processes which cause felting would be rubbed off from a por- tion of the wool, and that property of the wool pro- portionably damaged. Again : if the w^ool wd'e dry, heavy rains, rubbing together and other circumstan- ces, would unquestionably cause felting on the carcass, and in the case of very fine wooled sheep, to a de- structive extent. I have never 'seen either of these uses of yolk suggested before ; but am I mistaken in supposing that the fo-cts axe too obvious to admit of question ? To what extent yolk should be propagated in wool, is a matter of some doubt. If the manufacturer will pay the same price for it he pays for the wool, it is 132 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAHDEY. certainly profitable to add as muci. of it to tlie fleece as is consistent with the greatest product of wool. But I tliink it admits of no dispute that the excessive amount sometimes seen — ^giving to the long fleece, under a hot autumn or spring sun^ the appearance of having been literally soaked in some oily fluid, is not often the accompaniment of a specially thick fleece, or of one which gives the best account of itself after scouring.* The heaviest fleeced flocks of our country do not present this appearance. Perha5)s such an ex- cess of serDBY. the different qualities* and pay for each the fair mar- ket price, he would soon acqnire his circle of cus- tomers, who, for safety and from motives of policy, would wait a reasonable time for his agents. At least this would be the case with the holders of prime lots, and there would be no scramble and overpaying for inferior lots by themselves. There is nothing chimerical in this idea, certainly, when it is notorious that some manufacturers already practice on it suc- cessfully, and that much of the other produce of the country is bought and sold in that way. Substantial wool merchants planted in each wool- growing region, would afford a vast relief from the present system to the pi'oducers of good wools. In respect to selling an outrageous excess of yolk and dirt for wool, because somebody will buy it, I shall raise no questions of casuistry; but whether known or unknown to the purchaser, it should be be- low the aim of the elevated breeder. If we cannot breed the admirable domestic animals which have been given to us, without purposely alloying and de- grading them, let us abandon them and turn to other occupations. Suggestions as to the Future of Fine Wool Hus- bandry in our Country. I am strongly impressed with the opinion that the production of mxjttoh has been too much disregarded * If it be said a single manufacturer does not want all the different qualities, let him, m regions where little is grown, buy aU in order to keep his customers and his region to himself, and resell those he does not need. In regions where larger quantities are grown, different buyers would find room, and they might buy thiough the same agent FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 153 as a concomitant of the production of wool. N*ear large meat markets, mutton is the prime considera- tion and wool but the accessory ; remote from such markets, the converse of the proposition is true. But it does not follow in either case that the secondary object is to be unnecessarily neglected. The increase in the numbers and in the early ma- turity of sheep, enables England to support a vastly larger population than it possibly could have done 100 years ago. It is hardly too much to say that the con- tinued sustenance of its people and the fertility of its soil depend upon these animals. England proper, with an area of 50,922 square miles, has thirty mil- lions of sheep. "Without these, its soils could not be maintained in their present productiveness, and its population of 17,000,000 supplied with animal and vegetable food. It is now a conceded fact, that an equivalent result could not even approximately be obtained by the substitution of any other animals. It is not safe in a country of vast territory and sparse population like our own, to decide economic questions exclusively by English analogies and modes of reasoning. Eut in our own older Northern States, we are making some advance toward English condi- tions, at least in the circumstance of having a large class who are not agricultural producers : and we shall continue to make nearer approaches in that i^e- spect. "We read much of the traditional *' roast beef" of England, but mutton now is the favorite animal food of her luxurious clashes, and the cheapest animal food of her laboring classes. The same tastes and eco- nomic considerations are beginning to obtain a rapid 154 rms wool sheep husbaistdry. prevalence in tliis country. Every experienced meat producer knows that a pound of well fatted mutton can be grown more chea])]y than a pound of any other well fatted meat. And our confenmers are dis- covering that it is as palatable and nutritions as any other kind of animal food, and wastes materially less in cooking than beef.* The choicest qualities no-w command higher prices in our markets than the choicest qualities of beef. Its consumption is rapidly increasing in cities,f and also in small inland local markets and on farms, because prime lamb or mutton can always be supplied in the latter places, whereas meat from large well fatted beeves cannot be, unless * The Beport on Sheep Husbandry made to the Mass. Board of Agriculture in 1860, by a committee appointed hy that body, thus condenses the result of various experiments on this subject: " English chemists and philosophers^ by a series of careful experiments, find that 100 lbs. of beef, in boilmg, lose 26i lbs., in roasting 32 lbs., and in baking 30 lbs. by evaporation and loss of soluble matter, juices, water and fat. Mutton lost by boiling 21 lbs., and by roasting 24 lbs. ; or in another form of statement, a leg of mutton costing raw, 15 cents, would cost boiled and prepared for the table, 18^ cents a pound; boiled lesh beef would, at the same price, cost 19^ cents per pound; sirloin of beef raw, at 16^ cents, costs roasted 24 cents, while 4 leg of mutton at 15 cents, would cost roasted only 22 cents. (See Secre- tary's Heport, p. 91.) f The Report just quoted from states, that "at Brighton (near Bos- ton), on the market day previous to Christmas, 1839, two Franklin county men held 400 sheep, every one in the market, and yet so ample was that supply and so inactive the demand, that they could not raise the market half a cent a pound, and finally sold with difficulty ;" that "just twenty years after that at the same place, on the market day previous to Christmas, 1859, five thousand four hundred sheep changed from the drover to the butcher." (Secretary's Report, p. 96.) This is but an example of the general change. It has not been produced so much by increase of population, as by a change in the habits of our population. FINE WOOL SBGEEP HXTSBAITOBY. 155 ill cold weather, as sucli animals make more meat than can be disposed of nnsalted in such situations. Consequently, vast droves of grade sheep from the ISTorthwestern States traverse 'New York from mid- summer to the approach of winter, directly for our Eastern cities, or to be sold in their vicinity for feed- ing. Why not meet a large part of this demand, now supplied from abroad, with our full-blood Merino sheep ? Even the epicurism of England has decided that this breed produces prime mutton. Sir Joseph Banks, in a report made in 1802, says: "Experience has demonstrated already, both at Windsor and Wey- bridge (the royal residences), that Spanish mutton is of the best quality for a gentleman's table." Mr. Wilson, the present Professor of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, in a recent excellent paper on " The various breeds of Sheep in Great Britain," furnished by him to the Eoyal Agricultural Society's Journal,^ says: " They (the Merinos) are hardy, and not more subject to disease than our other breeds ; they thrive very well on moderate keep, and may be fed up to 110 to 120 pounds weight at two years old; the mutton is considered to be of very good quahty." The report of Tessier and Hazard, made to the Institute in France, in the year eight of the Kepublic, shows that the same opinion prevailed even thus early in France. They say : '' The experiments we had formerly made in feeding of Spanish sheep have not been fully detailed. It has been undeniably proved that all those animals were fattened, and their flesh *VoL 16. It is republished in the Transactions of this Society, 1857, p. 219. The extract I make wiE be found at p. 239. 156 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAHBEY. was at least as delicate as that of any other breed of sheep." YarioTis French writers confirm these Yiews. It is to be remembered that in England the Merino mutton had to encounter long-established and obsti- nate prejudices. Its people were accustomed to carcasses of a particular form, fat laid on in a particu- lar way, and more of it in proportion to the lean meat than the Merino readily takes on. On the other hand, the great- body of Americans are neither accustomed to, nor do they choose, exces- sively fat fresh meats of any kind, and particularly mutton. Most of them, after attempting to eat well- cooked I^ew Leicester or Dishley mutton, with two and a half or three inches of outside fat, turn away from it with loathing, or eat only the leaner parts. Yet the English factory operative or farm laborer finds just what he wants in tliat mutton, because its fat will, in soups, &c., convert a large amount of vegeta- bles into more palatable and nutritious food, and thus it will go further in imparting the effects of animal food than any other meat. The meat of the Meiino, when well fattened and properly treated,"^ is juicy, short-grained, high-colored, and well flavored. In all these particulars American taste adjudges it superior to the meat of the English long-wooled sheep. Though the scarcity and value of full-blood Merinos have prevented many of them from appearing in our markets, the grades have always been favorites with the butcher and consumer. The former finds that they weigh well for their apparent size, and get to market in excellent condition. There * A portion of our population cook and eat mutton as soon as it is killed I FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 157 is not a drove tbat sweeps from tlie plains of the north- west that does not exhibit a sprinkling of this hlood ; and if they are merely grass-fed, the twenty fattest, and least travel-worn sheep in the drove will nsnally be found those which, by a little darker tinge of their wool, and its greater tliickness and " squareness on the ends," betray more Merino blood. Those people who pay such prices in our cities for South Down lambs in February and March, are not perhaps aware they are paying for grade Merinos. Ewes having no Merino blood do not allow them- selves to be impregnated (that is, generally and with regularity) early enough in autumn to produce these lambs. The grade Merino ewes are bred to the South Down ram, which gives the offspring additional size, and the dark-colored legs, which satisfy fashionable purchasers."^ * Samuel Thome, Esq., of Dutchess Co., one of the most intelligent and sueeessful breeders in our State, writes me on this subject: " The sheep purchased for breeding market lambs are usually the ordinary Ohio Merinos, sometimes bought from the droves as they arrive, and sometimes from the farmers "who have kept them over one season. I always prefer the latter, the difference in price alone caus- ing me to purchase the former. When selecting them, the point of the greatest importance is to get good milkers, that governing the choice more than any thing else, as the object is to get prime early lambs. When tliere has been a chance to select ewes with a cross of either of the mutton breeds, I have always availed myself of it, though the difference in price between them and the ordinary ones is generally too great too make it as profitable. All tilings being equal, large sheep are of course preferable to small ones, Ewes with a strong tincture of Merino blood take the ram with more certainty early in the season than those deeply crossed with the mutton breeds. It is, however, no advantage to have the lambs come too early, as they do not bring so large a price before as they do in the regular season. My own ewes are turned, with a South Down ram the 1st of September, 168 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. The full blood Merino produces as good mutton as tlie ordinary country and western Merino grade, if killed as young and in as good condition. I liave never discovered that it did not fatten as easily. It costs no more, in proportion to weight of carcass, to keep it. Its wool is worth from a third to a half more per head- Wherever, therefore, it is profitable to grow the common grade sheep, partly for mutton and thus bringing the lambs the first part of February. They are made to grow and fatten as rapidly as possible, and are turned off to the butcher when they reach 40 pounds in weight. They are thus all disposed of by the first of June, and the ewes have the entire summer to fatten in. The sheep are bought usually a few weeks before the ram is to be torned with them, and have cost from $2.50 to $3.00 each. They are kept upon hay alone until just before the lambing time, when a daily feed of turnips is given. After the lambs come they are given also a feed of meal or bran slop. A place is partitioned off for the lambs, and they are regularly fed. The feed going directly to the lamb, makes growth of fat with more profit, in my opinion, then when given through the mother's milk. I cannot say with any certainty what the percentage of increase with my common sheep has been, as when possible to find any one to take a twin lamb, it is always given away, that its mate may have the better chance — one good one bring- ing in the early season a corresponding price, when poor ones cannot bd at all disposed of. They never, however, average less than lUO per cent, of sale sheep. * * * The lambs go to market from two and a half to throe months old, and have, of course, at that early age to be in fine condition to bring the price they should do, or in fact even to meet a sale. My own have always averaged me $5 per head, bringing more when first sent off, and less later in the season. The ewes having only to provide for themselves during the fcummer, are by fall in very good condition and require a very httie grain (wliich is first fed to them as soon as the frost injures the grass) to fit them for a good market. They have always averaged $5 also. To this is to be added the fleece, when you will see the return has always been a good one. It, to be sure, costs more and requires more care and atten- tion to fit lambs for the early ma ket, but the extra price they bring and the better chance which is given the ewes to fatten by getting oil their lambs so soon, much more than compensate." FINE WOOL SHEEP HTTSBANDRY. 159 partly for wool-growing purposes, it is more profitable to grow full blood Merinos. In the State of New York we could, by the substitution of fine, heavy fleeces for those now carried by our grade sheep, profit- ably grow 200 per cent, more of mutton in the wool- growing districts than we now do. I shall nowhere, however, be understood to advance the idea that it would be advisable in the mutton dis- tricts proper (where access to a good market is quick and cheap) to substitute the Merino for the best Eng- lish mutton varieties. Though I am not prepared to speak from adequate experience on that point, the tenor of reliable testimony would seem to be clearly tlie other way. For mutton purposes the Merino can promptly and readily be rendered more valuable than it now is without a diminution of the quality and quantity of its wool. It probably could not be made to assume so early a maturity as the New Leicester or the South Down, or their peculiar forms ; but Prof. Wilson has told us what the pure Merino will weigh at two years old, when fed as the other English breeds are which exhibit such marvellous earliness of maturity. Early feeding and early maturity have an inseparable con- nection ; and those who have bred English New Leices- ter sheep, and fed them only hay and grass, and treat- ed them as we treat our other sheep, have found that much of their early matui^ity has vanished. But without reference to this consideration, we have not, in a country so large in proportion to its population, and where it is so easy consequently to vsupply the de- mands of its meat market without killing animals at an early age^ occasion, certainly in large portions of 160 FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBANDEY. it, for t]ie early maturity of animals so necessary in England, provided ours -will pay well for the addition- al expense of longer keeping. I have, as already stated^ kept Merino sheep more than thirty years. During all the vicissitudes of that period the fleeces of the flock (without counting those of wethers which I have never kept in any consider- able number) have averaged over two dollars a head per annum. On the best lands of the State it now costs about two dollars a head annually to keep Merino sheep. Any one, then, is sure of his lambs and manure as clear gain. Wethers of the same flock would pro- duce fleeces worth about three dollars, and the clear gain on them annually would be a dollar a piece and the manure. The object of keeping sheep is to convert the vege- table productions of the farm into the most money and the most manure. Under the circumstances I have stated, and in regions where wool-growing is the pri- mary object, this is as weU done by animals of longer as of shorter lives. The truth is, nobody could afford in this country to kill his Merinos at two years old, if they were perfectly matured and fit for the butcher at that age. JSTor do I believe the Merino could readily be made to assume that form which, like the most perfect New Leicester or South Down, puts every ounce of meat on the part where it is nominally most valuable. At all events, I should decidedly object to tampering serious- ly with its present test form. How many American purchasers, in looking for a sweet, juicy piece of mut- ton, are very careful to examine the angle of the rump or study the exact taper of the thigh, provided there FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAKDEY. 161 is notMng specially defective in the shape ? Are there not little shapeless breeds of mountain sheep in Wales whose mutton outsells that of the South Down ? Are there not little, hardy, round, mountain cattle in Scot- land whose beef is chosen before that of the rectangu- lar Short Horn ? These refinements are very well in theory and doubtless of some practical value, but they are not, in our markets, essential to the salableness of mutton, which the great body of the American people already prefer to that of the improved English long- wooled breeds, and constantly eat, believing it to be South Down mutton or other of equal quality. The only change which is necessary or desirable to make in tlxe form of the Merino, to improve it as a mutton sheep, is the same which it requires to im- prove it as a wool bearing sheep, viz. : to convert the flocks which now deviate from that standard, into low, round, hardy, easily kept sheep. Good lungs^ good health, and good animal vigor will like promote the secretions which produce meat and wool. And in the wool-growing regions generally, I should not even consider it expedient to seek to increase the present size of what may be termed good sized Amer- ican Merinos. The wethers may at some future day be turned off at two years old! undera system of feeding analo- gous to the English, but it is doubtful whether this will be found most profitable. Prime fall blood ewes will probably never be turned off before they are six: or seven ; indeed, until their number is enormously increased, they never will be turned off at any age to the butcher. They have twice or three times the longevity of the improved English breeds, in which 102 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. early maturity is, indeed, tte precursor if not the cause of an equally early decline. Merino ewes not unfreqiiently raise good lambs at fourteen or fifteen years old ; and the dam of the once famous " Robin- son ram," I am informed, had a lamb in her twenty- second year. In regions sufl&eiently accessible to market, it may become ultimately the most profitable way of dis- posing of fall-blood ewes, to adopt Mr. Thome's system with them ; raise February lambs and fatten oif the ewes in the fall, when they are from six to eight years old. Older ewes should be allowed to produce no lambs the season they are to be fattened. One more question remains in regard to our fature. It costs twice as much to keep a sheep in New York as on the plains of the Northwest, and four times as much as on the prairies of Texas. Can we continue to bear up under this competition ? The same ques- tion may as well be put in regard to most of the prin- cipal agricultural necessaries of life — ^for the difference in the cost of production is equally great in regard to them-^and several of them, too, are as portable as wool, and more portable than mutton. Do the New England farmers get a poorer living than they did be- fore the competition of the twice as valuable lands of New York opened close upon them? Are prices lower in New York since the vast West and North- west became populated farming lands ? The increase of the non-producers has more than kept pace with that of the producers ; and nearness to market, the consequent ability to take advantage of its fluctuations, the greater certainty of finding ready sales, and the lesser cost and risk of transpor- FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 163 tation, give the ciiltiyator of our "New York lands advantages over the cultivator of remote and cheap ones, which tend in a considerable degree to equalize their profits. Were this otherwise, what help is there for US ? Gan we let our costly lands lie idle because there are cheaper ones in the West and South ? The only question with us is, w^hat staples we can grow morst profitably. Besides, on our grain-growing soils, at least, sheep are an absolute necessity of good farming. The growing of wheat, clover-seed, &c., cannot be carried on economically and systematically without some de- pasturing and manure-producing animal. For both of these purposes, the sheep is a vastly more profita- ble animal than any other. Mr. Johnson, of Geneva, and Gen. Harmon, of Wheatland, two as good wheat farmers as there are in the State, have thrown a flood of light on this subject by their experiments and their writings.* leading clover-seed raisers assure me * Since the above was written, I have received a letter from Mr. Johnson on the subject. He says that " sheep and wheat farming ought to go hand-in-hand in this country," that what "he has made in the last forty years has been in a large proportion by sheep," He has " fed (fatted) sheep in winter for over thirty years, and with the ex- ception of 1841-42 they have always paid the cost of feeding, and some years left a handsome profit" That is to say, for every year but one, during that period, he has converted the hay, grain, &C.5 of his farm into manure on the farm^ and got back the full price of those products and cost of feeding; and in some years he has done better than this. " Ilis profits have been better since 1840, when he com- menced wintering on straw and oil-cake or grain. After 1846 he kept no regular flock, but bought them in the fall and sold them usually in March or April In some mstances he held them until after shearing, but found that he seldom did as well as by selling earlier." Oen. Harmon, and I think a majority of wheat farmers who have sheep, prefer keeping a permanent breeding flook. This is a question 164: riHE WOOL SHEEP HUSBAI^ORY. that they must have sheep to carry on that cultiire profitably. Sheep would be more profitable than eows on a multitude of the hiffh, thin-soiled dairy farms of our State; and e.ery person who ha. kept the two animals ought to know that sheep will enrich such lands far more rapidly than cows.^ On the imperfectly cleared and briery lands of our fiTazinp; regions, sheep will more than pay for their summer keep, for several years, merely in clearing and cleaning up the land. They effectually exterminate the black- berry {JS'u'bus mllosus et trivialis)^ and raspberry {Rulus strigosus et oecidentalis)^ the common pests in such situations, and they banish or prevent the spread of many other troublesome shrubs and weeds.f of convenience — depending upon incidental considerations which, this is not the place to discuss. * If milch cows are not returned to their pastures at night in sum- mer, or the manure made in the night is not returned to the pastures, the difference in the two animals in the particular name4 in the text is still greater. Even grazing cattle kept constantly in the pastures, and whose manure is much better than that of dairy cows, are still greatly inferior to the sheep in enriching land. The manure of the sheep is stronger, better distributed, and distributed in a way that admits of little loss. The small round pellets soon work down among the roots of the grass, and are in a great measure protected from sun and wind. Each pellet has a coat of mucus which still further protects it. On taking one of these out of the grass, it will be found the moisture is gradually dissolving it on the lower side, directly among the roots, while the upper coated surface remains entire. Mnally, if there are hill-tops, dry knolls, or elevations of any kind in the pasture, the sheep almost invariably lie on them nights, thus depositing an extra portion of manure on the least fertile part of the land, and where the wash of it will be less wasted. The manure of the milch cow, apart from its intrinsic inferiority, is deposited in masses which give up their best contents to the atmosphere before they are dry enough to be beaten to pieces and distributed over the soil. f Two years since I hired forty acres of pasture, five or six of which riKE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDKY. 165 They also, unlike any other of onr valuable domestic animals, exert a direct and observable influence in banishing coarse, wild, poor grasses from their pas- tures, and bringing in the sweeter and more nutritious ones."^ Tet dairying is wholly driving out wool-growing in the grazing portions of our State, and grazing cattle are preferred to sheep on probably a majority of our grain farms. The remarkable decrease of the latter in proportion to our population is made apparent by the following table, compiled from the United States and State censuses. Mr. Kennedy, Superintendent of the United States Census office, has kindly furnished me with statistics of the census of 1860, in advance of their official publication : were partly overrun with, blackberry and black and red raspberry bushes. I stocked the land heavily with sheep. The next year almost every bush was dead, most of them apparently untouched by the sheep, certainly bearing no marks of having been stripped of their bark. I had not dreamed of the sheep effecting any thing like such a rapid and wholesale extermination ; but it was generally attributed to them, and no other cause for it could be even conjectured. Many of the bushes had been peeled by the sheep, and the extremities, buds, flowers, &c., nipped off. Sheep wiU frequently attack the elder {Sam- hvcus Canadensis et pubescem) at particular periods of the year. In- deed, the tender leaves and bnds of few bushes escape them. They attack some weeds, but banish more of them by manuring the land and increasing the growth of grass, so that the weeds are run out. Where the Canada thistle (Garduus arvensis) is not tall and rank, sheep will generally keep it from becoming so, where the land is not very rich, by nipping off the tops and the flowers. I do not know however that it meddles at all with the common thistle ( 0. lameolatus). * They ejffect this principally through their superiority as manuring animals. I have used the term '' valuable" domestic animals, for I suppose the goat would probably produce the same effect with the sheep, in these particulars. 106 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. Year. No. of Sheep- lbs. of wool. Population. 1840 5,1 18,777 9,845,2^5 2,4.28,921 1845 4,505.369 13,804,828 5,604,495 1EY. 167 increase and decrease, it woiild unquestionably ap- proacli about as near to the average number of the year (tiioiigb a little over it) as is arrived at by any other method.* Mr.Kennedy also prepared for me the foUomng table, illustrative of the increase and decrease of cer- tain leading branches of husbandry in the State of New York, for a period of twenty years : 1830. l&iO. 1850. 18G0. Horses No returns. t474,543 44T.014 803.725 Milch cows do. ) 981,324 1,128.634 Working oxen do. V 1,911,244 178,909 121,702 other tattle do. ) 767,406 727,S;37 Sheep do. 6,118,777 8.458,241 2,6l7,hog Wool, pounds of do. 9,845,295 10,071,301 9.454,47-^ Bntter do. ) No returns of 70,766,094 103,095,679 Cheese do. J these separate. 49,741,413 48,548,288 Had- the United States census of 1880 contained returns of sheep in the State, I have no doubt that a considerably greater decrease "wonld have been indi- cated between that year and 1840 than between 1840 and 1850. While the vastly higher priced lands of England carry nearly two sheep for every inhabitant, and with- in a fraction of 590 sheep for every square mile of territory, it appears that IsTew York has now less than * After the amount of public money that is expended on the Federal and State censuses, it is vexatious to find their want of uniformitjand glaring want of accuracy. Discrepancies are visible at every step. In looking at the returns of sheep from a single county, in the State census of 1855 (received from Mr. Johnson); I find that in some to^viis the whole number must have been returned, in others" the sh^ep which have been sheared ; and, in others still, the number of fleeces given considerably exceeds the aggregate number of sheep of all ages 1 It is certainly very unfortunate if the proper officials cannot hit upon suitable instructions for the marshals, express them in terms which men of common intelligence can understand, and find men of common i io-enee to execute tliem. f This includes horses and mules. 168 FINE WOOL SHEEP HTJSBi.NDEY. one sheep to every inliabitaiit, and less than fifty-six sheep for every square mile ; and it further appears that our sheep have steadily decreased for twenty years, and are still continuing to decrease. But this temporary decay of a great branch of hus- bandry admits, I thini, of reasonable explanation. The history of the introduction of Saxon sheep has been given, their spread over the State, and almost total absorption of the Spanish sheep between 1824 and 18S5, their ceasing to be remunerative after 1837, and their banishment from our farms in 1846. The great fiocks of this State kept for wool-growing pur- poses anterior to 1840, were mostly of this blood ; and when they were abandoned no other wool-growing sheep proper was left to supply their places. For the few improved American Merinos left in the country in the hands of hreedej's^ comparatively large prices were asked. It was not strange that our farmers, recollecting the overthTow of the Spanish Merinos in 1815, smarting under their recent losses with the Saxon, and discouraged by legislation, which was prostrating a large branch of the woolen manufactures of our country, were wholly disinclined to venture on any new and costly experiments in fine-wooled sheep. In fact, that prejudice which should have been direct- ed against visionary investments, injudicious manage- ment, and vacillating legislation in respect to sheep, became directed against these valuable animals them- selves.^ * The destruction caused among sheep by dogs, has also essentially contnbuted to the prostration of sheep husbandry. It not only has inflicted senons, and, in the aggregate, enormous losses on our people, hut it has of late years, a . * • « • December 38 41 31 33 1858. January 8^ . 38 41 31 33 ITS FIKE WOOL SHEEl' KUSBAHDEY. 1860. Average May . . June July . August . September . October . November . December January February March j3-prix , Tear. Monti. Choice Saxony and Saxony, 1858. February , March 38^4:1 . 38 41 April Average . May . June 39 43 . 38 do. ' 1860 . . 45' do. 1856 39| do. 1861 . 33i do. Mr. Faxton, of Utiea, N. T., sends me the following : Mr. Faxtoi^ : Below is actual sales made by me in September of eacb year, and though in many years great changes haye followed, it is perhaps as fair a show of prices as can be given : Coarsest. Knest. Coarsest. Finest 1848 . . 23 36 1855 . . 33 46 1849 . 25 40 1856 35 48 1850 . . 35 52 1867 . . 36 55 1851 33 42 1858 30 46 1852 . . 36 53 1859 . . 40 50 1853 . 43 68 1860 40 55 1854 . . 30 40 1861 . . 37* 40 JanuaTy 15, 1863. Tonrs truly, Jas. Eookmee, UtiGa, FIFE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDBY. 181 C. The following is taken from a report of the Secre- tary of the Treasury, in 1845 : Vahi^e of Imports ofWoollens into the United States : Tear. 1821 1833 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 "Value. $7,437,737 12,185,904 8,268,038 8,386,597 11,392,264 8,434,974 8,742,701 8,679,505 6,881,489 5,766,396 Year. 1831 1833 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 Value. ^12,627,229 9,992,424 18,262,509 11,879,328 17,834,424 21,080,003 8,600,292 16,512,920 18,575,946 It was my intention to ascertain what proportion of the imports of nnmanufactnred wool fell below the dutiable price, bnt the scanty time afforded me has not permitted it. As a specimen, however, I append the following table, compiled from reports of the Secre- tary of the Treasury : Imports of Wool* Av. imp'ts of 1887, '38, '89. Av. irap't9 of 1840, '41, '42 Imports of 1843.* Imports of 1844. Imports of 1845. Imports of 1846. Wool not costinj? to exceed 7 cents a pound Exceeding 7 cents a pound... $558,458 801,087 $759,646 1,004,312 $190,352 54,695 $754,441 97,019 $1,558,789 180,005 $1,107,805 26,921 Total $1,859,545 $1,763,958 $245,047 $S51,4G0 $1,689,794 $1,134,226 * The fiscal year 1842 ended on SOtli September, Since then rt turns of imports and exports have bc«n made up to 80th June* This year, therefore, embraces imports of nine months only, ending June 30, 1843, and subsequent ycais end SUth of June, 1S44, 1845, and so on. 182 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. The Wool Peess. Tiiis article lias been so mucli improved recently, and that improyement is so little tnown, that I am induced to call attention to it. Most wool-growers are acquainted -with the excellent press previously in use, consisting of a trough about four feet long and ten or twelve inches in height and breadth, set on legs, with a stationary cross-piece at one end, and a movable one drawn towards it by a strap and lever, with slits for twine, &c. This does up wool more rapidly and vastly better than any person can do it by hand. But in the case of large fleeces it requires too much weight applied to the lever for the operator conveniently to press it down and hold it down with one foot, while standing with the other in a conve- nient place for tying up the fleece. Several contri- vances were apphed to remedy this difficulty, but finally the true one was hit upon by Mr. James Ged- des, of Fairmount, IST. Y, Ey substituting a crank, ratchet-wheel, pair of rollers, and the necessary straps in the place of the lever arrangement, even a small boy is strong enough to compress the fleece, and the ratchet-wheel and dog will cause it to be held com- pressed as long as is wanted by the tier ; the cranfe, being then reversed, carries back the sliding cross- piece to the opposite end of the trough ag?in. It is now apparently a perfect machine. 'So jDatent has been taken out for it. The machines are excellently manufactured by Storrs Wilber, of Fairmount, N. Y., and cost from $6 to $7. If Mr. Wilber should leave, FINE WOOL SHEEP HIFSBANDliY. 183 Mr. Geddes will doubtless see tliat anotlier manufac- turer takes his place, so tliat it would be as well to address to care of James Geddes. Proportion of Wool to Meat in Sheep of Different Ages, SexcS) and Sizes, Tlie President of tlie State Agricultural Society, tlie Hon. Mr. Geddes, kindly drew out tlie following in- formation for me, on tlie above beads : PoiTPET, OiroK Co. J iSr. Y., January 27, 1862. Hon. George Geddes : Deab Seb : — Tours of tbe 16tb iiist. was duly receiv- ed, and it is witli some considerable pleasure tbat we can reply so satisfactorily. Our flock consists of 180, of several grades, one-balf to tbree-fourtlis Spanisb Merino, and a portion of tbe largest one-fourtb Erencb Merino. Tbe base of tbe flock, but a few years since, was Saxony. "We sbeared on tbe 26tb and 27tb of June last, and took tbe trouble to weigli every sbeep and every fleece, and to record it on tbe spot. Tbey were sbeared promiscuously, and we bave taken tbe trouble to clas- sify tbem for our own convenience, botb by age and weigbt. Tbe beaviest sbeep weigbed 133, tbe ligbtest 43. Tbe beaviest fleece weigbed 9 J, tbe lightest 3 J. We sold our clip for iOc. ; it would bave brougbt, in six days after, 47 or 48. We sold 24 of tbe beaviest wetbers, October 1st, for $95 ; and 24 of tbe oldest ewes, November 1st, for $60. We bad about 50 lambs dropped; we raised 35. Some of tbe remainder died, but tbe most of tbem we 184: FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. tilled. Tliey had flesliy tumors on tlieir necks, and we were told by many that it was owing to liigli keep- ing ; we did not believe it then, and have since proved that it was transmitted by the sire. To construct the next to the last column (in subjoined table) we divided the carcass by the fleece ; and to construct the last col- umn, we added ciphers to the amount of wool and divided it by the gross weight. We conceived that to be the proper method. If it is not, it can readily be reconstructed, as we are confident that the weights in all other respects are absolutely accurate. You will not fail to notice that the 26 wethers in the first class, four years old, gave a greater per cent, than those three years old, and those of from 110 to 121 pounds in weight more than those above or below that weight. Those two exceptions comprise the same sheep. Were these two excluded, the column of percentage would gradually decrease from yearlings to four-years old, and from 43 to 133. Were these four-years old not subdivided, the percentage would be 5.58, and we do not know but that, if the classes above were subdivi- ded in the same way, it would be with similar results. If you can think of any way in which our data can be anymore thoroughly elaborated, please inform usj and we will do it with the greatest pleasure. Eespectfully yours. Sweet Beothees. Mte to the Messrs, Sweefs statement: The American Merino ram, whose measurements are giyen in Petri's table, weighed, in fair ordinary condi^ tion, and with between nine and ten months fleece on, 122 lbs. IXe has yielded an unwashed fleece, of one year's growth, of 20 lbs. 12 oz. His wool is not unusually yolky, and ho has very little external gum. Hero, then, we have, on a moderate estimate, a pound unwaslied wool for less than five and one-half pounds of carcass. Prices of Saxony Wool, Prepared by TellkaBipf & Kitch- ing, 49 Beaver Street, I'ew York. Choice 1 CI Full 1 Choice 1.-^ 1 Full M^7 Saxony. oiixQuy. Blood. baxony. ■Da\ony. Blood. ISoo. 47 a 50 42 a 45 37 a 40 ISGO. Jan. 52 a 57 4S a 50 45 a 47 June do. do. do. Feb. do. do. do. July do. do. do. !March do. do. do Aug. do. do. do. Apui do.^ do. do. Sept. do. do. do. May 50 55 47 49 44 4G Oct. 4S 53 43 4G 40 42 June do. do. do. Nov. do. do. do. July do. do. do. Dec. 4T 50 40 45 33 40 Sept. Oct. do. 52 55 do. do. 48 50 do. do. 45 47 do. 1S50. Jan. 4T a 40 40 a 45 3S a 40 Feb. do. do. do. No^. ilo. do. do. March 50 52 43 47 40 42 D.> . do. do. do. April 53 t>o do. 47 50 do. 43 45 do. IbGl. Jan. 4Sa50 43 a 45 40 a 4J June do. do. do. Feb, do. do. do. July do. do. do. March do. do. do. Aug. do. do. do. xipnl do. do. do. Sept. do. do. do. May do. do. do. Oct. do. do. do. June do. do. do. Nov. 55 5S 5U 53 47 50 July 84 3S 34 3S 34 SS Dec. do. do. do. Aug. Sept. Oct. do. do. do. do. do. do. 1S57. Jan. 55 a 5S 50 a m 47^50 40 45 40 45 40 '45 Feb. GO (52 5G 5S 52 55 Nov. 47 52 47 52 47 52 jMarch do. do. do. Dec. do. do. do. April do. do. do. May 5S 60 53 5G 49 52 1SG2. Jan. 47 a 52 47 a 52 47 a 52 June do. do. do. Feb. do. do. do. July 52 55 4S 51 45 47 March do. do. do. Alii?. 55 5b 50 53 47 : 49 April 46 50 4G 50 46 50 Sept. do. do. do. May 45 4S 45 48 45 4b Oct. do. do. do. June do. do. do. Nov. do. do. do. July 49 51 47 4S 45 40 Dec. 40 43 35 3S 31 33 Aug. 50 52 47 50 4G 48 Sept. Oct, 55 GO do. 54 55 do. 54 55 do. 1S5S. Jan. 40 « 4^5 35 a 38 31 a 33 Feb. do. do. do. Nov. do. do. do. March do. do. do. Dec. GO G5 5b G2 53 G2 April May 42 45 do. 3G 40 do. 82 35 do. 1SG3. Jan. G2 a 05 5S a G2 5S a 02 June do. 37 41 33 3G Feb. 70 73 07 70 07 70 July do. do. do. March S4 SG b2 &1 S2 bi Au}?. 43 47 40 42 37 39 April do. do. do. Sept. 44 4S 41 48 St> 40 May SO 82 75 7S 75 7S Oct. do. do. do. Juno 77 SO 73 75 73 75 Nov. 47 50 44 45 41 43 July do. do. do. Dec. 50 55 47 49 44 4G Aug. 75 77 do. do. 1S59. Jan. 52 a 57 4S a 59 45 a 47 Feb, do. do. do. March do. do. do. April 53 57 4S 51 do. May do. do. do. June do. do. do. July 50 55 47 49 44 4G Aug. do. do. do. Sept. do. do do. Oct. 52 57 4S 50 45 47 Nov. do. do. do. Doc. do. do, -do. FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDEY. 185 Classified ly age ; exrept those fotir years old^ wMch are sul- divided ly sex. The four-year old ewes all had lambs, and 35 reared them. OO 1 Sexes. B 1 ^ Age. wa a to o O |Zi 1—1 ^ 2 82 1 19 11 BO 2 15 14 1 51 3 y 42 2(; 4 .... 25 1 41 4 41 S4 ISO 1 to 4 92 4 L 4*' e3 ,a « bD «M *s o ^ l« in _t£)S ^'^ 2,160.25 1,991 2,508.87 2,347 5.018.25 4.700 2,921.13 ,736 3,73S.OO ,5 57 16,841.00 15,331 o o CM O •r-( 169.25 161.37 813.25 185.18 181.00 1,010.00 4^ •s go o o £ 3 ;r; w o fl ta 5 U o > O « P is 5 43 to 51 5 .... 256 22 46.80 4.40 10.63 8.59 14 50 to 61 10 4 .... 871 808 68 57.35 4.85 ll.&O 7.80 20 60 to 71 14 6 .... 1,427 1,820 175 66.00 5.35 12.33 7.49 84 70 to 81 21 12 1 2,742 2,567 75.50 5.14 14.06 6.88 39 80 to 91 19 20 .... 3,560 8,355 211 86.00 5.41 15.87 5.90 84 90 to 101 11 22 1 3,458 8,252 201 95 (H 5.91 15.42 6.82 18 100 to 111 4 13 1 2,016 1,905 111 105,83 6.16 17.16 5.50 11 110 to 121 * - » * 10 1 1,353 1,273 SO 115.72 7.27 15.91 5.S9 6 120 to 134 1 84 5 92 4 657 622 85 124.40 ___S5^7_ 7.00 17.76 5.32 180^ 43 to 134 16,341 15,331 1,010 5.88 15.17 JSS T "NT "T^ "R^ "^ PAOX! ADAMS, SETS, Ms importation of Merinos 31 BREEDIIJfG- in-and-in 135-120 principles of 141-144 selection of rams for 144-147 present course of in U. S 147 causes of deterioration in 148-1 52 CnAMBEELAm, WILLIAM, his importation of SHesian Merinos 88 Collins, D. 0., Ms importation of Frencli Merinos 21 character of Ms sheep 83 Crossing, lietween Merinos and other breeds 106 between varieties of the Merino 100, 108-112, 121 BUPONT DE NEMQURS, Ms importation of Merinos 30 FOSTER, WILLIAM, his importation of Spanish Merinos 30 GrROYE, HENRY D., his importation of Saxon Merinos 51 weiglit of his fleeces. .^ 69 HOUSING- sheep in summer 136-138 Humphreys, David, his importation of Spanish Merinos 33, 34 character of his sheep 35, 36 JARTIS, WILXjIAM, his importation of Spanish Merinos 39 his course of breeding 41, 42, 108 LIYERMORE, G-EORaB, his statements 30 his table of wool prices. . , 62-65 Livingston, R. R., his importation of Merinos 31-33 weight of Ms fleeces 19 his course of breeding 78 MERINO, AMERICAN, mtroduction into tJ. S 30, 43 how received in TJ. S 45 fall in prices of 48 supplanted by Saxon Merinos 56 it again supersedes the Saxon '69 weights of fleeces of at diJQferent periods 70, 71 mDEX. 187 PAau MEEINO, AMEEIOAIsr, families of in XT. S '72-79 improvement in weight of fleece of 81 , 82 compared with Saxon Merino 02 compared with French Merino 93-1*00 crosses of with French Merinos 101 compared with Silesian Merino 104 crossed with other breeds lOo crossing between families of 108-112, 121 breeding in-and-in of 115-120 carcass, skin, and folds of 122 fleece, fineness and evenness of 12G trueness, softness, and style of wool of — 126 quality of mutton of 155-159 used to breed early lambs from 15*7 improvement of for mutton purposes 158-161 proper age of to turn off 161 longevity of 161 Merino, French, introduction into France 15 how selected and bred there 16, 108 rapid improvement of in weight of fleece 16, 18 characteristics of in 1827 * 20 characteristics of at present 21-23, 84, 108 imported into U. S 21-23, 83 character and treatment of in U. S . . , S^r-ST compared with American Merino 93-101 crosses with American Merino. 101 where most valuable 104 Merino, Saxon, introduction into Saxony 24 course of breeding and treatment of there 34 characteristics of in 1824 25, 26 subsequent improvement of 27 prices of wool of in G-ermany 29 introduction of into U. S, 50-55 mania in regard to in U. S 56 superseded by American Merino in TJ. S 69 compared with American Merino 92 crosses of with American Merino 121 Merino, Silesian, introduction into Silesia 29 introduction and character of in U. S 88-91 compared with American Merino 104 Merino, Spanish, its origin 4 188 INDEX. TAG'S Merino, Spaniali, varieties of 6 annual migrations of , territorial classifications of 1 families of, described T appearance of as a race in 1 800 8 Petri's weights and measurements of 10 form, fleece, etc., of. , 12, 13 mode of washing of in Spain K quality of wool of ....... 15 present deterioration of in Spain 22, 23 importation of into U. S 30-43 Mutton, production of with fine wool 152, 153 more clieaply produced than other meat 154 wastes less in eookiDg than other meat 154 increase in price and consumption of 154, 155 American taste in respect to 156, 1 5 Y NEW YORK, encouragement of to wool manufactures 45, 4t manufactures of wool in, 1810 , 4 if its manufactures prostrated loj peace of 1815 48 NEW YORK, number of sheep to the square mile in 153, 154 increased price and consumption of mutton in ....... . 153, 154 comparative decrease of sheep husbandry in 167, 168 what portions of are adapted to sheep 1*70 SHEEP, pampering of for sale, a fraud 138, 140 necessity of in English agricidture 153 necessity of in U. S 163 when more profitable than dairy cows 164 comparative value of in improving land 164 number of, decreasing in New York 166 situations where they should increase 170 they never die in debt to man 171 TAINTOE, JOHN A., his importation of Erench Merinos 21, 83 Tariff laws of U. S. on wool and woollens from 1789 to 1824 49 from 1824 to 1861 54-61, 173 WOOL, prices of in U. S. for 60 years 62-65 exports and imports of 66, 181 machinery tor manufacture of in U. S 67 decline in production of fine, in U. S , . 69 chemical analysis of 95 characteristics of, described 125, 126 effects of yoke on 127 MDEX. 189 PAGE WOOL, profits of production of 160 advantages of its culture 1G3-112 piices of Ohio fleece 1T6 prices current of in New York 1V6 prices of, paid at Watervliet Mills, E*. Y 180 prices of, paid in Utica, IsT. Y 180 press for doing up of 182 proportion of to meat in sheep of different ages, sexes, and sizes 183 YOLU, different kinds of in wool 121 chemical analysis of 121 more of in some regions tlian in others 129 uses of in wool 130, 1 31 how far it should be propagated 131 consequences of an excess of 132, 133 effect of on wool after shearing 133 cost of cleansing it out of wool 134 how far its color is important 13-1 OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE: A Practical Treatise on tite ^arl^jj mi Wimpml §iiltim 0I tfe 'Wnu^ AND THE HANDFAGTUEE OF DOMESTIC WINE. Designed for the use of AMATEURS and others in the 23[ORTHEE¥ AHB MIDBLE STATES. mOFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH NEW EXGRAViyGS FROM CAREFULLY Ji3:ECUTED DESIGNS, VERIBIED BY DIRFCT PRACTICE. ■i . i T J' JL f_/ V--' JlTJL XN JCT JLJL JL. JlN • To which is added a Selection of EXAMPLES OF AMEEICAH VI2^EYAED PEACTICE, And a Carefully Prepared Description of the Celebrated THOMERir SYSTEM OF GRAPE CULTURE All the works oa tlie culture of the Grape, which Uave been hitherto written, have heendc- voiod, chiefly, either to its culture under glass, or to Vineyards at the South. There is none, with which wo are acquainted, exclusively devoted to the culture of the Grape in the open air in tha North. That this will eventually become, oven in this latitude, an extensive branch of business, wo have no doubt, for there are few objects of cultivation moro profitable than the Grape Vine. But, besides this, no one, having even a few square feet of ground, should be without a Grape Vine. If the soil, aspeci, and exposure be good, a generous return of luscious fruit may be ex- pected for a very trifling expenditure of time and money. If the conditions be otherwise, still, by care, a tolerable crop of Grapes may be obtained, even in very unfavorable circumstances, and 110 fruit tree yields so quickly and so abundantly as the Vine. To meet the wants of those who desire to take advantage of these inducements, the abovo work has been prepared. It will be found to contain full and simple directions on all the subjects of which it treats, laid down in such a manner that no*" one can fail to understand them. PKICE5 One lOollar iiiid Twenty-five Cents, Sent Free of Postage, on Receipt of Price. EVEEY PEESOIT, WHO HAS A GR.1PE VI]S"E, SHOULD OWK THIS BOOK Address, O. Isdl. S,A.3ZTO IST^ ^jgricixlttiral JSooli 3Pabli»ixc2 NEW YORK, THE AMERICAN STOCK JOUENAL The Publisher and Editors desire to retum thanks for the patronage bestowed towards this Journal. Its influence is now too apparent to need a word of commondation. 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To any one sending me Sixteen Dollars, I will send twenty copies, and one copy of Dadd's Horse Doctor, or Herbert's Hints to Horselceepers. Address all communications to OTIS F^^'^WAITB l^'litors Agric'l Booh Publisher ^ K Y. Saxtou's Rural Hand Books, 25 cents eacTa. American Bird Fancier. American Kitchen Gardener. Chemistry Made Easy. Flax Culture. Elements of Agriculture. Every Lady her own I^'lower Gardener. Dana's Essays on Manures. Liebig's Letters. Richardson on Hogs, Horses, Bees. Milburn on the Cow. Posts of the Farm. Yale Agricultural Lectures Horse's Foot and how to Keep it Sound. GEO. ¥. BEALE mmm ^fwlwt f FOR THE PUi^MASE kUB Sli OF WOOL, IV"o- 3Q I»I]XE STIS-EET IE¥ YORK.