90 WISCONSIlSr AGEICULTUEE. 



skin completely naked. The fleece, after being properly 

 cleansed and in good marketable condition, weighed fifteen 

 pounds lacking one oz.; and, needing it for family use, I 

 cleansed it with alkalies, when, after undergoing that process 

 for two weeks, it had lost three pounds, or twenty per cent. A 

 Down fleece subjected 'to the same operation, lost in cleansing 

 twelve and a-half per cent.; whilst a Merino fleece which I ex- 

 perimented upon, a year ago last summer, lost in cleansing, 

 nearly one-half, or fifty per cent. I much regret not having 

 tried a Leicester fleece, but suppose that would not shrink more 

 than the Down, as the wool is more dry and crisp than the 

 Cotswold, so that, combined with a shorter and thinner staple, 

 it would probably clean more perfectly, with ordinary washing, 

 upon the animal's back. 



The yearling Cotswold Buck I exhibited, was imported this 

 summer, and bred by Mr. E. M. Pearce, of ISTill Farm, Chipping 

 Norton, Oxfordshire. The friend who made the selection for 

 me, considered him superior to Mr. Cother's flock, and if size be 

 an evidence of superiority, he certainly is superior, being the 

 largest yearling Sheep I ever saw, — a remark made by many 

 who are conversant with large breeds of Sheep. The commit- 

 tee on Mutton Sheep, at our late Fair, certainly thought him 

 superior, as they awarded him the first premium, while they 

 passed by the Cother Sheep unnoticed ; consequently, from mo- 

 tives of delicacy, I will not compare the excellencies of the two 

 animals, for under certain circumstances "comparisons are 

 odious." 



Of Cotswold Ewes I have only three, imported this summer 

 and from the same flocks as the Bucks. The Lambs exhibited 

 by me, were all sired by the " Cother " Buck, and dropped 

 about the first of May ; eight of them were from native Ewes, 

 and two from Leicesters. It will probably not be thought irrel- 

 evant here to note, that my Buck Lambs raised from native 

 Ewes, resembled the sire in outward appearance and noble car- 

 riage, more than those from Leicester Ewes, while the latter in 

 the character of the fleece, fatness and ripeness of the points, 

 resembled him more, yet in every case in this cross (i. e., Lei- 



