252 [Senate 



although he may have other good qualities. If the breeder has coarse 

 ewes, like the native breeds, a different course should be pursued. A 

 judicious cross of Saxony would, perhaps, be the best that could be 

 made ; though care should be taken not to follow it so long as to 

 sacrifice those valuable qualities of weight of fleece and constitution. 



A great disposition to run to extremes has been prevalent among 

 wool-growers for the last few years. Some years since, the cry was 

 all Saxony ; and so far was it carried, that, regardless of constitu- 

 tion, build, and weight of fleece, the finest Saxons were bred from, 

 until those valuable qualities were all sacrificed. This soon brought 

 this breed into disrepute, and a disposition has since been prevalent, 

 to disregard them altogether, and run to extremes another way. To 

 prevent disappointment, the breeder should avoid these extremes, 

 and endeavor to divest himself of all prejudice, recollecting that 

 both Saxons and Merinos have qualities which, if rightly under- 

 stood, are valuable for crossing. 



Eucks to be bred from, must be pure blooded, or no dependence 

 can be placed on their transmitting their valuable qualities to their 

 stock. While I should prefer a buck without wrinkles, I should not 

 discard one simply because he had them. A buck with a heavy dew- 

 lap and a few rolls over his neck, (provided he is well built,) is more 

 apt to mark his stock with good build and strong constitution, than 

 one that has neither. Large wrinkles on the body, I think are objec- 

 tionable. It is important that a buck should be well coated on his 

 legs and belly ; and there should be an evenness of length, thick- 

 ness, and quality, throughout the whole fleece. The length or thick- 

 ness of the wool should be governed by that of the ewes ; if that 

 is long, a buck should be chosen that has thick wool ; but if short 

 and thick, the buck should have it long, as the object always is to 

 combine thickness and length, as much as possible. While a hard, 

 glutinous gum should always be avoided, a quantity of natural oil 

 in the wool is desirable, as such wool has a soft, silky, elastic feeling, 

 that wool entirely free from it, does not have. 



I do not permit my stock bucks to run with other sheep, for they 

 thrive much better when kept alone, and they are apt to injure other 

 sheep, especially ewes with lamb. I begin to feed my bucks a small 

 quantity of grain, the last of October, and continue to grain them 

 until they are turned to pasture in the spring, giving them from one 

 gill to a pint of corn each day, varying according to size and age. 

 During the winter, in addition to the grain, they have a mess of roots 

 every day, (carrots or sugar beets are preferred to potatoes or ruta 

 bagas) ; I think a part roots better than a large quantity of grain. 



IJpon breeding cattle, so much has been written, that I do not ex- 

 pect to present any thing new ; but I give you my experience for 

 what it is worth. We have had almost all of the improved breeds 

 here, yet various opinions exist with our farmers, as to which 

 are most profitable. We want a breed that will thrive upon our 

 short pastures through the summer. We must have those that are 

 hardy, that they may thrive during our long and severe winters. 



