214 



sential to its health ; although experience has abundantly proved, as 

 might readily have been foreseen, that the green prairies, and dry, roll- 

 ing openings, with their sweet and healthful gi-asses, and the compara- 

 tively mild climate and brief winters of Michigan, are much more con- 

 ducive to the health and vigor, and productiveness of the sheep, than the 

 cold and oozy pastures and long severe winter's of Vermont. An im- 

 portant proof of this, as well as a<:lvantage to the Michigan wool- 

 grower, is the fact that eastern manufacturers consider Michigan wool of 

 the same grade, worth some cents on the pound more than eastern wool. 

 It makes more cloth — is evener and stronger ; in shoi-t, the sheep is 

 healthier and more robust, and therefore the staple is better. 



But if we compare the cost of production, the advantage will be still 

 more apparent on the side of the Michigan wool-grower. I was toler- 

 ably famihar with sheep-husbandry in Vermont, in my youth, and I 

 know that from the 1st of November to the 1st of May, might be con- 

 sidered winter months, so far as stock of all kinds were concerned — a 

 long and tedious winter of six months, where fodder and grain are al- 

 ways scarce and dear. In Michigan, we may safely strike one month 

 from each end of the winter, and in many favorable localities, and un- 

 der favorable circumstances, much more. Indeed, in the vicinity where 

 I live, I doubt whether the average time of foddering sheep will exceed 

 three months. If we take into consideration the comparative cheap- 

 ness of grain, the abundance of wheat straw in a great wheat-growing 

 coimtry, and the ease with which fodder of all kinds is produced, it 

 must be apparent that the wool-grower of Michigan must realize am- 

 ple profits, when in New England the business wiU not sustain itself. 



The question as to what variety of sheep is best adapted to the cli- 

 mate, and will yield the largest profit, is one upon which there are 

 many different opinions, and which experience and careful observation 

 can alone determine. The Spanish Merino is undoubtedly one of the 

 best, if not the very best in the world. The Saxon is delicate in con- 

 stitution and light in fleece, and I believe it is not claimed anywhere, 

 that it is suitable to constitute the general stock of the country. The 

 great question, at present, seems to be in regard to the French Merino; 

 either as an original, piu-e breed, or as a cross with the Spanish. Of 

 the former I have not had suflBcient experience to warrant a conclusion 

 — in regard to the latter, I am strongly of opinion that it is a decided 



