SECRETARY'S REPORT. 157 



FEOM W. R. FLINT, AXSOIT. 



" All kinds of domestic animals have been improved by importation 

 from abroad of the males. Of horses, the Messengers and Morgans 

 stand ahead. One is owned in Winthrop, raised in this town, called 

 the Eaton horse, and two by Daniel Beal, Esq., of Farmington Falls. 

 They are generally of a sorrel color. The Darhams among cattle, are 

 permanently fixed here, and it is not extravagant to say, they have 

 added thirty per cent, to the weight and value of our stock. Among- 

 hogs, the SufFolks are preferred, they come to maturity early, and are 

 extensively propagated. Of sheep, the Spanish and French Merino 

 are esteemed for wool, adding the finest quality to the heaviest fle?eces. 

 It is believed the higher grades of these animals are the best sheep in 

 the world. This town can furnish the best in the State, in quite large 

 numbers. The bucks are valued all the way from five to one hundred 

 dollars each. Their fleeces weigh from six to twelve pounds when 

 washed. They are naturally peaceable and docile, and therefore easily 

 kept in their enclosure. A good French ewe will weigh alive, one 

 hundred and twenty pounds, and the bucks from one hundred and 

 fifty to two hundred pounds. The Spanish are one-third smaller and 

 not so good nurses for the lambs." 



FROM JOHN S. MURCH. 



" Farmers in Dayton have recently paid more attention to the im- 

 provement of domestic animals than formerly. Our native breeds are 

 generally preferred, which have been considerably improved, and is 

 probably capable of still greater improvement. Among neat stock 

 some prefer a cross of the Durham to the pure natives. Farmers 

 should pay particular attention to breeding in all their animals, from 

 the noble horse to the chickens. 



There are but few sheep kept in town. The native breeds are most 

 liighly esteemed. They are worth about three dollars per head. Among 

 swine, a cross of the Suffolk and Newbury Whites is esteemed by 

 ■some, and some like a sprinkling of the Berkshire. Our breed is so 

 mixed up, that in most cases, farmers can hardly tell the name of the 

 breed. I believe the experiment has never been fairly and fully tried, 

 to determine whether pork can be raised at a profit or not. Some give 

 it as their opinion, that it can, if corn can be had at a reasonable price, 

 and the hogs are supplied with materials to make manure." 



FEOM ELIJAH EARUELL, GREENE. 



" For many years the attention of the farmei-s in the county of Ken- 

 nebec has been turned to the subject of improving the breed of ani- 

 mals. The high prices obtained at the exhibition of these animals at 



