Sheep in New York State 1805 



of this breed in England weighing ninety ponnds. The wool is 

 exceedingly long and they are heavy shearers. I^one of these 

 long wools are as good mutton sheep as the Downs and they suf- 

 fer even more from exposure on account of their very open fleece. 

 I do not advise the eastern farmer to use any of the long wools, 

 although they have a place on western ranches for a top cross 

 where size is desirable and early maturity is not an important 

 factor. 



Cheviots 



This breed occupies a place peculiar to itself. They are native 

 of the Cheviot Hills in Southern Scotland, and are more hardy 

 than any of the above-mentioned. The are beautiful in appear- 

 ance with a fine fleece of good wool and make excellent mutton. 

 They are well adapted for the hill farmer who wants more mut- 

 ton and beauty than the Merinos afford with lambs maturing on 

 pasture. They are not as easily confined as the last named or the 

 Downs. 



Merino or Fine Wools 



One of the first importations of these sheep was by Eobert R. 

 Livingston of Clermont, Columbia County, N. Y., very early in 

 the nineteenth century. In 1807 he imported a ram from France 

 called "■ Eambouillett " which weighed 145 pounds and sheared 

 nine pounds of wool. He paid 750 francs, or approximately 

 $145 for him. A son of this ram which was named " Clermont," 

 after his native town, weighed ten pounds more than his sire 

 and sheared nine pounds and six ounces of wool. These rams 

 with imported ewes and others of his own breeding furnished 

 the foundation of many of the Merino flocks in New York and 

 the East. On jMarch 3, 1809, the legislature of the State of New 

 York voted to publish 1,000 copies of a book by Mr. Livingston 

 on sheep. This work of 250 pages called by him "an essay" 

 was published in London in 1811. The style is what might be 

 expected from a Livingston of that period and the subject-matter 

 might be read with profit by the shepherds of today. His sys- 

 tem of breeding has not been improved upon during the century. 

 They were the sheep of our fathers, and in the days when wool 

 was the chief factor and shelter not abundant, they were well 



