180 State Roakd ok Agriculture, &c. 



millions to the wealth of tliis cDiiiitry. The wants of the 

 times demand a sheep tliat shall combine the best quali- 

 ties of wool and mutton ; and in this respect I have not 

 any fears but that the improved Mei'ino will be one of the 

 successful competitors. 



The production of any superior commodity, or the pro- 

 duction (jf any superior kind of stock, cannot possibly be 

 overdone ; as Webster said, there is always plenty of room 

 in the upper story. 



The Southdown sheep, as their name indicates, originated 

 fi'om the Downs in England. Tliey iiave been bred with n 

 view to develop the best mutton qualities of a sheep. They 

 are large in those parts of the body where their flesli is the 

 most valuable for mutton, and small in tliose parts where it 

 is of the least value, as in tlieir necks, Szc. They have been 

 bred with a view to dispense with everything practicable 

 that did not contribute to this one idea, vvz.., superior mut- 

 ton. Tlieir wool has been a matter of secondary impor- 

 tance. It is said of them that a carcass of Southdown mut- 

 tr>n has twenty per cent, more of edible meat than the other 

 varieties of mutton slieej). Tliey are a hai-dy, robust, docile- 

 sheep, which are easy to keep and fatten. They are pro- 

 line breeders. A flock of ewes will sometimes raise one 

 hundred and thirty per cent, of their nund)e]' of lambs. 

 The average weight of improved Southdown she.p, when 

 arrived at maturity, is one hundred and iif ty pounds. They 

 will shear a fleece annually of seven pounds of unwashed 

 wool per liead. Their wool forms an intermediate link 

 between the coarse wool and Merino sheep. When bred 

 with the Merino the result is a sheep that combines, to 



