350 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



rwhereby the United States was able to secure some of these sheep, 

 so that in 1809-10 thousands of sheep were imported into this 

 country by these gentlemen. It is believed that during the years 

 1810-11 as many as 20,000 sheep were imported into this country 

 from Spain. In 1810, this country enjoyed a sheep boom, and 

 people went wild about Merino sheep. They paid $1,000 and 

 $1,500 for Merino sheep that were afterwards sold for a mere 

 song. This boom was disastrous in many ways, but one thing re- 

 sulting from it was that the Merino sheep were widely advertised 

 and everybody wanted to buy sheep. In these early years, Merino 

 sheep were handled in the eastern part of the United States, and 

 I only need to mention a few of the names of great men who were 

 famous for the breeding of Merino sheep : Atwood of Connecticut, 

 Hammond, Jarvis, Stickney and Rich of Vermont, and Dickinson 

 of Ohio. 



In the days of the development of the American Merino sheep, 

 the agriculture of New England was in a prosperous condition. 

 The decline of sheep husbandry in the New England states has 

 been coextensive with the decline of agriculture in New England. 

 Now, I am not in a position to demonstrate to you that the decline 

 of sheep husbandry in New England is the cause of the decline of 

 agriculture in New England, but it is a significant fact, at least, 

 that as in the days of the zenith of Spain's power the Merino sheep 

 industry was her greatest asset, so it is also significant that the 

 rise of the sheep industry was co-extensive with prosperity in 

 New England's agriculture. 



However, the American Merino sheep declined. The early 

 breeders of Merino sheep conceived the idea that the best sheep 

 was one that could shear the largest possible amount of wool to 

 the carcass. The unconscious result of this kind of breeding 

 diminished the size of the sheep. Sheep that weighed 85 or 90 

 pounds sheared 30 and 35 per cent of their live weight in wool. 

 That practice was one which resulted in injuring the constitution 

 of the sheep, and in practically' destroying their usefulness for any 

 purpose but the production of wool, and even for that they were 

 not successful, because they were reduced in constitution and in 

 size. 



Merino sheep have long been known to herd better in large 

 flocks than most other breeds. This is undoubtedly due to the 

 methods of handling practiced by the old Spanish shepherds. The 

 Transhumantes Merinos were the traveling flocks of Spain, and 

 these great flocks traveled long distances from one part of the 



