Sheep Breeders' Associatio7i. 351 



country to another. In some places walls were built enclosing a 

 wide roadway through which the flocks were driven. This practice 

 must have resulted in a kind of selection which destroyed the 

 weaker individuals and has given us the hardy Merino. 



In recent years, and particularly during the development of 

 the middle west country, there has been a remarkable increase in 

 the number of mutton sheep. This has been due to several causes, 

 but we can not stop to consider them at this time. 



The first mutton sheep, the Southdowns, were introduced into 

 New York in 1803. The first importation of Shropshires was in 

 1860 into Maryland — only a short time ago, as you will observe. 

 In 1861, '62 and '68 importations were made into New York, and 

 in 1875 Shropshire sheep were importated into Michigan, and in 

 1888 into Illinois. Just a short time ago, then, Shropshire sheep 

 were unknown in this country, and yet at the present time the 

 Shropshire breed of sheep registers more animals than any other 

 live stock registry association in the world. The development in 

 Shropshire sheep has been very remarkable in this country. Along 

 during the '80s, a good many Shropshires were imported into the 

 middle west. 



The Leicesters, Cotswolds and Lincoln sheep, heavy breeds of 

 mutton sheep, have never been very popular in the United States; 

 they have been more popular in Canada and in England than in 

 this country. 



So much for the history of the domestic sheep in America. 



The relation of the domestic sheep to our systems of farm 

 management is a question that is particularly interesting to those 

 of you who are managing farms, and is a question which is worthy 

 of some attention. The question is often discussed as to whether 

 in this country farms are becoming larger or smaller, and the 

 statistics do not throw much light on the subject. We are told by 

 some that farms are certainly growing larger. We are told by 

 others that farms are certainly becoming smaller. In my opinion, 

 what observation I have been able to make, I think that we are 

 passing through an era in which farms are growing both larger 

 and smaller, if you can conceive of such a paradoxical condition. 

 What I have in mind is that there are being developed extremes 

 more than heretofore, the average size farm is and has been for 

 the past twenty years passing away, in numbers at least. We have 

 more large farms and more small farms than we have ever had 

 before. 



Now in the past, cattle have unquestionably been the means 



