SHEEP. 229 



true " golden fleece V For all experiments so far have clearly proven that our 



countrfr, climate, &c., are more admirably adapted than any other outside of 



Asia. 



» Machinery is now being erected and perfected by the Lowell, Pacific, and 



other milld to work up the fleece and manufacture the finest fabrics, thus only 



awaiting the wools adapted and establishing a market. 



Nor does this enterprise conflict with any other of our country, silk raising, 

 heep husbandry, cotton, &c., each having its appropriate fabric, fleece, use, 

 and sphere, and its limits of usefulness, which commend it to our government, 

 to the well-wishers of our country and her prosperity. 



SHEEP. 



SELECTION, TREATMENT, AND DISEASES OF SHEEP IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



BY HEMIV S. RANDALL, LL. D., CORTLAND VILLAGE, NEW YORK. 



SELECTING SHEEP FOR A FARM. 



Where accents to large and good city markets is rapid and cheap, and 

 especially on high-priced and high-tilled fiirms, where sheep are kept but in 

 limited numbers, as part of a system of convertible husbandry, improved mut- 

 ton sheep are the most profitable. In interior situations, remote from such 

 markets, the Merino or fine-woollcd sheep yield the best returns. 



SOILS AND CLIMATE. 



Glutton sheep, to develop their characteristic qualities successfully, require 

 soils ranging from medium to first class, and consequently those yielding regu- 

 lar and good feed. Some mutton breeds, like the South Downs, thrive best 

 on dry uplands, producing abundant and nutritious but not rank vegetation. 

 Others, like the Lincolns and Leicesters, prefer moist, rich, alluvial valleys, 

 where the grasses are abundant rather than delicate. With the Merinos dry- 

 ness of soil is indispensable. There may be swamps or other wet lands on 

 their range to which they have free access, but they cannot be confined to 

 these without injury to their health. They will thrive on scantier feed than 

 any other of the improved mutton breeds, and may be made to travel further 

 to obtain it. During the great scarcity of grass in Texas, in the remarkably 

 severe winter of ISGO, Mr. Kendall's large Merino flocks daily travelled four 

 or five miles from their folds to fill themselves with the dried and frozen her- 

 bage ; yet he lost scarcely one per cent, of their number, and they reached the 

 spring in fair condition. 



The mutton sheep are sufliciently hardy in temperate climates where they 

 receive due winter protection. The Merinos are capable of enduring greater 

 extremes of temperature with comparative impunity. 



