Chap. 2. 



QUADRUPEDS OF VERMONT. 



55 



THE SHEEP. 



THE SHEEP. 



but a few years would elapse in the pur- 

 suance of this policy, before we should be 

 as proud to compare the American stock 

 of cattle with the cattle of foreign coun- 

 tries as we now are to compare the Amer- 

 ican with foreign nations. 



Upon lands which are uneven and 

 rough, the farming operations are carried 

 on to better advantage by oxen than by 

 horses, and on this account large num- 

 bers of oxen are kept for labor in Ver- 

 mont, particularly in the central and east- 

 ern parts ; but cattle are here raised 

 chiefly for the dairy and for market. No 

 part of our country affords better grazing, 

 and for the production of good beef cattle 

 and good butter and cheese, Vermont 

 may challenge comparison with almost 

 any part of the world. According to the 

 grand llsi of the state in 1841, there were 

 31, 130 oxen, and 154,669 cows. The num- 

 ber of cattle of every description according 

 to the returns of 1840, was as follows : 



Genus Ovis. — Linnwus. 

 Generic Characters. — Teeth 32 — Incis- 

 ors 0. canines o. grinders Q—A^ Horns com- 



!i > ' " 6 6 



men 10 both sexes, often wanting, particularly in 

 the female; thick, angular, wrinkled transversely, 

 pale colored, turning laterally and spirally ; ears 

 small; legs slender ; hair of two kinds ; tail more 

 or less short ; two inguinal mamnife. 



THE SHEEP. 

 Oris aries. — Linn. 



In the 4th chapter of the book of Gen- 

 esis we read that Abel was a keeper of 

 sheep ; from which it appears that this 

 animal has existed in a state of domesti- 

 cation from the very beginning of our 

 race. And we learn from history that 

 man has, in almost all ages of the world, 

 depended upon tlie sheep for a very con- 

 siderable share of his food and clothing. 

 In the Scriptures the sheep is frequently 

 mentioned, and the lamb, which is the 

 young of this animal, on account of its 

 gentleness and meekness, was employed 

 under the Mosaic dispensation to prefig- 

 ure the meek and lowly Jesus — " the 

 Lamb of God which taketh away the sin 

 of the world."'' 



The slieep first introduced into this 

 country by the European settlers, were of 



* John 1 : 29. 



a large, hardy, coarse woollcd variety, and 

 before the conjmencement of tjic present 

 century very little pains had been taken 

 to improve their quality or increase their 

 numbers. The first fine woolled sheep in- 

 troduced were the Merinos, from Spain, 

 in 1802. In that year Chancellor Liv- 

 ingston imported aback and two ewes in- 

 to New York, and Col. D. Humphreys 

 imported 200 sheep of this breed, and pla- 

 ced them on his farm near New Haven, 

 Ct. But these sheep attracted very little 

 attention till the embargo of 1808 and 

 the non-intercourse which followed it had 

 cut off the accustomed supply of woollen 

 goods from England. In ltt09 and 18J0 

 nearly 400 Merinos were shipped to this 

 country by the Hon. Wm. Jar vis, then 

 American consul at Lisbon, and these, 

 together with about 2,.500 imported by 

 others, were distributed over the o-reater 

 part of the United States. A considera- 

 ble number of the Merinos introduced in- 

 to this country by Consul Jarvis were 

 brought by him to Vermont, and placed 

 upon his unrivalled farm in Weathers- 

 field; and from the importations above 

 mentioned nearly all the Merino sheep in 

 the United States have been derived. 



History informs us that Merino sheep 

 existed in Spain as early as the days of 

 Augustus Ca3sar, and as the name signi- 

 fies beyond sea, they were probably im- 

 ported thither from some other country. 

 In 176.5, 100 Merino bucks and 200 ewes 

 were transported from Spain into Saxony, 

 and subsequently many more. In these 

 Saxony Merinos the wool became much 

 improved, and from this improved race 

 importations have taken place into the 

 United States, under the name of Saxony 

 sheep. The first, consisting of only two 

 or three bucks, were imported in 1823, by 

 Col. James Shepherd, of Northampton, 

 Mass. The two following 3'ears a consid- 

 erable number of Saxony sheep were im- 

 ported by the Messrs. Searles, of Boston, 

 and the year 1826 witnessed the introduc- 

 tion of no less than 2,.500. From these 

 and subsequent importations the Saxony 

 sheep are noAV scattered into various parts 

 of the country, and in many places 

 crossed with the Merino and the coarse 

 wooled sheep. In Vermont they have 

 been introduced into many towns, but are 

 not very generally difl:used over the state. 



There are, probably, few countries in 

 the world better adapted to the rearino- of 

 sheep than New England, and the soil 

 and climate of the hills of Vermont seem 

 to be peculiarly suited to that purpose. 

 Experience has likewise shown that while 

 the Merino and Saxony sheep thrive here 

 in a remarkable manner, their wool suf- 



