FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 27 



As there have been recent American importations of 

 them, I will present a brief view of the present prime 

 sheep of Germany. 



That the former inferiority both in weight of 

 fleece and carcass continues to exist in the flocks 

 of Saxony, Silesia, and all parts of Germany 

 where these sheep have become established, is 

 certain. But such breeders as Baron Yon Sternburg 

 in Saxony, Prince Lichnowsky and Mr. Fischer in 

 Silesia, and various large proprietors in Hungary, have 

 bred on the principle that good size and compactness 

 of form and fleece are essential to profit. Yon Stern- 

 burg (Alexander Speck Yon Sternburg, generally 

 called Baron Speck by Americans) is now better 

 known in this country than any other German breed- 

 er. I think most if not all of our late Saxon im- 

 portations have been made from his admirable flock. 

 In a letter to Mr. Wright, the American Minister to 

 Berlin, written in 1859,* the Baron gave the follow- 

 ing as the average weights of his sheep : full grown 

 rams, 110 Ibs. ; ewes, 82 Ibs. ; wethers when fat for 

 the butcher, 110 Ibs. to 115 Ibs. The average weight 

 of the washed fleeces of his ewes was 2 Ibs. 7" oz. ; of 

 his wethers, 2 Ibs. 8 oz. ; of his yearlings, 2 Ibs. 5 

 oz. : of his rams, 4 Ibs. to 6 Ibs. 14 oz. The flock 

 numbers 1,200. Jlis best ewes undoubtedly produce 

 as much as 3 Ibs. a head, and kept in smaller flocks^ 

 and pampered, would produce nearly or quite 3 Ibs. 



4:OZ. 



Mr. Charles L. Fleichmann, formerly draughtsman 



* For his sensible and practical letter containing much information 

 in respect to German sheep husbandry, see Patent Office Keport, 1869, 

 p. 288. 



