FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY . 77 



was dark leaden gray, or blackish, indicating consider- 

 ably more yolk than JSTo. 1, and considerably less than 

 ~No. 2. They were not wooled below the eye, and not 

 commonly below the knee and hock.* The wool was 

 long, and retained its length unusually well on the 

 belly, forehead, cheeks, and on the legs down to the 

 knees and hocks. It was very thick over all the parts, 

 and in many instances broke into masses of the same 

 size on the belly as on the sides, instead of the small 

 pointed tufts usual in that place on E"o. 1 and No. 2. 

 This indicated great thickness of fleece. The fleece 

 was considerably inferior to that of the preceding 

 families in fineness, evenness, and general style. It 

 was sometimes quite coarse on the thigh, and hairs 

 were occasionally seen protruding from the edges of 

 the neck folds. The lambs were often covered with 

 hair when born, and their big, bony legs and thick 

 coated ears were marked with patches of tan-color. 

 On the ears this color continued to show faintly, on 

 close examination, through life. They were better 

 nurses and hardier than either of the other families : 

 they were precisely the negligent farmer's sheep. I 

 have often seen a flock of them, slightly sheltered by 

 a haystack, stand composedly chewing their cuds, and 

 treading down the drifting snow under their feet, 

 when the wild northwest gale " curled up" every other 

 shivering animal on the farm.f 



* I speak of wool of length and quality fit to be put in the fleece 

 when sheared. Nearly all of them had short, coarsish wool on the 

 legs, and particularly on the hind legs. 



f It may not be amiss to state that on the 8th of February, 1862, a 

 number of the most prominent breeders and friends of these respective 

 families of sheep, in Addison county, Vt., met me by appointment at 

 the house of Hon. M. W. C. Wright, of Shoreham, and conceiving 



