112 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



them with mixed Leonese, and subsequently with In- 

 fantado rams, thus uniting the three most distinguish- 

 ed families of American Merinos. His rams were 

 scattered widely through New York a few years since, 

 and they and their descendants have given much 

 satisfaction to purchasers Tfijho wished to breed a high 

 quality of wool. They have obtained many pre- 

 miums at our fairs. 



The Messrs. Cutting, of Shoreham, Vermont, have 

 produced flocks of excellent character by a cross be- 

 tween Infantado sheep and an early family of Meri- 

 nos from Newport, Rhode Island. They have bred 

 steadily towards the former. 



Henry Lane, Esq., of Cornwall, Vermont, has bred 

 superior sheep of the Paular and Infantado cross, and 

 also pure Infantado sheep improved by Mr. Ham- 

 mond. The same remark applies to Loyal C. Reme- 

 lee, of Shoreham. 



On the other hand, it has been signally demon- 

 strated that crossing is much less necessary than has 

 been usually supposed, either to avoid in-and-in 

 breeding, or to obtain characteristics not usual to the 

 variety. The pure Infantado (Atwood) sheep have, in 

 the space of eighteen years, been completely changed 

 in some of their most essential qualities. They have 

 been converted into animals as large, low, broad, 

 round, short-necked and symmetrical as any other 

 family of Merinos in our country or the world. In 

 short, some of them seem to me to have reached the 

 perfection of form in a fine-wooled sheep. This 

 change, quite as great as that which Mr. Bake well 

 produced in the Leicester sheep, is principally due to 

 the skill and perseverance of Edwin Hammond, of 



