324 FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



best suited to their soil Much of the high moist lands of 

 this and the neighboring counties, it is believed, would be 

 found tolerably suitable for raising the large longwooled 

 English Sheep. 



Ii is highly desirable that our Country should be stocked 

 with Sheep of various kinds, in order to supply itself with 

 the various sorts of cloths which are necessary in different 

 uses. In Eugl-tnd, they have the Tcesivater, the Lincoln- 

 shire* and the Dartmoor breeds, which yield fleeces ot long 

 cojrse wool, weighing on an average from eight to eleven 

 pounds ; and the average weight of their carcases, per 

 quarter, is from twenty-five to thirty pounds. The wool of 

 these Sheep, and of the Heath, Exmore, and Berkshire 

 breeds, which are smaller, and have still coarser wool, is 

 proper for the manufacture ot r>l nkets, carpets, Sec. 



Th Ncwldcestershirei or Bakcwell breed, and the Cart" 

 wold and Romncy-marsh breeds, have also long wool, but 

 somewhat fin^r, being better filed tor the manufacture of 

 worsted fabrics; and the average weight of their fleeces is 

 from eight to nine pounds ; the average weight of their car- 

 cases, per quarter, is from twenty-two to twenty-four 

 pounds. 



The Bakewell is an improved breed, which was engrafted 

 upon some of those before mentioned, and are highly 

 esteemed tor the fatness of their carcases, and the fine 

 taste of their mutton. 



In addition to these, the English have various other 

 breeds besides the Merino, yielding fleeces of short wool 

 of various quantities and qualities; the finest of which are 

 the Dunfaccd and Shetland breeds; the next finest is the 

 Hereford ,r Ryeland breed, and the next the South-doivn. 



Mr. JLi-vingstvn says the latter very much resemble our 

 common Si.' ep, having wool about equally fine; and that in 

 England they are esteemed next to the Bake well breed. 



Mr. Custis. ot Virginia, is rearing a new breed, which he 

 calls the Arlington Sheep, that yield fleeces of long wool, 

 well fre.d for me manufacture of worsted fabrics. They 

 are a mixture of the Bakewell breed with a long-wooled 

 Persian Ram, which was imported by General Washington. 

 They promise to be a valuable acquisition to our Country. 



In addition to these are the Smithsisland Sheep, before 

 mentioned, which are also the property of Mr. Custis, and 

 which, on account of the fineness and largeness of their 

 fleeces, promise to be highly valuable, provided the breed 

 do not degenerate in a few years, when taken from that isl- 

 and. They are shorn twice a year, and some of the fleeces 

 weigh tour pounds at each shearing. 



Another breed of Sheep ought to be noticed, as being 

 peculiar to this Country : These are the Otter Sheep, so 



