PRODUCTION OF MUTTON. 9 



sheep, directly and indirectly, has been both the gainer and the 

 means of gain. 



The demand for mutton as an agreeable and cheap food is stead- 

 ily increasing. The markets of the city of New York alone re- 

 quire more than one million sheep per annum. Farmers formerly 

 habituated to the daily use of pork are becoming mutton eaters, 

 and the convenience of a few sheep upon the farm merely to sup- 

 ply the family table is now appreciated to a much greater extent 

 than ever before. This cultivation of sheep for mutton alone is a 

 branch of agriculture which is yearly becoming more important. 

 As yet we possess no native variety of mutton sheep. The carcass of 

 the "native " sheep, so called but which is really a heterogeneous 

 mixture of all those breeds which have been brought to this coun- 

 try, and which having been permitted to increase promiscuously, 

 have perpetuated only their poorest qualities is unworthy the 

 name of mutton ; and those flocks of imported sheep of better 

 character, such as the Southdowns, Leicesters, or Cotswolds, are 

 either allowed to deteriorate, or are kept for breeding purposes. 

 It is very true that a really good carcass of mutton rarely finds its 

 way to our markets, except from Canada, where almost the sole 

 attention is given to breeding sheep for mutton. At the same time 

 there is a demand for mutton, both of that substantial kind which 

 is represented by legs of 16 to 20 Ibs. in weight, handsome saddles 

 and good shoulders, and that more delicately flavored kind repre- 

 sented by the small legs or quarters of the Welsh sheep. 



Unfortunately this fact is not generally known to farmers, and 

 if it were, it is equally unfortunate that we as yet have not the 

 kind of sheep to meet the demand. Before this excellent and 

 wholesome food can become as popular as it ought to be, and 

 sheep keeping can become as profitable as it may be, farmers must 

 be better informed as to the character of the sheep needed, the 

 manner in which they may be bred, and the methods by which 

 they may be fitted for the market This necessary information 

 must include a knowledge of the modern breeds which have 

 usurped the place of the old kinds, and the peculiar management 

 of the new races of sheep, as well as of the special crops needed 

 for fodder, and the methods of cultivating them. Heretofore in 

 place of this practical information, American farmers have been 

 treated to long dissertations upon the origin and history of the 

 sheep, and descriptions of foreign breeds which are of no possible 

 value or interest to them. 



The sheep, in addition to its value as a food producer, yields to 

 its owner an annual tribute in the shape of its fleece, which in the 



