MERINOS. 245 



ear-marks. It would occupy too much space to reproduce the certificates given by Effing- 

 ham Lawrence, John T. Rich, F. H. Jennison, Charles A. Hurlburt, Jasper Barnum and 

 Levi Rockwood, all going to show that the Cocks flock were of the Paular family, and 

 were certified to be such in the bill of sale given by Cocks to Beedle. We refer the 

 reader to Moore's Rural New- Yorker of August 5, 1865, where the certificates may be 

 found. 



' ' The Rich branch of the Cocks sheep was bred for several years in the Cocks blood 

 lines, then it was crossed to a rarn bred by Consul Jarvis, and later still with the blood of 

 Stephen Atwood's flock. From this flock was descended the celebrated flock of V. Rich, 

 Richville, Vt., and the flocks of the late Tyler Stickney and Erastus Robinson, Shorebam, 

 Vt., the blood of which is now widely dispersed throughout the country. 



" About 1840, David and German Cutting purchased about 80 ewes and two rams that 

 were bred by or descended from the flocks of David Buffum, Rense Potter, David I. 

 Bailey and Geo. Irish, of Newport, Rhode Island. It is claimed that these sheep were 

 descended from the importations of Paul Cuffe and Richard Crowineshield, and were 

 without doubt consignments of Consul Jarvis. Messrs. Cutting bred these sheep to rams 

 of Robinson and Rich and Atwood blood, and wherever this blood has found its way it 

 has been crossed without reference to maintaining the original Rhode Island strains 

 hence but a small fraction of that blood remains in the Cutting blood-lines wherever 

 found. 



"In 1844, Jacob N. Blakeslee of Watertown, Conn., wrote a letter for publication 

 in the Cultivator, published at Albany, N. Y., in which he claimed his sheep to be of 

 Negretti, Montarco and Escurial blood. 



" It may be assumed that our improved American Merino flocks are substantially, if 

 not wholly, descended from the foregoing named blood-lines, with the Blakeslee blood, 

 at most, in a very limited degree. For more than 40 years a class of our breeders have 

 claimed a family of sheep descended purely from the flocks of the Atwoods of Connecti- 

 cut, and have claimed a distinction in title and breeding. In view of this circumstance, 

 and the fact that all other pure-bred Merinos partake largely of the Paular blood, they 

 have been very generally alluded to as ' Improved Paulars, ' ' Mixed Paulars, ' and 

 ' American Paulars,' which last name or title I hope will be generally adopted. 



1 ' The most successful breeders of these sheep have aimed to secure type and quality in 

 their flocks, and have placed this above any special line of descent from importation, or 

 from any one of the earlier flocks. In pursuing their course of breeding they have made 

 use of the best specimens of the breed, and as a rule have avoided too close in-and-in 

 breeding, and have achieved results unattained elsewhere when measured by high, sure 

 weight of carcass, or weight of fleece either gross or scoured. The aim has been to pro- 

 duce a well-formed and symmetrical animal, of constitutional vigor, carrying a dense, 

 oily fleece of good quality throughout. Folds or wrinkles have been cultivated in a marked 

 degree, and an amount of oil secured in the fleece that many have thought to be extrav- 

 agant in the extreme ; yet sheep of this class have made great improvement on the com- 

 mon wool-growing flocks the wrinkles contributing toward density of fleece and cover- 

 ing, and the oil proving interchangeable with wool product. 



1 ' The accompanying Scale of Points will enable one to understand the points of 

 excellence esteemed by breeders. A ram takes standard rank by making a score of 75 

 points, and a record at public shearing of 25 Ibs. fleece and no Ibs. carcass. 



"SCALE OF POINTS FOR STOCK RAM. 



' ' Bone 5 



Physical development and general appearance 10 



Head broad, nose wrinkly and face covered with soft, velvety coat 5 



Neck short, broad, muscular, well set on shoulders 5 



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