Ill 



He is careful not to suffer his fatting-wethersever to be disturb- 

 ed. When he begins to feed with corn, he never permits his 

 sheep to be hungry. He keeps his sheep upon rowen the first 

 part of the season ; thinlcs merino sheep are kept at less ex- 

 pense than native ; and deems the fattening of sheep profitable. 

 He mentions a case in which he bought sixty merino wethers in 

 June for 133 cents each ; and sold fifty of them in the ensuing 

 March for 600 dollars. His wether sheep, which are not sent 

 to market until after shearing, often give four lbs. of wool at 

 a clip. 



1. Weight of Sheep. — The weights of ten Dishley weth- 

 er sheep, fatted by a farmer in this county and sold in Bos- 

 ton, were as follows. The four quarters only were weighed, — 

 Three of them weighed 100 lbs. each ; one, SO lbs. ; one, 82 

 lbs. ; one, 90 lbs. ; one, 91 lbs. ; one, 95 lbs. ; one, 107 lbs.; 

 one, 110 lbs. Total, 995 lbs. The average weight of rough 

 tallow to each was 13 lbs. These sheep were three years old, 

 and were fed mainly upon hay and Indian corn. They con- 

 sumed, during the latter part of their stall-feeding, more than a 

 pint and a half of Indian corn each per day. Though a quart 

 was, in some cases, eaten by them, yet it was found to be more 

 than they required. Twenty dollars per head were offered for 

 them by the drover before they left the yard ; but, owing to an 

 extraordinary change in the market, the owner received only 

 fifteen dollars for them after being driven to Brighton. 



2. Early LAivres. — The practice of raising early lambs for 

 market has prevailed with some farmers. One excellent farm- 

 er, to whom I particularly refer, has had his native ewes of 

 good size, crossed with a Dishley ram, and arranged to have 

 them lamb in January and February. Having every provision 

 for the comfortable accommodation of the ewes and Iambs at 

 that inclement season, he has succeeded in raising very fine 

 lambs for the early market, which have brought him two and 

 three dollars a-piece. In such cases, his sheep pay him a large 

 profit. There is no doubt that the practice might be extended 

 to much advantage. 



