No. 4.] SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 133 



lambs. His receipts for lambs and wool sold amounted to 

 $629.50. He did not divide this up for me. I had asked 

 him in previous years what he was getting for his lambs, but 

 he never seemed inclined to tell me, and he has not here. 

 He gave, as the total receipts for lambs and wool, $629.50, 

 which you will see is almost $10.50 per head. Balance of 

 receipts above expenses, $341.35. 



These sheep are the Vermont Merino. They are a very 

 superior flock of sheep for that breed. They will weigh 

 probably 100 or 110 pounds each, and probably shear from 

 eight to ten pounds of wool each. They drop their lambs 

 in November and December. I saw the gentleman two 

 weeks ago, and he had nine lambs at that time, and more 

 coming right along. He has the advantage of the rest of 

 us in marketing his lambs, or has taken the advantage, by 

 selling his lambs dressed directly to the hotels in this city. 

 He has a son here who has assisted in finding him a market, 

 and I presume he gets one or two dollars a head more than 

 the rest of us. I think he must. 



Governor Hoard. Is the sire a Merino also ? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir. In all the cases of which I have 

 spoken, the sire is a pure-bred South Down. 



The Chairman. Mr. Avery, won't you give us an account 

 of your own flock, which is probably one of the best in the 

 State ? 



Mr. Avery. No, sir ; I cannot show as good figures as 

 these men. 



The Chairman. These are all too good. You know 

 people will not believe some of these stories. 



Mr. Avery. Well, I have not prepared any figures from 

 my own flock. 



Secretary Sessions. How many do you keep ? 



Mr. Avery. I keep from 100 to 300. 



Secretary Sessions. Your experience as fiir as you could 

 give it would be very interesting, because your flock is a 

 large one compared with those which you have mentioned. 



Mr. Avery. I can tell you about what I get for my 

 lambs, and about what I think it costs to raise them. The 

 best that I have ever done in any year was some five or six 

 years ago, when I raised 200 lambs from 180 ewes, and sold 



