144 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and in the presence of the whole public. I had that notice 

 printed in French, in German and in English, and put up 

 on every pen on the great exhibition grounds, and 

 three days were given for the entries. When the third 

 day had expired no entries had been made except by 

 George Campbell of the United States of America. Then 

 the German press turned round and said, "The Ameri- 

 can gentlemen have vindicated their integrity, and the ex- 

 hibitors and breeders of the European sheep on exhibition 

 here have not dared to enter." After the exhibition Mr. 

 Campbell came home, and Governor Smith of Vermont in his 

 next message said that the result had been worth a hundred 

 thousand dollars to the State of Vermont ; and he told me 

 afterwards that he might just as well have put in his mes- 

 sage that it was worth a million of dollars to the State of 

 Vermont. Vermont sent sheep to Australia, to Texas 

 and all over the United States, where the leading breeders 

 had been in the habit of sending to Germany; and the 

 whole trade in stock Merinos was changed from that great 

 entrepot of Spanish Merinos, Germany, to the United States. 



Secretary Sessions. I do not believe that this discussion 

 can be fitly closed without a leaf from your own experience, 

 Mr. Chairman. I believe you have the largest flock of sheep 

 of any man in Massachusetts, and I am sure the audience 

 would all like to hear from you. 



The Chairman. Well, gentlemen, I should be very glad 

 to give you the result of my experience, but I think most of 

 you have heard the oft-told tale. I should corroborate a 

 good deal that Mr. Avery has said. One question that was 

 asked was about ventilation. The principal rules of success- 

 ful sheep husbandry are, that the sheep must be kept cool 

 and dry, and have enough to cat. That is the whole secret 

 of sheep husbandry. "And running water" is suggested 

 by the essayist, which goes without saying. On that sub- 

 ject of water, I think few people will believe the amount of 

 water that a hundred-pound ewe with a lamb by her side will 

 drink. I unfortunately was dependent for water for a flock 

 of some three or four hundred ewes on a windmill ; the wind 

 didn't blow for five or six days, the thermometer went down 

 below zero, and it was a very difficult job to haul water for 



