112 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



obliged to yield the field to the finer-woolled sheep of foreign 

 importation. In a few years they were all gone, and those 

 who can recall the time will remember the large and petted 

 flocks of Spanish and French Merinos, together with a few of 

 the different varieties of English origin which took their place 

 along the meadows and upon the hillsides of the Connecticut 

 Valley. 



In those days it was not the fashion to eat mutton ; the ' 

 body of the sheep was of minor importance ; it was the fleece, 

 not only that of the fine and beautiful quality of the Merino, 

 but even the coarse and longer wool of the Southdown and 

 the Cotswold, which constituted the greater value of the sheep. 

 To this end, every means and method were tried and adopted 

 which would give to it the desired growth, weight and fine- 

 ness, and whatever would conduce to this, either in breeding, 

 raising and caring for these valuable and petted flocks, was 

 done, and as long as the wool commanded a good price, all 

 this labor, care and expense was remunerative, and often 

 greatly profitable. For nearly half a century this course was 

 followed, and not till about 1850 was any decided attempt 

 made to improve the different varieties of sheep, whereby the 

 good qualities of the fleece should be preserved, as well as to 

 procure a higher grade of excellence in the character and 

 quality of the animal itself, so as to produce a larger, more 

 round, compact, strong-limbed, vigorous sheep, — one which 

 could grow a large, heavy fleece, but would also afford a 

 good, fat mutton for the butcher. By careful and judicious 

 management this has been most successfully accomplished, 

 and, without doubt, to-day, no better breeds or families of 

 sheep can be anywhere found than in our own country, and 

 the breeder who may seek for greater improvement in fleece 

 and body, can here find to his hand the finest material for 

 further experiment. 



The keeping, however, of large flocks of sheep, especially 

 in this State, or within the limits of our own county, princi- 

 pally for raising wool, is undoubtedly impracticable. Our 

 long, cold winters, small farms, contracted pasturage, make 

 it, unless under peculiarly advantageous circumstances, a kind 

 of husbandry which is both costly and unprofitable. It is out 

 of the question for our farmers to attempt to compete with 



