60 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



their relative profits in certain cases. Their wool varies widely 

 as to its properties, and its adaptation to different purposes — thai 

 which is best fitted for one description of goods being entirely 

 unsuited to another. The prices of the different kinds of wool 

 also vary in different countries or localities, according to the 

 kinds of goods there manufactured. Some breeds of sheep seem 

 to convert a larger proportion of their food into wool and less 

 into meat than others. The leading characteristic of the Merino 

 breed, (including its sub-varieties,)for instance, is the production 

 of wool, the staple being at the same time finer than that of any 

 other breed. Several of the English breeds, on the other hand, 

 are characterized by a tendency to fatten at an early age and to 

 a great extent in proportion to the bone and offal. But the 

 large English breeds, require, to afford a satisfactory profit, a 

 regular supply of good food. The Merino will be less injured 

 by pinching ; or if the weight of the carcass is lessened by a 

 scanty supply of food, it is regarded as of comparatively little 

 importance, the fleece, — which is, perhaps, proportionately less 

 diminished in weight, — being the main object. 



Experiments are wanting to demonstrate the comparative 

 profits of different breeds of sheep in this country, under any 

 circumstances. Still it may be safe to assume certain points, 

 as that — 



1. The Merino is capable of producing a greater weight of 

 wool in proportion to the food consumed, than any other breed. 



2. The Merino will better sustain itself on dry, poor pas- 

 tures, and will bear crowding in large flocks better than the 

 heavy English breeds, though it is not known that they possess 

 any superiority in these respects over the mountain breeds of 

 Wales and Scotland. 



3. The Leicester, Cotswold, and the so-called Down breeds, 

 when properly supplied with food, mature and fatten at an 

 earlier age than the Merino. Hence they are more profitable 

 for the market as lambs, and also to be reared for mutton. 



In the absence, then, of positive, experimental evidence, it 

 seems reasonable to believe that for keeping in large flocks on 

 rather poor soil, the Merino breed would be most profitable ; 

 that for small flocks and good feed, some of the English breeds, 

 reckoning their value in both fleece and carcass, would yield the 

 best returns. The Leicester, Cotswold, South Down, Shropshire 



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