[276] 



None of the previously existing breeds seemed to possess all the require- 

 ments of sheep for the great West and South; the native sheep were infe- 

 rior in carcass and in fleece; the Cotswolds were too delicate, especially 

 when young, and their fleeces too open, to bear exposure to our wet sea- 

 sons; the fleece of the Southdown was too short, and the Merino was too 

 small. Acting on these impressions, the writer has perseveringly endeav- 

 ored, for over forty-six years, to combine in the same animal the hardiness 

 and prolific quality of the native sheep, the size and the weight of fleece 

 of the Cotswold, and the symmetry of form and delicacy of mutton of the 

 Southdown ; and also to combine in the same fleeces the weight and length 

 of the Cotswold, with the thickness and softness of the Merino. My suc- 

 cess has been so great, and the sale and difl'usion of the sheep have been 

 so wide, that I am gratified at having been able to give, through the pop- 

 ular Eeport of the Agricultural Department for 1865, the following his- 

 tory of the improvement: 



In the beginning, in 1834, about thirty ewes were selected from a flock 

 of unimproved common or native sheep, and they were bred to a very 

 large and fine Saxony or Merino ram, the object being to give, in the off- 

 spring, more thickness to the fleece and more fineness to the fibre of the 

 wool. This step was thought advisable before uniting the coarse fleeces 

 of the native sheep with the coarse and still more open fleeces of the large 

 imported varieties, and the effect was satisfactory. The ewe lambs of this 

 cross were bred, on the first of October after they were one year old, to an 

 imported Bakewell buck, of large, full, round carcass, and a heavy fleece 

 of long wool. The ewe lambs of this latter cross were also, in due time, 

 bred to an imported Southdown buck, of large size and high form, the 

 object now being to infuse into the progeny that active, sprightly and 

 thrifty disposition, and highly flavored and beautifully marbled mutton, 

 for which the Southdowns are so justly celebrated. This object was also 

 successfully attained. The wethers of this cross were the delight of the 

 epicure, while the value of the fleece was not diminished, as much being 

 gained by increasing the number of fibres to the square inch as was lost 

 in the length of them. 



The next cross was made by a ram which possessed, in combination, 

 many of the good qualities which it was desired to perpetuate in the flock. 

 He was three-fourths Cotswold and one-fourth Southdown ; a large, hardy, 

 active sheep, with a thick and heavy fleece, and his progeny possessed the 

 same qualities in an eminent degree. The two next crosses were made by 

 pure-blood Cotswolds ; and the next by a very fine full-blood Oxfordshire 

 ram of remarkable softness and silkiness of fleece. They were all animals 

 with short necks, round barrels, broad backs, and full briskets. They 

 added to the flock still more weight of carcass and fleece ; while the tex- 

 ture of the latter and the delicate flavor of the former were not percepti- 

 bly impaired, and therefore, in the next fall of 1853 the flock was 

 divided between two fine full-blood Cotswolds. 



