EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 



63 



At the next annual shearing, April 29, 1809, 3 tup lambs were shorn 

 for the premiums : 



^Washed. 



t Unwashed. 



The premium was awarded to Palafox. 



At the sixth anniversary of the Arlington sheep shearing, April 30, 

 1810, sheep were shown, but not of notable character either as to size, 

 form, or fleece; but as indicating the interest in domestic manufactures 

 it may be stated that many ladies of Virginia and Maryland exhibited 

 home-made yarns, stockings, and cloth, and the Alexandria Gazette 

 reports that " a ball of woolen yarn, exquisitely spun, and weighing a 

 pound, was sold for the enormous price of $4." 



At the seventh annual shearing, April 30, 1811, four tup lambs were 

 shown, but one only was of native blood, Coton, bred and exhibited 

 by Mrs. Lee, of Loudoun County, Va. The weight of this lamb, un- 

 shorn, was 145 pounds, and it gave a fleece of 8 pounds of unwashed 

 wool. Three mixed-blood Merinos were shown, and for purpose of 

 comparison their weight and yield of wool is given: 



All the fleeces are given as unwashed, and the premium was awarded 

 to John C. Scott's Fairfax for the largest proportion of fine wool to the 

 carcass. 



And here, digressing but slightly from the Arlington shearings, it is 

 well to put on record some figures, as shown at the fair of the Colum- 

 bian Agricultural Society of Georgetown, held within rifle-shot dis- 

 tance of Arlington, and having the same patrons, with similar objects 

 in view. At their fair May 16, 1810, 22 lambs of the common breed 

 were exhibited, and the three best are thus recorded : 



(1) Weight, undipped, 53 Ibs. 5 ozs. ; weight of fleece, unwashed, 4 Ibs. 13 ozs. 



(2) Weight, undipped, 83 Ibs. ; weight of fleece, unwashed, 3 Ibs, 14 ozs. 



(3) Weight, undipped, 135 Ibs, 8 ozs. ; weight of fleece, unwashed, 6 Ibs. 12 ozs. 



These three received the premiums as to quantity of wool and quality 

 in proportion to carcass. 



