EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 93 



per quarter. The fleece weighed 3 or 4 pounds in the yolk and the wool 

 was short, but with a coarse and hairy tup. They were very hardy 

 and their mutton was delicate. The Dartmoor and the Exmoor were 

 the two leading varieties, and from them it is probable Massachusetts 

 derived the few Devonshire sheep that crossed some of her flocks. 



Some sheep bred on the islands along the New England coast were 

 of a peculiar kind, though descended from the common sheep of the 

 mainland. Among these may be mentioned the variety of the Naushan 

 Island, which Josiah Bradlee, in the Boston Sentinel of August 22, 

 1810, said would mix better with the Spanish Merino than any other 

 breed, the cross at four to five months old being well shaped, and for 

 thickness and firmness of wool equal to any sheep of the mixed breed 

 in Massachusetts. 



Chancellor Livingston in the second edition of his " Essay on Sheep," 

 published in 1810, said that very little of the long wool, of sufficient 

 strength to bear combing, of which were made worsteds and serges, 

 was raised in the United States, nor did he think it well calculated for 

 the climate, unless it be on the seacoast, and some of the rich meadows 

 on the borders of rivers, or the luxuriant pastures that were found in 

 parts of the Eastern States. The demand for this wool was yet small 

 and would probably continue long to be so, because worsted cloths 

 could be furnished cheaper from Europe, and particularly from Eng- 

 land, where the long-wooled sheep were the prevailing stock, and where, 

 for ages, they had been in the habit of working it to advantage; and 

 because fine woolens were much warmer and softer, and would therefore 

 maintain a preference for articles of clothing. Wool of a medium 

 length, that is, too short for combing and too long for fine clothes, was 

 best adapted to hosiery, and such, for the most part, was the wool of the 

 United States, the native short- wooled flocks having from 1780 to 1809 

 been injured by an intermixture with the long-wooled ranis that had 

 occasionally been imported from England, Ireland, and Holland. These, 

 without giving long wool, had spoiled the short wool, which formed a 

 strong feature in the character of our common sheep. While we had 

 no established manufactories, and wool was applied chiefly to hosiery, 

 to the clothing of servants, and to greatcoats and working cloths for 

 laborers, no distinction was made in the price or quality, and therefore 

 every farmer was solicitous to get that breed of sheep which yielded 

 the greatest quantity of wool. 



It is estimated that in 1810 there were in the United States about 

 7.000,000 sheep, of which Vermont had 450,000 ; Massachusetts, 399,1 82 ; 

 Connecticut, 400,000; and Pennsylvania 1,469,918. The numbers in 

 other States are not definitely known ; they were quite large in New 

 York and New Jersey, and diminished the further we go southward. 



The general character of these sheep has been told in the preceding 

 pages. In the Eastern and Middle States and along the Atlantic sea- 

 board States as far south as Georgia and westward over the Alleghanies 



