EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 141 



ing- their flocks into Merinos, as well as the advantage that would accrue 

 both to themselves and their country by the change.* 



The result of this labor of love was his "Essay on Sheep," printed by 

 the legislature of New York in 1809 and acknowledged as an American 

 classic, from which subsequent writers on sheep husbandry have freely 

 drawn. 



Through his personal efforts the legislature of New York, on April 8, 

 1808, reciting its belief that the public interest would be greatly bene- 

 fited by obtaining the Spanish Merino sheep, by reason of the fineness 

 of its fleece, in improving the manufacture of woolen cloth as well as 

 otherwise, therefore enacted that any person who should, before Sep- 

 tember 1, 1808, bring into any county of the State in which there shall 

 be no full-blooded Merino ram at the time of passing the act, a 

 full-blooded Merino rani and keep him in said county for the term 

 of one year from September 1, 1808, shall receive a premium of $50. By 

 the same act authority was given to towns to lay taxes on dogs and to 

 use the proceeds for purchasing Merino lambs of whole or half blood 

 for disposition among the townspeople 5 and in addition thereto they 

 were authorized to use for the purchase of rams the moneys collected 

 from licenses. 



In 1807 Livingston published a statement of the shearing of a flock 

 of his sheep, 6 full-bred Merino sheep, 24 three- fourths bred, 30 half- 

 bred, and 17 common sheep of good quality. They were kept in one 

 flock and treated alike in every respect. The full-bred were 2 rams and 

 4 ewes; one of the ewes died in February a-lambing; she was eight 

 years old. Two ewes lambed in March, the other was a yearling and 

 had not taken a ram. The 28th of May, 1807, the 5 sheep were shorn 

 and gave 28J pounds of wool. They had not been washed, but as they 

 were well littered in the fold and kept out, except at night, the wool was 

 not so foul as common. The wool from the ewe that died weighed 4J 

 pounds. All this wool sold at 10 shillings per pound. The 24 three- 

 quarter bred sheep gave 106 pounds of wool, the 30 half-bred gave 139 J 

 pounds, and the 17 common sheep gave 62 J pounds of unwashed fleeces. 

 The wool of the three quarter-bred and half-bred was sold at 5s. per 

 pound, that of the common sheep at 2s. 6d. 



Eeferring to the quality of wool given by the Merinos and the low 

 price at which he sold the wool of the three-quarter-bred sheep, Liv- 

 ingston says: 



It will seem extraordinary that 5 Merinos should have given 28f pounds of wool, 

 which is near 6 pounds, and would probably amount to about 4 pounds of washed 

 wool per head. But it is to be considered that these were chosen with care out of 

 a Hock of 200 that were themselves an improved stock. For it is an undoubted fact 

 that the Merinos of the National flock have greatly improved in France by care and 

 attention; that they are larger and yield more wool (with the latter having deterio- 

 rated) than the Merinos of Spain. This is a very encouraging circumstance, and the 



Preface to Livingston's "Essay on Sheep." 



