222 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



pounds; the feet, intestines, and other offal, 21f pounds. The total 

 sum realized on this sheep is thus stated: 



June 3, 1813, lie was shorn of 6 J pounds of wool, which sold at 8s. 6d $9. 21 



May 13, 1814, he was shorn of 8| pounds of wool, which sold at 12s 17. 50 



May 24, 1815, he was shorn of 9^ pounds of wool, which sold at 6s. 6d 10. 02 



April 23, 1816, wool pulled from the pelt 9 pounds 13 ounces, sold at 6s 9. 81 



Meat and tallow at price obtained for native sheep 9d 11 . 21 



Total 57.75 



Mr. Parsons states that the wether was a small eater, and he was 

 confident that he was fatted on two-thirds the quantity required for 

 native sheep of the same frame. The mutton was pronounced by gen- 

 tlemen who partook of it to be of much finer grain and better flavor 

 than that of the common sheep of the country. 



The slaughter of the sheep continued; many had been destroyed and 

 others threatened with destruction when, in 1818, the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Society, through the pen of its secretary^ besought the far- 

 mers not to abandon them in despair, and protested against their en- 

 tire destruction and neglect, as no other animal of their size was so 

 valuable. 



Upon the revival of manufactures, after 1820, more attention was paid 

 to the Merino, and when increasing luxury and fashion demanded finer 

 fabrics a finer wool was required, and Col. Shepherd, an extensive 

 manufacturer of Northampton, led the way in the importation of the 

 Saxony Merino in 1822 and 1823, followed in succeeding years by large 

 importations into Boston and other ports. The origin of the Saxony 

 Merino from the Spanish flocks and its development must here be told. 



Spain guarded with jealous care her fine-wooled Merino flocks, and it 

 does not appear that they found their way into any other European state 

 until 1723, when Sweden procured a small flock. The native sheep of 

 Sweden, such as existed at that time, unmixed with improved or 

 superior sheep, were of a very inferior kind. They were of medium 

 size, but with long and slender bodies, the legs also long and bare of 

 wool. The tail was short, slim, and destitute of wool at its lower part. 

 The head small, with horns short and slight and curving to the rear. 

 The fleece open, coarse in quality, and of a medium length, in color 

 usually white, although there were many flocks carrying black fleeces. 

 These sheep were of a hardy constitution and not affected by the 

 severity of the climate. Their flesh was good and not too fat; indeed, 

 to English taste not fat enough. Ordinarily the ewes bore two lambs 

 in the year, and the rams and old ewes were sheared two or three times 

 yearly. 



Attempts were made to improve this native breed by crossing with 

 the sheep of Germany; with the Leicester and Cheviot, of Great 

 Britain; with the Flemish and Eidersteil sheep, and even with those 

 of Iceland and the islands on the Norway coast, and upon the whole 



