EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 239 



In 1830 there were 330,682 sheep in the State and the number in- 

 creased t<> .584,614 in 1838, mostly Spanish Merinos and Saxonies and 

 their crosses, shearing 1,056,327 pounds of wool. In western Massa- 

 chusetts wool growing was one of the most lucrative pursuits of the 

 fanner. The hill towns between the valley of the Connecticut and the 

 western line of the State were extensively engaged in growing wool. 

 On the hillsides near Berkshire Mountains, where the soil is hard and 

 cold and not rich for cultivation, but admirably adapted by nature for 

 grazing, immense numbers of sheep grazed among the rocks and wood- 

 lands and on the warm sunny slopes. Sheep husbandry was practi- 

 cally limited to wool-growing, the small, fine- wool breeds being of little 

 value except for their fleece, and the prices of wool dependent upon a 

 struggling wool industry. It was demonstrated to the farmers of the 

 State that the wide ranges of cheap lands opening up at the West were 

 better adapted to the business, and flocks were gradually sacrificed from 

 about 1840. The demand for mutton had been increasing for many 

 years and gave much encouragement to the business of fattening 

 wethers. The cross-bred Merino and common wether was very popu- 

 lar, and the full-bred Merino wether was not despised, when properly 

 fattened and handled by the butcher. But the Southdown, the Leices- 

 ter, and the Lincoln crosses on the Merino ewe or the pure-bred English 

 sheep stood highest in estimation. Col. Jacques, near Boston, had 

 some fine Leicester sheep in 1822; Capt. Lowe, of Boston, imported 

 some Texel sheep from the Netherlands in 1823 for Col. Jacques: and 

 in 1824 another importation of Texel sheep was made by Col. T. H. 

 Perkins, of Boston. In 1825 A. A. Lawrence imported 6 Southdowns 

 and 10 Lincolnshires, and in 1827 Gen. John Coffin presented to the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Society 4 rains and 3 ewes of the long- 

 wooled Devonshire Notts, selected by himself in England. One of 

 these sheep sheared 13 pounds of long, fine wool. In 1829 Mr. Picker- 

 ing imported 2 rams and 2 ewes of the Lincolnshire breed and 3 rams, 6 

 ewes, and 6 lambs of the Leicester breed. One of the Lincolnshire ra 1 1 1 s 

 was shorn on the passage of 19 pounds of wool. There were many 

 direct importations for several succeeding years, and improved mutton 

 breeds were brought into the State from Rhode Island and New York. 



In 1840 the number of sheep in Massachusetts was 378,226, yielding 

 941,906 pounds of wool. The flocks rarely exceeded 200 to 300 sheep; 

 many kept but a small number, generally of fine wool three-fourths or 

 seven-eighths blood. The Saxony did not prevail to a great extent, as 

 most of the sheep were bred without that extraordinary care and expense 

 required by them and the preservation of purity of blood and very few 

 of the pure blood were to be found. The fleece of the Saxonies yielded 

 not much more than 2 pounds, while the Spanish Merino averaged .; 

 pounds of well-washed wool. The common or native sheep were very 

 scarce and not well defined. It was a large, coarse-boned, coarse- wooled 

 animal, yielding 3 to 4 pounds of wool, extremely hardy and prolific, but 



