r.AST OF THE MISSISSIPPI KIVKK. 



247 



Tin- M;isx;ir1iu.'Us census of 1 s85 givrs tlic number of slieep in each 

 county and the value thereof, and tlie amount of wool produced. 



The following table sliows the number of sheep in the State of all 

 kinds, and the wool product at different periods from 1830 to 1890: 



The number of sheep here given for 1890 is the estimate made by the 

 Tnited States Department of Agriculture. The returns of the State 

 assessors show but 45,899. The breeds are not given, but there has 

 l>;-ena decline of the Spanish and Saxony Merinos greater than in those 

 of English descent. Mr. James S. Grinnell, of the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, doubts if there is among the 1,000 Saxonies estimated one genu- 

 ine pure-bred Saxony, and the number of pure-bred Spanish Merinos is 

 confined to some half dozen flocks. 



The average price of Massachusetts wool was 36 cents per pound in 

 I84d, .>7 cents in 1855, 76 cents in 1865, and 41 cents in 1875; and in 

 the latter year there was a close approximation in price of the various 

 wools. The finest Saxony was 44 cents, the Spanish Merino 42, and 

 the coarse and middle wools 41 cents. The sheep also differed but little 

 in price, the Saxony Merino grades $4.90, the Spanish Merino $4.03, and 

 the long-wooled mutton sheep $4.21. 



