EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 321 



Sheep declined in number from 1,014,122 in 1850 to 752,201 in 1860, 

 and wool declined from 3,400,717 pounds in the former year to 3,118,950 

 pounds in the latter. The average per head in 1850 was 3.35 pounds ; 

 in I860 it was 4.14 pounds, or a very marked increase of 24 per cent. 

 The price of wool advanced from 1850 to 1860 to an average of 42J 

 cents, the extremes being 30 and 55 cents. 



The war of the rebellion stimulated the demand for wool and in- 

 creased the value of breeding flocks, and many full-blooded Merinos 

 were sold to cross on the common or scrub sheep of the Western States 

 and Territories. In 1862 and 1863 Merino rams sold for all prices from 

 $100 up to $2,000, and the profits of the breeders were bountiful. 

 Wool also increased in price, both fine and coarse, and sheep hus- 

 bandry was in a prosperous condition. But this unprecedented pros- 

 perity could not always last. The war of the rebellion ceased, and the 

 immense stock of woolens held by the Government thrown upon the 

 market depressed wool to a ruinous figure, caused the suspension of 

 many woolen mills, and drove many Merino wool-growers into other 

 branches of husbandry. Two counties that in 1860 kept the largest 

 number of sheep of any in the State, during this depression in the price 

 of sheep and wool in 1868 changed to a large extent their sheep farm- 

 ing to cattle and dairying, and there were similar changes in other 

 parts of the State. There was a great increase in the number of sheep 

 from 1860 to 1865, but from 1866 to 1870 the decrease was so great that 

 in the latter year the number indicated a loss during the ten years 

 from 1860 to 1870, of more than 170,000. 



On the revival of manufactures after 1870, and under the great ex- 

 tension of wool-growing in the Territories and on the plains of the West 

 and Southwest, there was a demand for pure-bred Merinos, and large 

 numbers were shipped. In 1874 many were shipped to Washington 

 Territory ; in 1876 large numbers were sent to Texas, Maine, and else- 

 where. From Middlebury, Addison county, there were shipped in 1877 

 29 carloads; in 1879 41 carloads of rams to the Southwest. In 1880 

 60 carloads, and in 1881 71 carloads, each containing from 100 to 150 

 head, were sent. To be exact, from 1877 to 1881 there were shipped 

 from this one station 6,777 pure Merinos, purchased for the improve- 

 ment of sheep in other sections of the country, and the demand was in 

 excess of the production. These sheep were exclusive of a large num- 

 ber shipped in small lots ordered by express. Of the 6,777 there were 

 sent to Ohio 2,284, to Texas 1,728, to Michigan 1,230, to Kansas 668, to 

 Pennsylvania 303, to Missouri 268, to Maine 106, to Colorado 134, and 

 56 to Illinois. 



The superiority of Vermont sheep was acknowledged at the Centen- 

 nial Fair of 1876, when of the 13 first-class awards and 15 second-class, 

 9 of the former and 4 of the latter were received by Vermont breeders. 

 These were received in common with the breeders of Merino sheep 

 from other States. Besides these, there were 4 other special competi- 

 22990 21 



