354 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



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fleece which weighed over 10 pounds. The fleece, moreover, was unusually ev 

 throughout, being fine upon the flanks. His legs were wooly down to the very hoofs, 

 but that enormous dew-lap or ruffle which belongs to the Paular sheep of the present] 

 day was wanting, there being merely a slight naked wrinkle in the skin along the 

 throat, scarcely amounting to a fold. 



Mr. Fitch believed from what was remembered of the first 2 rams 

 by those who saw them, that of the most esteemed, and which is 

 described first, was a pure Montarco and the other an Aguirres. The 

 last ram that was received, it is well remembered, was stated in the 

 contract to have belonged to the Prince of Peace, and it showed all; 

 the marks of a Paular of the choicest kind. 



Bad luck still pursued Mr. McNish. In the fourth year one of the 

 imported bucks was killed. Peace came in 1815, and wool fell to one-third 

 its former price, and the value of sheep depreciated accordingly. Ha 

 sought to secure an annulment of the contract and succeeded. The 

 number remaining to him was not over two dozen, and for nearly ten> 

 years the flock made no further increase. Three causes are assigned 

 for the bad fortune that attended his efforts the tender constitution of] 

 the sheep, inadequate shelter, and having the lambs too early in the ; 

 season. 



The flock was taken by a son of Mr. McMsh, and in 1836 there were 

 added to it 2 ranis obtained from William Jarvis and a few ewes from 

 Alexander Livingston's flock, and in 1850 it numbered 127, old and 

 young, 83 being adult ewes. The fleeces of the animals then averaged 

 2 pounds 9 ounces, from which they had not varied for fifteen years 

 From this flock some full -blooded rams and half-blood ewes were dis- 

 seminated throughout that section of the country. Among the persons 

 thus obtaining the sheep and forming a noted flock was Alexander Liv 

 ingston, of Greenwich. 



Mr. Livingston commenced growing fine wool in 1811 by hiring one 

 of the imported rams of Mr. McNish's flock for the season, paying 

 therefor $50, and being restricted to the use of 50 ewes, from which 

 he raised 20 lambs, whose fleeces averaged 3V pounds. The 2 other 

 MeMsh rams were successively hired for $5 each. After this full- 

 blooded rams were obtained from Isaac Bishop and others, until thd 

 flock was of so high a grade that good judges to whom samples of the^ 

 wool were shown pronounced it pure Merino. In 1820 he bought somei 

 14 or 15 ewe lambs of the Escurial flocks on Long Island, and in 1822 

 40 more ewe lambs, nearly all of them coming from the flock of Andrew 

 Cock. These were all the ewes he ever bought, save 1 Saxon ewe ofl 

 Henry D. Grove. 



The next pure Merino blood taken into Washington County, aftea 

 that of Mr. McNish and Mr. Prince, was by Isaac Bishop, and was also) 

 Long Island blood. Mr. Bishop was a member of the Society of Friends,' 

 and through that connection became early acquainted with the quality 

 of the Long Island sheep owned by Andrew Cock, Effingkam Lawrence, 



