520 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



but choice full-bloods. The Shropshires had quite a run for some time. 

 Like some other English breeds they require abundant, luxurious feed, 

 and careful attention for best results. There are 10 or 12 flocks of pure- 

 bloods in Washington County, and a less number in the adjacent coun- 

 ties of West Virginia. 



The Cheviots were introduced into Washington County in 1889, when 

 Thomas' M. Patterson, of Patterson's Mills, bought a few in Otsego 

 County, IS". Y., since which time three small flocks have been brought 

 into the county. The limited experience shows that the climate and 

 forage agree with them. Mr. Patterson's flock of 50 head in the 

 spring of 1891 averaged 8 pounds of wool per head, the wool 8 inches 

 in length. A ewe, three years old, weighing 196 pounds, clipped 10 

 pounds of wool. Twenty ewes dropped 32 lambs. Mr. Patterson 

 reports that they are not liable to foot-rot, an exemption which gives 

 them a very great advantage over any other breed of sheep. 



The latest acquisition to the mutton sheep of Washington County 

 are the Dorset Horns. The first introduction of these sheep was by 

 M. A. Cooper in 1890, and consisted of two ewes. In the summer of 

 1891 Mr. Cooper made another importation, and Joseph B. Henderson 

 and H. S. Buchanan sailed for England to make purchases. After 

 spending considerable time among the different breeders of the best 

 English sheep Messrs. Henderson and Buchanan decided that the Dor- 

 sets possessed some very desirable qualities not found among other 

 breeds of sheep, particularly their great fecundity and their habit of 

 breeding at any season. Beside this they were found to be hardy and 

 robust, not a single diseased or unhealthy sheep being seen of the sev- 

 eral thousand coming under their observation. They selected 66 head 

 from the flocks of Thomas Chick, Bernard Kendall and Hale Bros., 

 Dorset, England, and landed (55 at Baltimore; one died on the vessel 

 from suffocation. These sheep were distributed among the following 

 persons in Washington County: M. A. Cooper, Dr. W. S. McCleary, 

 Joseph B. Wylie, William White, J. S. Buchanan & Son, and James L. 

 Henderson. They are all doing remarkably well, and Mr. Henderson's 

 flock of 20 clipped about 10 pounds each of unwashed wool. Some of 

 the ewes will weigh as high as 240 pounds. The object of the importers 

 is to cross the Dorsets upon the Merinos for the raising of early lambs. 

 They are not yet well enough known in the county to become popular, 

 but they are attracting considerable attention. 



As a rule in Washington and adjoining counties, where cereal agri- 

 culture alone is pursued, the land is less fertile, and for agricultural 

 purposes less valuable, than formerly; while lands devoted to the rais- 

 ing of sheep have increased at least 50 per cent in fertility and pro- 

 ductive power, all of which is laid to the credit of the sheep. 



