EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 523 



dmbrand, in his employ, yielded in June of that year 75 pounds of wool, 

 whicli \\as sold for so cents a pound, or an average of $6 the fleece. 

 Among 1 these 10 rains was Bolivar, Avho carried off a prize next year at 

 Baltimore, Md. At the Maryland Cattle Show held on June 1 and 2, 

 1826, Jose Sylvester Robello, the Brazilian minister, placed at the dis- 

 posal of the committee having charge of the awards a silver cup " for 

 the ram which, being shorn upon the ground, yielded the greatest weight 

 of pick-lock wool." Mr. Dickinson was conscious that his neighborhood 

 could then furnish as fine stock of Merinos as Saxony could produce, 

 and seeing that a mania was about to set in for Saxony sheep and the 

 country about to be laid under contribution, determined to show that 

 the importation of these sheep was unnecessary, selected Bolivar from 

 his flock and entered him for the Baltimore show. William Patterson, 

 of Baltimore, entered a fine Saxon ram that he had recently imported, 

 and among other entries was a superior Merino ram from the flock of 

 Gen. John Mason, Analostan Island. Bolivar secured the prize, the 

 second prize going to Mr. Patterson's Saxon rani, whose wool was judged 

 by the committee to be a shade finer than Bolivar's, but fell consider- 

 ably short in quantity. Bolivar was taken back to Steubenville in a 

 wagon, and on July 4 following was one of the principal features of the 

 celebration. In the same year Mr. Dickinson sold him, with a number 

 of the purest and finest Merino ewes, to Dike and Duncan, who began 

 sheep husbandry in Stark County. The price Avas $100, and he was 

 stated by Mr. Dickinson to have been a Merino of pure American growth, 

 and standing unrivaled, taking him all and all, by any Merino or Saxony 

 rain in the United States. The description of Bolivar, as given by Mr. 

 James McDowell, is that he was a ram of commanding appearance, pos- 

 sessing marked individual character, weighed 140 pounds, broad chest, 

 wide back and shoulders, round body, dewlap and apron, no wrinkles 

 on body, wool 3 inches long, white with a brownish-black surface, 

 wooled to the hoofs, short neck, large horns, could be led by the horns, 

 was extremely gentle, was born in 1820, and died in 1834. He was a 

 pure Humphreys Merino, his granddams having been imported by 

 Humphreys as well as grandsires. Mr. McDowell does not concede that 

 this ram came from the Caldwell flock, but contends that it descended 

 from what he terms Mr. Humphreys' reserve flock of pure Humphreys 

 thoroughbred Spanish Merino sheep. 



Mr. Dickinson continued to breed and sell sheep until 1829 or 1830, 

 when reverses in business caused the sale and dispersion of his flocks, 

 as well as those of Mr. B. Wells, his partner in the woolen factory. 

 The sale of the Dickinson flock took place September 10, 1830, and was 

 thus reported : 



Bids were quick and spirited, manifesting on the part of all an eagerness to obtain 

 a share of these valuable animals, and though the prices obtained were low, it must 

 be recollected that a year ago it would have been impossible to effect a cash sale of 

 that number and quality at almost any price. The late advance, however, in the 

 price of wool has given an impetus to the business of wool-growing which promises 



