538 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



running parallel with the Ohio Kiver on the southern border, compris- 

 ing some 6,000,000 acres, presents as inviting a field for sheep hus- 

 bandry as any in the Union, and the southern part of this valley lies 

 in this favored district. Athens County, on the Ohio, is among the 

 first in the State for the quality of its sheep, and much attention has 

 been paid to the growth of wool. About 1822 Abel Glazier and others 

 obtained some Spanish Merinos of William Skinner, of Marietta, Wash- 

 ington County, and the stock from these flocks had a wide dissemina- 

 tion. All the flocks of the county up to 1850 had an admixture of the 

 Wells and Dickinson stock. In 1850 there was a movement in favor of 

 the Vermont Merinos, and many of them were introduced and new flocks 

 formed. Gallia County owes its first fine-wool sheep to a ram brought 

 from the East in 1818 by Samuel Barlow. From this ram and the 

 common sheep of the country many flocks were formed, some of which 

 were in existence at a late day. In 1845 the sheep of the country were 

 generally a cross of Merino and Saxon. The business of wool-growing 

 then declined, and in 1852 but few were engaged strictly in it. Every 

 farmer had his flock, and many had those of the best crosses of the 

 Merinos and Southdowns and other good stocks, and all sold wool. 

 Some extensive woolen factories in the vicinity made fabrics for home 

 consumption, for which much of the wool was exchanged. The sheep 

 of Perry County were those of other parts of Ohio and of Western 

 Pennsylvania, the earliest recorded Merino flock being that of Aaron 

 Johnson, founded in 1823, from Western Pennsylvania and Virginia 

 stock. In 1850 about one-third the wool was of good quality, and 

 improvement began by the introduction of some Saxon and Spanish 

 Merinos. Hocking County got its fine wool almost entirely from Penn- 

 sylvania and the Vermont Merino came in about 1849. Eairfield County 

 owes its first fine-wooled sheep to the Wells and Dickinson flocks. In 

 1847 Samuel Low, of East Eushville, purchased of Adam Hildenbrand, 

 of Stark County, some of his best sheep and began a full-blood flock, 

 which in 1862 numbered 110, giving on an average 4f pounds well- 

 washed wool. In a great part of this valley half the wool grown is 

 manufactured at home or exchanged for cloth, and for this purpose the 

 long wool has been preferred as being more readily spun than the Merino 

 grades. 



The sheep of the Scioto Valley were driven from the eastern counties 

 and from Pennsylvania, and were of all grades of Dickinson, Merino, 

 Saxon, French, and common sheep. Wool-growing was a good busi- 

 ness, yet not enough was raised for home use and to supply some of the 

 early woolen factories. All the farmers kept a few sheep, and system- 

 atic improvement did not begin until about 1850, when some Vermont 

 Merinos were used to increase the weight of fleece of the prevalent 

 Saxon grades. One of the best pure-blood flocks, though of a late date, 

 was that of Minor Tone, of Delaware County, who, in 1861, went to the 

 farm of Stephen Atwood, in Connecticut, and purchased 20 ewes from 



