EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 539 



his celebrated flock and took them to his farm, forming the basis of his 

 flock. Mr. Tone was among the first to engage in this industry in the 

 State of that strain of blood, and the first in the part of the State where 

 he lived. At a later day he added other Atwood sheep to his flock 

 from the flocks of Henry Lane, W. E. Sanford, and Henry W. Ham- 

 mond, of Vermont. This flock became noted throughout the larger 

 portion of the State, and still exists, the property of E. K. Willis, to 

 whom it descended upon Mr. Tone's death in 1877. In 1850 the wool of 

 Marion County averaged 2J pounds per sheep, and the Merino blood 

 constituted three-fourths of that grown. 



The Western Eeserve and the valleys of the Muskingum, the Hocking, 

 and the Scioto comprise a little more than the eastern half of the State, 

 carry more than three-fourths of the sheep, and raise the best wool. 

 The wool grown in the hilly regions of eastern Ohio was found at an 

 early day livelier and possessing the felting qualities necessary for 

 forming good cloth in a higher degree than that produced in other 

 parts of the United States, and experience proved that fleeces grown 

 upon the identical sheep brought from the seaboard improved in qual- 

 ity at least one grade. This was accounted for by the sheep feeding on 

 the sweet grasses grown on the limestone soil of the hills, yielding a 

 superior article of wool. While the northeast and river counties raise 

 the best wool and had the earlier sheep, the southern and middle coun- 

 ties and some of the western contain many sheep of great excellence 

 and grow wool of fine quality. 



The fine-wooled sheep of Adams and Brown came from Washing- 

 ton County, Pa. In 1849, some 500 or 600 Spanish Merino grades 

 were driven into Adams, and in the same year many of these were 

 taken into the adjoining county of Brown, where some full-blood flocks 

 were formed, first of which was that of J. E. and A. J. Patterson, 

 owned in 1873 by John L. Summers. Clinton County was noted for 

 many years for fine sheep, and William Linton was the pioneer in rais- 

 ing them from the selections he made at an early day from the Wells 

 and Dickinson flocks. He maintained his flock at a high standard, and 

 from it many more were formed. In 1850 there were mixed and unmixed 

 flocks of Saxons, Spanish Merinos, French Merinos, and Southdowns, 

 and the wool of the county was rated as fair. Warren County, imme- 

 diately on the west, presents a counterpart to Clinton. The early fine- 

 wool sheep were those of the Wells and Dickinson flocks and of Wash- 

 ington County, Pa., and in 1848 there were Merinos of all grades and 

 Southdowns in the county. The French Merino was introduced by L. 

 G. Collins, but was not popular. In 1850 the wool averaged 3J pounds 

 per head. The Shakers, at Lebanon, had the most valuable Spanish 

 and Saxony Merinos in 1854, which they improved with great care. 

 Butler County had one or two Merino flocks prior to 1820, but the fine- 

 wool industry never prospered. A few, and but a few, appreciated the 

 value of having a better grade of wool than that furnished by the 



