566 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



the country lie found the Oxford Downs to excel any and all other breeds 

 he had ever tried, and he had tried many, including the Merinos and 

 Shropshires. The grade lambs like the pure-bred ones are strong, 

 robust, and hardy, grow rapidly, mature early, respond very quickly to 

 feed, and mature into large, heavy-bodied, compactly-built, excellent 

 mutton sheep, and at the same time pay well for their keep by producing 

 large, heavy fleeces of desirable wool. In the fall of 1887 he sold a ram 

 to a gentleman living in Lenawee County, Mich. This gentleman bred 

 the ram to 56 Merino ewes and the next season those ewes raised him 

 61 lambs, which he sold early in the fall to a neighbor for $4.25 per 

 head. That neighbor fed them with 50 lambs of his own raising that 

 were sired by a recorded Shropshire ram from Merino ewes, originally 

 from the same flock as the others. When he sold these lambs the fol- 

 lowing April at about twelve months of age, the half-blood Oxford 

 Downs averaged in weight 21J pounds per head more than the half- 

 blood Shropshires, and they were all fed alike and received identically 

 the same care; and although they were not shorn, it was the opinion ot 

 both breeder and feeder that the Oxford grades would clip at least 2 

 pounds per fleece more than the Shropshire grades. In a condensed 

 report giving the average weight of the different breeds of sheep at the 

 Chicago Fat Stock Show from 1878 to 1887 inclusive, comparing early 

 Oxford Down wethers with other breeds, it is stated thus: Cotswolds, 

 198 pounds; Southdowns, 176 pounds; Shropshires, 178 pounds; Oxford 

 Downs, 201 pounds. A comparative statement of gain, in ounces per 

 day, of sheep exhibited at the Christmas show of the Smithfield Club in 

 1889, the greatest fat stock show in England, places the then leading 

 medium wool breeds in the following order: For wethers South- 

 downs, 5.2 ounces; Shropshires, 6.2 ounces; and Oxford Downs, 9.3 

 ounces. Lambs Southdowns, 8.1; Shropshires, 9.3; Oxfords, 10. The 

 experience of Ohio breeders shows similar results and encourages them 

 in the belief that the Oxford Downs, all things considered, are the most 

 profitable sheep, not only for the breeders of recorded stock, but for the 

 general farmer, for grading up his flock for the production of wool and 

 mutton at a profit. 



But there are localities where the English breeds will not thrive, and 

 Avhere the Merino is at its best; and here there has been a change since 

 1885. The wool-growers in these localities, taught to believe that wool- 

 growing is the prime object in keeping sheep, and unwilling to give up 

 an industry that has been and can be made profitable, and recognizing 

 the fact that the best possible protection to wool is the sheep itself, are 

 moving in the direction of a larger carcass and more wool to the square 

 inch. This has caused an increase in the Delaine Merinos, which are 

 superseding the Vermont type of Merinos in various localities and are 

 recognized as a class at the annual State exhibitions. They weigh from 

 120 to 180 pounds, have fine, soft wool, with a long, clean fiber, and as a 

 general- purpose sheep, combining wool and mutton production, are 



