EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 607 



few from the Eastern States. They have not maintained their relative 

 position since the advent of the Shropshires, but there are some pure- 

 bred flocks in the State and some enthusiastic breeders. From one of 

 these flocks in 1889 there was sheared from 20 yearlings an average of 

 20 pounds of wool, from 40 old suckling ewes an average of 14 pounds 

 each, and from 2 two-year-old rams 44 pounds. One imported yearling 

 cut 33 pounds of good clean wool that sold at 22J cents a pound. 

 Recent importations have been made from the best flocks of England. 



The Lincolnshires have been at home in Illinois for many years, but 

 have not made much headway. Their long wool was at one time in 

 much demand and bade fair to give them a great increase, but fashion 

 changed and interest in them abated. They maintain an humble posi- 

 tion, even more so than warranted by their deserts and real worth. 



A small flock of Blackfaced sheep was taken into the State in 1874 

 and bred for some time with success, proving themselves well adapted 

 to the locality where they were placed, though they would be much 

 more suitable for the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina and 

 those of Colorado. 



The Cheviots were first taken into the State in 1888, when Mr. E. 

 Pumphrey imported 10 ewes and 1 ram from the flock of E. J. Bruce, 

 Pittsfield, N. Y. The next year they lambed 150 per cent and have since 

 done well. The Horned Dorsets have been attracting some attention 

 of late, and a few of them have been imported from England. 



The great increase in the mutton trade of Chicago, and of all the 

 eastern cities having communication with that place, is largely due to 

 the improved quality of the meat, and Illinois has been prominent in 

 that improvement. Her improved breeds, handled with care and fed 

 on her rich grasses, have been factors in that improvement and one of 

 the causes why the mutton trade of Chicago has increased faster than 

 the pork or beef trade, or over 1,000,000 more for that city in 1889 than 

 in 1880. Nearly all the sheep that go to that market from Illinois are 

 grain-fatted, and there are more of the Down breeds than formerly. 

 The largest consumers of meat the hotels and restaurants require 

 double the quantity of mutton that they did five years ago, and the 

 consumption is increasing. 



But of the more than 1,000,000 sheep eaten in Chicago in 1889 Illinois 

 raised less than one-sixth, and this, too, while sheep sold for an aver- 

 age of more money per pound than cattle for the four preceding years, 

 and for some part of that time for more than hogs. Official reports for 

 the State of Illinois show that for 1889 and 1890 the average price for 

 cattle was $3.08 per 100 pounds, for hogs $3.65, and for sheep $3.72. 

 The cause of the neglect of the mutton industry is stated by Mr. Gar- 

 land : 



There is a too common tendency to look upon flock culture as mainly a business 

 of wool-growing. In fact the nominal State organization of sheep owners in Illinois 

 calls itself a " Wool-Growers' Association/' thus impliedly ignoring the fact that 



