EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 611 



away the briers, furnish the family raiment, and supply the table when 

 game was scarce. 



Our first record of the Merino is in 1828, when Stephen Y. E. Trow- 

 bridge, of Oakland County, began with a flock of 18 sheep, and without 

 purchasing any, and killing and selling 500, had in 1851 over 450. They 

 were full-blooded Spanish Merinos, and were found to thrive above all 

 other sheep. They became very fat and hardy, and their wool improved 

 greatly in quality. The average clip of the flock in 1850 was 3 pounds, 

 and the produce in lambs was annually over three-fourths the whole 

 number of ewes. This success was common with hundreds in the 

 county. 



In Washtenaw County the improvement of Merino sheep began prior 

 to the year 1836. Mr. Thomas Wood, of Saline, imported a ram from 

 the State of New York, and subsequently two more from the flock of 

 Edwin Hammond, very soon after Mr. Hammond made his purchase of 

 Stephen Atwood. Afterwards Mr. Wood tried a ram from the Rain- 

 bouillet government flock of France, which proved very unsatisfactory. 

 This was about 1850. Mr. Wood continued his untiring interest in the 

 business, and did as much, perhaps, as any other man in that part of 

 the State to create an interest in fine sheep, furnishing improved blood 

 for many flocks in that section, and keeping a flock of from 600 to 1,200 

 sheep. Capt. Lowry, of Lodi Plains, Washtenaw County, was among 

 the first, if not the first, to import thoroughbred ewes from Vermont 

 into this locality, which he did about the year 1840. He purchased of 

 Mr. Townsend, in Vermont, ten ewes and a ram, which improved the 

 sheep in this vicinity, and in 1850 to 1852 a goodly number of flocks 

 were brought in by parties from Vermont.* 



In 1840 a flock was established at Kiver Eaisin by D. W. Palmer & 

 Sons, by a purchase of 5 pure-bred Merino ewes of Henry S. Randall, 

 of New York, and in 1840 or 1841 a Mr. Dryer purchased of John 

 Hiles, near Farmington, Oakland County, 10 ewes, for which he paid 

 $7.50 each. These sheep were taken to Ingham County, and were pro- 

 tected from the wolves by means of oak slabs, one end driven into the 

 ground, placed close together, and forming an inclosure with a fence 7 

 feet in height, in which they were yarded for four years. These sheep 

 formed the basis for several flocks in that county. 



In 1840 the number of sheep in the State was 99,618, producing 

 153,375 pounds of wool, as given by the census, or but 1J pounds per 

 head, an evident understatement. From this date the increase was 

 rapid, and in 1850 there were 746.435 sheep, producing 2,043,283 

 pounds of wool. This great increase leaves little trace of its history. 

 Flocks by hundreds came in from New York, Pennsylvania, and other 

 Eastern States; wool-growing assumed great proportions, and Detroit 

 became a point of export for wool grown on the hills and meadows of 



* Register of the Michigan Merino Sheep Breeder's Association, Vol. j. 



