EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVEE. 613 



to 35 to grow Saxon. There was little difference in the selling price 

 of wool, and the Spanish Merino was found the most profitable to 

 keep. Native ewes reared their own number of lambs, the Saxony and 

 Spanish Merino about half their number. From 1848 to 1852 several 

 Paular rams and ewes were brought from Vermont and French Merinos 

 were introduced also, and many flocks increased the average amount of 

 wool per head from 2f to 4J pounds. In Wayne County wool-growing 

 was found very profitable, and the farmers improved their sheep by 

 buying large numbers of the fine-wooled rams of New York and Ver- 

 mont. Common sized sheep of fine wool and long staple were deemed 

 the most profitable, and a pound of wool could be grown on a cross of 

 the French and Spanish Merino as cheaply as on the common coarse- 

 wooled sheep, consequently the finer grades were grown. By careful 

 breeding the sheep of the country improved in size and constitution, 

 and the wool increased in fineness, length of staple, and quantity, and 

 in 1854 a large proportion of the flocks were composed of a high grade 

 of French and Spanish Merino, a well-kepfc flock of the kind averaging 

 4 pounds washed wool. In Macomb County wool- growing was the most 

 profitable business farmers could engage in, and pure-blood Spanish 

 and French Merinos were the sheep preferred. A majority of the wool- 

 growers obtained their best sheep from Vermont, and the grade of 

 wool improved rapidly. The sheep ran upon the fallow lauds in the 

 summer, and in the winter went to the straw stacks till towards spring, 

 when hay and a little grain were given them. It cost 20 to 30 cents to 

 raise wool, which (1854) varied in price from 28 to 38. The ordinary 

 profit was 50 cents per sheep and the increase in lambs. Pelts were 

 sold from 30 cents to $1, and tallow at 10 cents per pound. 



At this time causes were operating to limit the country's supply of 

 wool, while the demand was increasing. The eastern farmers and those 

 of the Middle States, in the proximity of large cities where land was 

 advancing in price, had abandoned wool- growing, and those more remote 

 from cities had turned their attention to producing butter, cheese, beef, 

 and mutton. Ohio was about holding her own in wool cultivation, 

 while Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan were increasing their 

 flocks, though not in sufficient number to supply the deficiency. The 

 drawback to Michigan was the want of capital. There was an increase 

 in 1852, but the scarcity of fodder compelled the slaughter of many 

 sheep for their pelts and tallow. 



With the increase of the Merino came also the introduction and 

 increase of the improved English sheep. Many crosses were made of 

 the English breeds with the Merino and with apparent success, those 

 of the Leicester and the Merino being most common and most satis- 

 factory. There was much experiment of this kind from 1850 to 1860. 

 In the latter year J. S. Tibbits gave the result, in wool, of a cross of a 

 Southdown ram on three-fourths blood Spanish Merino ewes. The 

 ram weighed, before shearing, 215 pounds and gave a fleece of 9 pounds 



