644 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



place. These ewes were purchased in the* spring of 1866 of C. A. 

 Dodge, of Weybridge, Vt. The ewe lamb was bred from one of the 

 ewes and sired by a Vermont ram. The rams bred to this flock were 

 raised by J. S. Benedict and E. 1ST. Bissell, of Vermont. In the same 

 year George Baker, of Hustisford, originated a flock by the purchase 

 of 1 ram and 10 pure-bred ewes of Abijah Granger, Newstead, Vt. Mr. 

 Granger purchased these ewes in 1865 of Cassias M. Worls, of Ver- 

 gennes, Vt. They were bred largely in the Atwood blood. The ram 

 was said to have been sired by Young Gold Fleece, for which his owner 

 paid $5,000. 



In 1868 J. G. Putnam, of Neosho, founded a flock by the purchase 

 oi 6 pure-bred ewes of J. E. White, Springfield, Vt. These ewes were 

 from the flock of James Lowell, and bred from the flock of Edwin Ham- 

 mond. The same year he purchased of M. 0. Roundy, of Ilockinghain, 

 Vt., 3 Hammond ewes and an Atwood ram. Subsequent additions were 

 made to the flock by further purchases of Vermont rams and ewes of 

 the best blood. 



There were many other breeding flocks founded between 1860 and 

 1870, but they have ceased to exist and have left no trace save in such 

 fragmentary form as to defy satisfactory note of them. 



From 1850 to 1860 the number of sheep more than doubled and the 

 amount of wool quadrupled, rising from 253,963 pounds in the former 

 year to 1,011,933 pounds in the latter. From 1860 to 1870 there was a 

 still greater increase. In the ten years the number of sheep was 

 trebled and the yield of AVOO! quadrupled. Beyond the wool for domestic 

 use the surplus was sent to Eastern markets, and there was shipped 

 from 1860 to 1867 from Milwaukee a large amount. 



Prior to 1855 there had been considerable discussion as to the estab- 

 lishment of woolen factories in the State. It was not considered true 

 economy to send the wool from the farm to the East, there to be made 

 into clothing and returned again to the farmer with the expense of 

 transportation both ways and the added profit of the manufacturer. 

 There was a disposition to build the factory near the farm, and though 

 capital was scarce some factories were started, which in 1860 numbered 

 sixteen, with a product of $167,600. The war made heavy demand for 

 woolen goods, and by 1868 there were more than fifty factories, with a 

 product of about $1,000,000. It is estimated that in 1868 Wisconsin 

 had 2,000,000 sheep, valued at $4,000,000. This year witnessed a great 

 revulsion in the business of wool-growing. The price of wool had been 



