EAST OF THE, MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 659 



wools sold at the same price, and the coarser was in greater demand 

 because it did not lose so much in washing and was more easily made 

 into coarse jeans than fine wool. In Logan County, in the southern 

 part of the State, bordering Tennessee, the prevailing breed was the 

 common native, with the exception of some of the best flocks, which 

 had crosses of the Spanish Merino, the Saxony, the CotSAVold, and South- 

 down grades, with some thoroughbred. Two pounds per head of clean 

 scoured wool, ready for the manufacturer, was about the usual clip. 

 The Cots wolds and their crosses yielded from 4 to 10 pounds of wool 

 suitable for the comb. The sheep were generally healthy and produc- 

 tive in young, the number of lambs being nearly or quite equal to the 

 ewes. The pure-blooded sheep were not so healthy as the native sheep 

 and half-bloods. The small farmers made no surplus wool, but used 

 their entire clip in household manufacture. There were a few large 

 wool-growers, one of Avhom, with a flock of 600 sheep, one-half Saxon 

 and Spanish Merinos, and the other half Cotswolds, Leicesters and 

 Southdowns, crossed on select native sheep, grew on an averages pounds 

 clean scoured wool per head. The Saxon and Spanish fleece lost one- 

 half by scouring, the other breeds much less. In Mercer County sheep 

 were not raised in great numbers, though about every farmer had his 

 flock. The Shakers, who in Kew Hampshire, New York, and Ohio 

 were noted for their fine stock and the care they gave it, were here try- 

 ing the French Merinos, which promised well on account of their thick 

 and heavy fleeces. A cross from the Saxony and Spanish Merinos on 

 the Cotswolds and Leicesters produced a sheep with fine, long wool 

 excellent for worsted. The average weight of the Saxon fleece was 2 J 

 to 3 pounds, that of the Spanish Merino fleece 3J to 4 pounds. Other 

 large and coarse TOO! sheep yielded fleeces from 6 to 12 pounds. A 

 flock of pure Cote n'olds in Macou County, 29 in number, gave 240J 

 pounds of Avool, an average of 8-^ pounds per head. 



The Cotswolds were taken into Kentucky from Ohio about 1837, and 

 were for many years a favorite breed in that State and the South on 

 account of size and hardiness, and they still have many admirers who 

 have flocks far superior to those formerly kept. From 1850 to 1860 

 there were many engaged in raising Cotswolds for the markets of the 

 North and East, and the business was profitable. Before the war of 

 1861- 7 65 many of these full-blooded Cotswolds were sent to the Boston 

 market, with Leicesters and Southdowns, and commanded good prices. 

 In a report issued by the Department of Agriculture in 1880 it is stated 

 tli at George S. Baber, of Scott County, had a flock of pure-bred Cots- 

 wolds keeping about 40 for breeding. They had grass the whole year 

 and in cold or stormy weather were fed some corn and oats, and were 

 housed in very bad stormy weather, and cost in keeping the year about 

 $10 per head, having extra care and attention. His flock clipped on 

 an average 10 pounds combing wool, and raised on an average one 

 lamb to the ewe. The entire surplus was sold to breeders in Kentucky 



