EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 681 



their origin to him. The plan pursued in the formation of an improved 

 flock was that marked out by Livingston and published in his " Essay 

 on Sheep." One flock has left some record. In 1824 Mr. B. L. C. Wailes 

 commenced by the selection of ewes as highly improved by crossing on 

 the Merino as could be obtained in the country, an improvement tracing 

 its origin to the Livingston ram. His flock was increased from time to 

 time by the addition of choice ewes from different flocks, most of which 

 obtained their blood from the same Livingston-Wilkinson ram. It was 

 subsequently crossed by a Merino ram from Kentucky, owned by Mr. 

 J. Dunbar. 



In 1831 Mr. Wailes purchased a pair of Saxons and introduced them 

 into his flock, and his sheep soon became characterized by a plump, 

 compact form, full quarters, and by a fleece enveloping the entire body 

 and legs down to the hoofs. 



In 1839 Mr. Mark II. Cockrell, who had large flocks of Spanish and 

 Saxon Merinos, became a cotton planter in the State of Mississippi in 

 latitude 32J north, and removed his Saxony flock from Tennessee, in 

 latitude 36, to his cotton plantation, where he kept them six years. 

 In that level, damp country where he grazed them they did well, grew 

 larger, and produced soft, cotton-like wool, free from hard hairs. This 

 was more particularly the case with his Saxons, but in many cases the 

 Spanish Merino showed like results. The wool grown in that climate 

 was superior to most of that grown elsewhere. It possessed more of 

 the requisites for a perfect fleece and fitness for superior broadcloth 

 than the produce of the same sheep in latitude 36, attributed to the 

 fact that in Mississippi the food was better adapted to sustain a healthy 

 condition of the skin, which was kept oily by warmth, green herbage 

 and succulent food during winter as well as summer. The pores of the 

 skin were not closed, the wool did not cease to grow, there was no 

 fever from housing, crowding, and from dry food, but a regular, uniform, 

 and continuous growth of fleece the whole year. Ten years 7 experience 

 and observation convinced Mr. Cockrell that in Mississippi the tendency 

 was to the improvement rather than to deterioration in the quality of 

 the wool, even where the finest wools were attempted. A flock in the 

 warm climate required but little feeding, a very small investment in 

 land, and but little labor in preparing for winter. 



Although sheep husbandry was not a favorite and popular occupa- 

 tion, and did not assume a high position in economical importance, yet 

 quite a number of Merinos were kept in the State, and were very 

 healthy. In 1845 Thomas Affleck, Washington, Miss., purchased 31 

 Saxony and Spanish Merinos and 15 Leicesters for his plantation, and 

 was to add to this purchase a fine Saxony and Spanish flock from 

 Washington County, Pa, In 184G E. R. Brown, of Gallatiu, bought 4 

 Spanish Merinos of William Jarvis, and closely following this other 

 purchases were made in Vermont and Ohio for Mississippi plantations, 

 purchases due, in a great measure, to Henry S. Randall's letters oil 



