1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



45 



observation contained in half a column or less, stated 

 in the most plain and simple manner, and also a 

 communication of several pages drawn up with the 

 utmost care, and in his best style — and we will pay any 

 reasonable penalty if there are not manifest proofs ex- 

 hibited afterwards that the first will have more rea- 

 ders, and more republications, than the last. 



But though these reasons are stated as inducements 

 for bringing forward the many short pieces which 

 might be so readily furnished, let it not be thence in- 

 ferred that we object to long ones, or that it is deemed 

 desirable to compress any subject within smaller space 

 than its full developement would make necessary. 

 Such an inference, and the action under it, would be 

 a greater error than withholding concise statements, be- 

 cause they cannot be presented in all the dignity of reg- 

 ular and extended essays. Every subject that deserves 

 being treated at all, ought to be treated sufficiently in 

 detail to be made clear — and to agricultural subjects 

 more than perhaps any other kind, does this rule espe- 

 cially apply. That the length of a communication 

 operates to lessen the number of its readers and to 

 limit the extent of its circulation, is a fact which is to 

 be lamented, but neither can nor ought to be disguised 

 — and every writer may make good use of the know- 

 ledge of this evidence of the general carelessness or 

 bad taste of the reading public, But if articles which 

 require to be treated at length have fewer readers, they 

 are at least more highly prized by those few; and thus 

 perhaps gain as much, in the higher estimation of 

 the few, as short articles do from a far more general, 

 but more careless reading.] 



From the Cultivator. 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS IN RELATION TO 

 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



The five queries which are quoted below, came 

 from an anonymous correspondent. They were 

 forwarded to a gentleman preeminently distin- 

 guished as one of the best judges of stock, and 

 withal an extensive breeder, who has promptly 

 and very obligingly furnished us with the subjoined 

 answers. Ed. Cul. 



1. "Of what breed or stock had a beginner bet- 

 ter compose his flock, his object being the grow- 

 ing of fine wool?" Pure Merino, crossed with high 

 bred South Downs. 



2. "What are the prices at which the Saxony, 

 South Down, Cotswold, Leicester, Bakewell, or 

 Merino ewes, can be purchased respectively, after 

 shearing?" From a good flock, you cannot select 

 ewes, or it would not long remain a good flock; 

 lambs or yearlings maybe selected perhaps — price 

 very various — depending on purity of blood, and 

 individual excellence. 



3. "What breed produces wool of the greatest 

 value?" Saxony per pound — Merino per fleece. 

 "And what breed yields the heaviest fleeces?" 

 The great Lincoln, or Romney Marsh sheep. 



4. "What breed is most hardy and best adapt- 

 ed to our climate?" South Downs, certainly. 



5. "On what lands how many sheep per acre 

 can be profitably kept?" That depends on the 

 breed of sheep, and quality of land, but much 

 fewer than are generally kept. 



The Saxon sheep undoubtedly produce the 

 finest wool; but their fleece is light, seldom exceed- 

 ing 2^ lb. in weight, and is too open to resist our 

 storms. They are feeble in constitution — require 

 great care, are poor nurses, and their lambs are 

 raised with difficulty. The mutton from such sheep 

 must necessarily be of a miserable description. 



I believe that in Connecticut, even the pure Sax- 

 ony sheep may now be purchased at acomparative- 

 ly low price, say from six dollars to four dollars a 

 head, and perhaps lower still. 



The old fashioned pure Merino sheep, which 

 were imported by Col. Humphrey, and those as- 

 sociated with him, (but which are now almost ex- 

 tinct) were a much better constitution sheep, and 

 more than made up by quantity for the difference 

 in the quality of their fleece — the close, thick tex- 

 ture of their wool resisted our cold wet storms — ■ 

 their lambs were much easier raised, the ewes 

 were better nurses, and on the whole, I am con- 

 vinced they are a much more profitable sheep than 

 the Saxony. 1 must, however, remark, there are 

 several varieties of the Spanish sheep; and I would 

 carefully avoid the "gummy"* family fleece, which 

 however, must not be confounded with that, 

 which, though of a dark color, contains only the 

 grease necessary to render it impenetrable to the 

 weather; the former being very objectionable to the 

 manufacturer, Avhile the latter is readily cleansed 

 and worked. 



I desire to be understood as speaking of the pure 

 breeds, and not. of grade sheep, which so univer- 

 sally abound in this state, lor they have no dis- 

 tinctive or fixed character, but vary with their de- 

 gree of consanguinity to the pure imported blood. 

 Indeed I feel well assured that there are very few 

 individuals of the pure unmixed blood to be found. 



The earlier Merino flocks of this state, were 

 obtained from the introduction of imported bucks, 

 and those were purchased at great prices, which, 

 with the native ewe, formed the ancestry of our 

 fine wooled flocks; these had not attained nearly to 

 the excellence of the pure Merino, in the staple of 

 its wool — its compactness — its uniformity, or soft- 

 ness — when the Saxony cross was introduced, and 

 became almost universal in a surprisingly short 

 time — and this is the true history of almost all our 

 fine grade sheep in this state. It is not, therefore, 

 to these flocks that I allude, when I speak of pure 

 Merino, or Saxony sheep. 



As to price, I presume such Merino sheep are 

 more cosily now than the Saxony, from the fact 

 that farmers are now aware of their error in using 

 the Saxon cross, which has ruined the constitution 

 of their flocks, decreased their clip of wool nearly 

 one-half, and reduced their produce, until, with 

 ordinary management, more than twenty-five 

 lambs to an hundred ewes, are seldom raised. A 

 Merino buck, of unquestionable purity, whose an- 

 cestry were both imported, will now sell for twen- 

 ty-five and thirty dollars; the same animal, eigh- 

 teen months since, might have been picked up at 

 #8 and i£10. 



The Leicestershire, Bakewell, and Cotswold 

 sheep are so crossed and mingled in this country, 

 that the distinction is lost, excepting to the prac- 

 tised eye, who can find individuals in the various 



* The term "gummy" is in common use with farm- 

 er?, and will be understood. 



