384 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



last though not least, treated kindly and humanely; while the other is fed enough 

 at one feed to do him a day or two, and watered every other day, and, as a substi- 

 tute for grooming, he is treated to the boot-h€el or toe of his master occasionally. 

 So it is with the sheep, or any of our domestic animals. I am aware of the fact 

 that quite a number of men in Indiana who invested money in Cotswold sheep 

 within the past ten years have had bad luck with them, and concluded they were 

 delicate creatures aud not adapted to our climate. The CotsAvold's boom reminds 

 me very forcibly of the grange movement in our country. Nearly all our farmers 

 went into the order, and the great majority went in because it was the fashion, 

 without understanding the grand and noble principles of the order; but when they 

 found they had to make a small sacrifice of time and money, and that they were 

 not getting as much money out of it as they expected, many abandoned the order. 

 The trouble was with the people, not the grange, for I am convinced that it is the 

 best order ever instituted for the benefit of the farmer and his family. So when 

 combing ivool was high and mutton a good price, everybody embarked in Cots- 

 wolds. 



Yes, you remember we did not have any other sheep scarcely at our fairs but 

 Cotswolds for years, and the result was we " had too much of a good thing," and 

 produced more combing wool than our manufacturers could use, and in the mean- 

 time fashions changed and women quit wearing alpaca goods, and a little further 

 on the tariff was reduced on foreign wool, and many became demoralized and con- 

 cluded to abandon the business, and the result is, there are very few good flocks of 

 sheep in our State to-day. It is said that history repeats itself; in the early part 

 of this century, fine wool sold for $2.50 per pound, and pure-bred Merino rams sold 

 from a thousand to two thousand dollars per head, and Merino ewes as high as a 

 thousand dollars. In five or six years after this, it is said that these sheep could 

 be bought for one dollar a head, but they came up again, and since that time 

 Merino rams have sold for five thousand dollars or more. We should not think of 

 abandoning any business on account of these temporary depressions and fluctua- 

 tions. Hoping that the members of the Indiana Wool Growers' Apsociantion may 

 continue to improve their flocks until they are brought to the highfst degree of 

 perfection, I respectfully submit this paper. 



Mr. Darnell. I do not want to criticise the paper, but I want to ask Mr. Dun- 

 gan if he is or is not a friend of the Cotswold sheep ? 



Mr. Dmigan. I still have about one hundred and fifty Cotswold sheep, and like 

 them, although I have other breeds of sheep. I have been experimenting with 

 three different breeds of sheep. A year ago this winter I had a number of pure 

 Merinos, some fifteen imported Shropshires, and five or six Cotswold, all fed to- 

 gether. All those sheep were in good shape when I commenced with them, and in 

 still better shape in the spring, and I did not see any difierence as to hardiness, etc. 

 It is a confirmation of what I said in my paper, that what is often considered a 

 lack of adaptability is a lack of good treatment. I gave those sheep all the clover 

 and timothy hay they could eat, and bran and corn mixed. I am pleased, and 



