1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



29 



SILESIA.N SHEEP. 



According to the account furnished for Dr! 

 Randall's American Shepherd, by William 

 Chamberlain, of Red Hook, N. Y., who im- 

 ported forty ewes and fifteen bucks in 1851, 

 and who has made several importations since, 

 the Sileslan family of Merino sheep was estab- 

 lished in W'irchenblatt, Silesia, in 1811, by the 

 father of Louis Fischer, the present propri- 

 etor. It sprung from stock selected from the 

 choicest flocks in Spain, consisting of one hun- 

 dred ewes of the . Infantado flocks, and four 

 Negretti bucks. Dr. Randal says, "wherever 

 it is most profitable to grow very fine wool, 

 this va,riety, or rather this family, ought to 

 stand unrivalled. They meet the same want 

 in manufacturing that was formerly met by 

 the Saxons, while they are greatly larger, 

 hardier, and heavier fleeced. Broadcloth and 

 various other manufacturers need. such wool, 

 and it is not supplied by the heavy-fleeced 

 American Merino. All who desire to see all 

 branches of woolen manufacture flourish in 

 our country Avill be glad to see the Sileslan 

 sheep more extensively introduced." 



One of the objections of the manufacturers 

 to the present tariff on wool was that as our 

 farmers did not raise wool suitable for fine 

 broadcloths, hats, «S:c., it must be imported. 

 Fine wool as well as the coarse combing wools 

 can undoubtedly be raised in the United States. 

 The great cause of the present depressed con- 

 dition of the wool growing interest in this 

 country is the fact that too many farmers made 

 a specialty of one kind, the heavy fleece Meri- 

 no, leaving the manufacturers of worsted 

 . goods to depend on Canada, and the manufac- 

 turers of broadcloths on South America, the 

 Cape, &c., for the raw material. 



Mr. Chamberlain gives the weight of five of 

 his Silesian ewes at 115, 140, 130, 115, and 

 127 pounds, and of three bucks at 145, 155 and 

 158 pounds. Their external color is dark. The 

 wool of eight months' growth is from one and 

 a half to two inches long. Medium aged 

 ewes shear from eight to eleven pounds, and 

 bucks from twelve to sixteen pounds, un- 

 washed. They are good breeders and nurses, 

 but do not obtain their full weight until four 

 years of age. 



Mr. C. S. Woodard of Hotchkissville, 

 Conn., commenced a flock of Silesian sheep in 

 September, 18G6, consisting of one ram and 



nine ewes over a year old, and three ewe 

 lambs under a year old. He writes to the Bos- 

 ton Cultivator that in 1847 he raised nine 

 lambs from his nine ewes, the clip of wool was 

 fifty-three pounds, which In consequence of Its 

 fineness sold for 85 cents per pound, making 

 $45. One lamb was sold for $G. Estimating 

 the other eight lambs at ihe same value, and 

 Including $31 obtained as premiums at Fairs, 

 he makes an aggregate income of $130.05 

 from thirteen young Silesian sheep. With 

 this result he was so well pleased that he has 

 since increased his ilock, by purchase, to forty- 

 two in all. 



For the Keio Evgland Farmer, 



CHOSSING BREEDS Off SHEEP. 



In your issue of October 17, you have a 

 leader on the so-termed Anglo Merino sheep. 

 This breed was the result of an attempt to 

 graft the fleece of the Merino upon the carcass 

 of the Leicester. You quote Lord Western 

 as saying that the wool was equal in quallry to 

 the Merino. Now, sir, we have no doubt 

 that Lord Western thinks so. But we are 

 satisfied that Lord "Western does not know 

 much about the quality of the fleece of the 

 Merino sheep. What he says about the car- 

 cass of the sheep and the weight of his wethers 

 we are satisfied is coi-rect, and also what he 

 says with regard to the weight of the fleece. 

 We do not know whether Loi-d Western has 

 succeeded in producing a permanent type of 

 this peculiar grade or not; but this we do 

 know that the cross is not new in America. 

 We have seen large quantities of wool pro- 

 duced by a cross between both Leicesters and 

 Cotswolds, which is a very desirable class of 

 wool for some kinds of combing and a most 

 splendid delaine Vv-ool. In 1852 Isaac King, 

 Esq., of Palmer, Mass., had a flock of Leices- 

 ter ewes which were aged ; the wool was 

 coarse, slippery, cotted and hairy. Combing 

 wool was not in demand then as it is now, but 

 there was a good demand for delaine wool. 

 Mr. King had sold his wool for a number of 

 years to the Hamilton AVoolen Company of 

 Southbridge. Thos. Whitaker had the charge 

 of the sorting at that time, and bought the 

 wool. But Mr. King having bred so long frora 

 his ewes without renewing his flock, till his 

 wool was nearly run to hair again, Mr. Whit- 

 aker refused longer to buy hiS wool, withouJ; 

 he took measures for Improving it. After 

 consultation and at the suggestion of Mr. 

 Whitaker, Mr. King went to Vermont and 

 bought as long a stapled Merino buck as he 

 could find, to which he turned his ewes, and 

 the result was one of the best delaine wools 

 ever raised either in America or England. It 

 was not as fine as the Merino, nor as lon^ or 



