196 



Different Breeds of Sheep. 



Vol. V. 



is it 1 my object is gained, my efforts to win 

 him and my little mancEuvres to captivate 

 have been successful, and it is veiy hard if a 

 woman is to pass her life in endeavouring to 

 please her husband.' I remember greatly 

 admiring a lady who lived amongst the moun- 

 tains, and scarcely saw any one but her hus- 

 band ; she was rather a plain woman, yet 

 when she sat to breakfast each morning, and 

 all the day long, her extreme neatness and 

 the attention to the niceness of her appear- 

 ance, made her a most agreeable object ; her 

 husband loved her, and would look at her 

 with more pleasure than at a pretty woman 

 dressed soiledly and untidily ; and believe me, 

 these things — although your husband appears 

 not to notice them, nor perhaps is he con- 

 scious of the cause — strongly possess the 

 power of pleasing or of displeasing. — Whis- 

 per to a New-married Couple. ■ 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Different Breeds of Sheep. 



Sir, — I find in the Tennessee Farmer an 

 article on this subject credited to the West- 

 ern Farmer and Gardener, which is truly as- 

 tounding, and quite unaccountable to any one 

 acquainted with the business. Allow me to 

 copy the statement and add a few observa- 

 tions in conclusion ; for as the case now 

 stands, it is sufficient to astonish every one, 

 whether foreigner or native. 



" In the Western States, where land is, of 

 course, not so valuable as in the east, the 

 Bakewell breed of sheep, althouffh of a more 

 tender constitution than the Southdown or 

 Cotswold, and of coarser and smaller fleece, 

 may yet be advantageously kept for their 

 wool, notwithstanding its quality is rather 

 coarse. It appears, however, from all the 

 information on this subject, that the South- 

 down and Cotswold are much hardier, better 

 nurses of their lambs, require less attention 

 during winter, and will live on shorter pas- 

 ture in the summer. Tlie Merino and Saxon 

 sheep have often too much the same objection 

 as the Bakewell ; they are of rather weakly 

 constitutions, and not very good in rearing 

 their lambs. Some of the Southdown wool 

 is pretty fine and makes good cloth, and the 

 mutton is perhaps superior to all others, ex- 

 cepting some of the small Welsh breeds ; 

 their constitutions are strong, and they will 

 make a living in any situation : the Cots- 

 wolds too are equally hardy, but require 

 richer keep, their fleeces are heavy, and 

 their quarters have been known to reach 

 eighty pounds each, in England. Some of 

 the Southdown and Cotswold lambs have 

 weighed, at six months old, sixty pounds, 

 and when full-grown, two hundred and forty 



pounds. We subjoin a comparative state- 

 ment of the value of the different breeds of 

 sheep. 

 1st— Saxnn lambs, 6 months old, 181b. at 6 cts., $1 08 



Merino 20 1 20 



Bakewell 30 1 80 



Cotswold 60 3 60 



Southdown 50 3 00 



2i— Their Wool. 



Saxon fleece 3 lb. at 40 cts. 1 20 



Merino 3 31 93 



Bakewell 5 20 1 00 



Cotswold 10 o.'j 2 50 



Southdown 5 31 1 55 



3d — The Value of Sheep when full- groinn. 



Saxon slieep 50 lb. at 4 cts. 2 00 



Merino CO 2 40 



Bakewell 110 4 40 



Southdown 240 9 CO." 



But I find I have set myself a task which 

 I cannot accomplish ; it was my intention to 

 show that the account must be erroneous in 

 some particulars, but it is so egregious, that 

 it would be much better for the writer to 

 wipe all out and begin again ; he can cer- 

 tainly come nearer than that to the mark, if 

 he will try ; for what on earth could induce 

 him to think that the Bakewells could be ad- 

 vantageously kept for their wool, when he 

 admits they are more tender and weakly in 

 their constitution, coarser and lighter in their 

 fleece, worse nurses, requiring more atten- 

 tion during winter, and better pasture in the 

 summer than the Cotswold and Southdown ] 

 I should be glad to know if he have not at- 

 tributed to them every disqualification he can 

 possibly imagine. And if he is at all ac- 

 quainted with sheep of the Southdown breed, 

 he will find that their wool is not only pretty 

 fine, but very fine ; it being considered one 

 of the best native clothing wools of England, 

 and the writer himself puts it at the same 

 price as the Merino ! It is news also to hear 

 that the wool of the Cotswold is worth more 

 by five cents per pound than that of the Bake- 

 well. But when we find a Bakewell lamb 

 at six months old weighing only seven and a 

 half pounds per quarter, while the Southdown 

 lamb of the same age shall weigh twelve and 

 a half pounds, we certainly have a right to 

 ask the writer from whence he has collected 

 his information "! while a Cotswold lamb of 

 the same age, weighing fifteen pounds per 

 quarter, must be a rouser ! 



In the account of the value of the wool, 

 too, the fleece of a Bakewell is exactly the 

 same weight as that of a Southdown — no 

 more — pooh, pooh ! man, try again ! But in 

 the account of the value of the full-grown 

 sheep, the writer has gone the whole hog — 

 fleece and all — making the Bakewell to 

 weigh twenty-eight pounds per quarter, but 

 the Southdown sixty ! now, after that, he 

 may stop his hand ; the most fastidious of us 

 must be more than satisfied. And where did 

 he learn that the Cotswolds have been known 

 to weigh eighty pounds per quarter in Eng- 



