1854. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



221 



ELEVENTH AGRICULTURAL MEET- 

 ING, 



At the State House, Tuesday Evesixg, March 28, 1854 



Subject, — Sheep — can they be advantageously 

 kept on our farms? If so, tckat are the best kinds 

 for this purpose ? # 



The meeting was called to order by Mr. Sprague, 

 of Duxbury, and Mr. II.vrvev Dodge, of Sutton, 

 was called on to preside. 



Mr. Howard, of the Cultivator, ^Yas called on 

 by the Chairman to open the discussion. Mr. 

 Howard said he considered the matter of keeping 

 sheep one of the most important subjects which 

 had been discussed here this winter. We keep 

 live stock in this section of the country as a mat 

 ter of necessity, as a general thing in order to 

 procure our milk, butter, cheese, &c. ; but if stock 

 is to be kept to turn off from our farms in the 

 shape of meat, there are some sections where sheej 

 can be made "more profitable than any other live 

 stock, for this reason — they can live where other 

 animals cannot ; they can live on jtnnr- ooll, of 

 whigh we hare large quantities. On such lands 

 mutton can be made cheaper than beef. Our sit- 

 uation is approximating continually to that of 

 the old countries in Europe, our population is 

 increasing in numbers and density, and it is an 

 important question how it can be fed. In Eng' 

 land, the best mode of accomplishing this oliject 

 absorbs the attention of tlie farmers, and they 

 keep a great number of sheep. Mutton is eaten 

 there in large quantities ; and it is eaten more 

 in this country than formerly. Therefore the ob- 

 ject with us in Massachusetts, is rather to raise 

 mutton than wool. As to varieties, it is uncer- 

 tain .which is most profitable, but considering the 

 great demand for meat, some of tlie English mut- 

 ton breeds would be more profitable than the Span- 

 ish breeds. Of the English varieties, the Leices- 

 ter, South Down and Cottswold are the best. The 

 Leicesters havd" demonstrated a very important 

 point — tlie production of a well-defined and estab 

 lished breed, by crossing, and they improve every 

 other long-haired breed in England or Europe. 

 The Cottswold are derived from the Leicester, are 

 larger tiian tlie latter, have more andlonger wool, 

 and have a hardy nature, but are longer in arriv 

 ing at maturity, and have more lean than fat meat 

 The South Downs, as they exist in this country, 

 are a somewliat artificial animal. They are a 

 close wool sheep, of comparatively small size, ac 

 tive, will graze on short pastures where larger an- 

 imals would hardly live, and are remarkable for 

 the richness of their meat. There is an improved 

 South Down breed, which does not mature quite 

 SO early as the Leicester — perhaps it is a year long- 

 er in maturing. In the English markets it brings 

 two cents a pound more tlian any other kind of 

 mutton. In time it may be made as profitable 

 here. It is not so active as the old South Down, 



and perhaps the quality of the meat has deterio- 

 rated a little, still, it is far superior to any other 

 kind of sheep. The Spanish sheep, as a variety 

 for wool, are unquestionably the most profitable 

 we have any account of in the world. When 

 properly bred, they become as hiirdy as native 

 sheep. They are not so good mutton sheep, either 

 in quality or in tendency to fatten, as the other 

 varieties mentioned ; but there is no sheep that 

 will produce so many pounds of wool in propor- 

 tion to the weight of the carcass, as the Spanish 

 Merino. It is an original breed, and there is good 

 reason to believe that it is the same variety which 

 was fostered by the agriculturists of Rome. 

 Within the last hundred years several branch 

 breeds have sprung from it. First, the Saxony, 

 which has a vei-y fine wool. Another is the French 

 Merino, a mixture of three or four Spanish varie- 

 ties, but very uncertain in its progeny. A hand- 

 some, compact ewe will perhaps turn out a l.nm>>, 

 the very opcositp -f -I'^t is aesircd. They have 

 Deen introduced into this country as a matter of 

 speculation, which has turned out very profitably 

 for the speculators, but whether to the benefit of 

 the farmer, is another question. The speaker 

 was not cognizant of any systematic experiments 

 with this breed, but has been informed by a per- 

 son who had compared them with the old Span- 

 ish stock, that they were less profitable. Anoth- 

 er variey is called the Silesian, which is larger in 

 size than the best Merinos of Vermont, but of re- 

 markable symmetry and beauty, with the thickest 

 and evenest fleeces, second only in quality to the 

 Saxony. It is said they turn off the largest 

 amount of wool in proportion to the carcass, of 

 any variety. They are worthy of further trial. 

 We see in all this, the necessity of experiment in 

 regard to breeds, in order to give the farmer accu- 

 rate knowledge in regard to the best varieties for 

 his use. 



Mr. Flint, Secretary of the Board of Agricul- 

 ture mentioned a variety called the Oxfordshire 

 Downs, produced by judicious crossing, by an Eng- 

 lish gentleman. Tlie cross is Leicester and Cotta- 

 wold. They are of very handsome form, and prom- 

 ise to liecome a valuable variety. Wool, he fur- 

 ther remarked, can be raised cheaper at the West, 

 where the flocks have vast prairies to roam over, 

 than it can here, and our farmers cannot compote 

 on this article, while in raising mutton for the 

 market we have the advantage. Therefore it is 

 now the object to raise the latter. For this pur- 

 pose the South Down and crosses are probably the 



best. 



Col. Newell, of Essex, said he had seen some 

 of the Oxfordshire Downs, wiiich were in the pos- 

 session of Mr. Fay, of Lynn. They are very su- 

 perior sheep, and Mr. Fay, considers them prefer- 

 alile to any other variety. They are a cross of the 

 Leicester and South Downs. The speaker said 



