178 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



The following history of the introduction of the Saxons iiito the United 

 States, was compiled by me from wiitten memoranda, and the oral state- 

 ments of Mr. Grove, submitted to the Committee of New- York State Ag- 

 ricultural Society, already alluded to, of which I was Chairman, and was 

 published in my Report, credited, of course, to Mr. Grove individually, as 

 no other member of the Committee was conversant with the facts nar- 

 rated.* 



" The first importation of Saxony sheep into the United Statei? was made by Mr. Samuel 

 Henshaw, a merchant of Boston, at the instance of Col. James Shepherd, of Northampton. 

 They were but six or seven in number. In 1824, Messrs. G. &. T. Searle, of Boston, import- 

 ed 77 Saxon sheep. They were selected and purchased by a Mr. Kretchman, a correspond- 

 ent of the above firm, residing in Leipsic, and shipped at Bremen on board the American 

 schooner Velocity. I was engaged to take charge of the sheej? on the passage, and I also 

 shipped six on my own account. I am sorry to say that as many as one-third of the sheep 

 purchased by Kretchman, (vi-ho shared profit and loss in the undertaking,) were not pure- 

 blooded sheep. The cargo were sold at auction at Brooklyn, as ' pure-blooded electoral Sax- 

 ons,' and thus unfortunately in the very outset the pure and impure became irrevocably mix- 

 ed. But I feel the greatest certainty that the Messrs. Searle intended to import none but 

 the pure stock — the fault lay with Kretchman. In the iiiU of 1824, 1 entered into an arrange- 

 ment with the Messrs. Searle to return to Saxony, and purchase in connection with Kretch- 

 man, from 160 to 200 Electoral sheep. I was detained at sea seven weeks, which gave rise 

 to the belief that I was shipwrecked and lost. When I finally arrived, the sheep had been al- 

 ready bought by Kretchman. On being informed of what the purchase consisted, I protested 

 against taking them to America, and insisted on a better selection, but to no jjurpose. A 

 quarrel ensued between us, and Ki'ctchman even went so far as to engage another to take 

 charge of the sheep on their passage. My friends interposing, I was finally induced to take 

 charge of them. The number shipped was 167, 15 of which perished on the passage. They 

 were sold at Brighton, some of them going as high as from $400 to $450. A poition of this 

 importation consisted of gi'aile sheep, which sold as high as the pure-bloods, for the Ameri- 

 can purchasers could not know the difference. It may be readily imagined what an induce- 

 ment the Brighton sale held out to speculation, both in this country and Saxony. The Ger- 

 man newspapers teemed with advertisements of sheep for sale, headed ' Good for the Ameri- 

 can Market ;' and these sheeji, in many instances, were actually bought up for tlie American 

 market at five, eight or ten dollars a head, when tlie pure-bloods could not be jiurchased at 

 from less than $30 to $40. In 1836, Messrs. Searle imported three cargoes, amountnig in the ag- 

 gregate to 513 sheep. Tliey were of about the same cliaracter with their prior importations, in 

 the mam good, but mixed with some grade sheep. On the same year a cargo of 221 arrived, on 

 German account, Emil Bach, of Leipsic, supercargo. A few were good sheep and of pure blood ; 

 but taken as a lot they were miserable. Tlie owners sunk about $3,000. Next came a cargo 

 of 210 on German account; Wasrauss and Multer, owners. The whole cost of these was 

 about $1,125, in Germany. With the exception of a small number, procured to make a 

 flourish on, in their advertisem.ents of sale they were sheep having no pretensions to purity 

 of blood. In 1827, the same individuals brought out another cargo. These were selected 

 exclusively from grade flocks of low character. On the same year the Messrs. Searle made 

 their last importation, consisting of 182 sheep. Of these I know little. My friends in Ger- 

 many WTote me that they were like their other importations, a mixture of j^ure and impure 

 blooded sheep. It is due, however, to the Messrs. Seale to say that, as a whole, then- im- 

 portations were much better than any other made into Boston. 



" I will now turn your attention to the importations made into other ports. In 1825, 13 

 Saxons arrived in Portsmouth. They were miserable creatin-es. In 1826, 191 sheep arrived 

 in New- York, per brig ^Villiam, on German account. A portion of these were well descend- 

 ed and valuable animals, the rest were grade sheep. In June the same year, the brig Lou- 

 isa brought out 173 on German account. Not more than one-third of them had the least pre- 

 tensions to purity of blood. Next we find 158, shipped at Bremen, on German account. — 

 Some were diseased before they left Bremen, and I am happy to state that twenty-two died 

 before their arrival in New-York. All I intend to say of them is, that they were a most cu- 

 rious and motley mess of wretched animals. The next cargo imported arrived in the brig 

 Maria Elizabeth, under my own care. They were 165 in number, belonging to myself and 

 F. Gebhard, of New-York. These sheep cost me $65 a head when landed in New- York. — 

 They sold at an average of $50 a head, thus sinking about $2,400 ! I need not say that they 

 were exclusively of pure blood. A cargo of 81 arrived soon after, but I know nothing of 

 their qualitj'. The ne.xt importation consisted of 184, on German account, per brig Warren. 

 With a few exceptions they were pure-blooded and good sheep. We next have an importa- 

 tion of 200 by the Bremen ship Louisa. They were commonly called the ' stop sale sheep. 



* Mr. Morrel in his American Shepherd, quotes this as a " Report " drawn and read by Mr. Grove, (one is 

 left to infer,) before the New-York State Agricultural Society. This is doubtless an inadvertance. 

 (370) 



