THE DELAINE MERINO 



359 



Mr. Dickinson, and later went into the service of Mr. Hildebrand. 

 A part of his remuneration was to be " a selection of the best 

 two ewe lambs and the second-best ram lamb of the last crop of 

 lambs bred by Mr. Dickinson, descended from the select Hum- 

 phreys flock and sired by Bolivar." These lambs, according to 

 Mr. McDowell, were the foundation stock of the Dickinson Me- 

 rinos, and the McDowell family of Stark County, Ohio, notably 

 H. G. McDowell, has been the leading improver of this variety. 



Characteristics of Dickinson Delaines. The standard of excel- 

 lence of the Dickinson Merino Association specifies that this 

 sheep shall have a deep, round, wide, and long body, showing 

 mutton capacity, carrying heavy, thick flesh, the top and under 

 lines being straight, and the skin smooth, pink, and well filled out, 

 being free of folds. The head may have small horns, but a polled 

 head is preferred ; the nose is covered with fine white hairs, and 

 the ears are small and also covered with silky hairs. The fleece 

 extends over the body excepting the lower part of the nose, the 

 legs also being wooled to the toes. The fleece should be from 

 three to five inches long, of a quality graded as XX or XXX 

 fine Delaine combing. Rams should shear 15 to 25 pounds and 

 ewes 10 to 15 pounds unwashed wool. The fleece is not so oily 

 as that of some of the Merinos, but carries enough oil for good 

 quality. The size of the Dickinson Delaine runs large, the 

 standard for mature rams being 200 pounds, and for ewes 150 

 pounds. The mutton qualities of this family have been especially 

 looked to by the breeders, so that they rank well in this respect. 

 Wonderful, one of the best-known Dickinson rams, bred by 

 H. G. McDowell, weighed 200 pounds when two years old and 

 his second fleece weighed 26 pounds. 



The National Delaine. About 1820 Mr. R. W. Meade, at one 

 time Minister to Spain, imported some Merinos to this country. 

 Most of these sheep were taken to the farm of Alexander Wilson 

 near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1821 or thereabouts Alex- 

 ander Reed of Washington County, Pennsylvania, purchased 

 these Meade sheep as well as other Merinos and placed them on 

 his farm. From this Meade importation the Delaine type was 

 first developed, tracing back to Reed stock ; but the family was 

 mainly established through the careful breeding operations of 



