SHEEP. 203 



in large flocks nor find their own support, and arc therefore 

 better suited to the riclier land and smaller farms in the more 

 populous countries, where more attention can be given to them 

 and the mutton at once turned into the markets. 



For the farmer in Hingham, the Merino sheep would not be 

 economical, being valuable chiefly for their fine wool. The 

 South Downs, on the contrary, could be reared with profit for 

 the fine quality of mutton they produce, and for the improve- 

 ment of our home stock, and for exportation, as well as for 

 their fine wool. The Leicesters, with their heavier fleece and 

 carcass, combine, as much as any single breed, the advantages 

 of wool and mutton, and would, no doubt, be a good breed for 

 the farmers in this neighborhood to raise. The later importa- 

 tions into this country, the long-wooUed Cotswolds and Cheviots, 

 have each their respective merits, and are valuable, but our 

 experience with these breeds is as yet more limited. Theoret- 

 ically, we should of course cultivate the pure bloods, but for 

 general purposes in this, market, for the size of the lambs 

 dropped, and the weight of the fleeces sheared, both taken into 

 consideration, a flock of Canada sheep will yield perhaps the 

 Isirgest pecuniary returns to the farmer to-day. And it is with 

 this view that the Committee this year, as in years past, have 

 awarded the premiums. Believing fully in the merits of the 

 South Down breed, they find that, as a means of support to the 

 Hingham farmer, more profit can be made from a flock of 

 Canada sheep than from a flock of pure South Downs. The 

 experience of many, however, has proved that the most profit 

 can be realized from a flock of Canada sheep, crossed by a full- 

 blood South Down buck. 



"Whatever breed we keep, there can at least be no excuse for 

 neglect in the management and care of the animals themselves. 

 Our pastures are all near home, and afford good feed in 

 ordinary seasons ; our flocks are small, and each animal can 

 receive our individual attention if necessary ; if we lose one, 

 we can easily leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and 

 go after that which is lost, until we find it. All our sheep 

 therefore should be in good condition. It is true, we cannot 

 protect them entirely from the ravages of dogs, which in some 

 parts of the country have been so extensive. It has been esti- 

 mated that throughout the United States we annually suffer a 



