SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 127 



ESSEX. 



From the Report of the Committee. 



It would seem needless, at the present price of moat and 

 wool, for us to say anything to urge the farmers of Essex 

 County to keep sheep. We are satisfied that all who have kept 

 a flock as part of their stock are convinced that it is the best 

 paying of their farming operations in dollars and cents ; and 

 the profit does not stop here. Look over our pastures through 

 the length and breadth of the State — bushy, rocky, uneven and 

 hilly, most of them unfit for cultivation — and it would seem, 

 by the constant cropping they have sustained, that they have 

 nearly come to the end of their capacity to bear grass. In proof 

 of this we see the woods are taking possession of them in all 

 places remote from villages and dense populations. In the 

 older cleared portions, where there has been but a small 

 quantity of foreign manure applied, that is, manure not made 

 on the farm, it has become necessary to give milch cows ground 

 bones, or they become poor and stiff, and, in some instances, 

 have lost the use of their limbs beyond remedy. 

 ^ Many of the owners of these pastures have not the fertilizers 

 on hand, and are not able to procure them in sufticient quanti- 

 ties to make a permanent improvement on them. But we have 

 the lands. What is the remedy ? Nature, eVer kind, ever 

 faithful to herself, will restore them if we do not interfere, by a 

 growth of wood ; and we believe that sheep kept in these pas- 

 tures will do the same thing. The first process is a long one, 

 beyond the lives of one, perhaps of two generations. The 

 second is shorter, and the length will depend much on the 

 manner in which the flock is kept. We are quite sure lands 

 can be so restored, for the best of reasons, that we have seen 

 instances where it has been done. We think that the quickest 

 and most permanent method would be to stock the pastures 

 fully with sheep, and to feed the flock in addition with grain 

 or oil meal. If the pasture is fully stocked we are sure it will 

 be certain death to most bushes and briars which infest it. 



The question whether coarse or fine wool sheep are best 

 adapted to the county seems to be disputed, and it is probable 

 ever will be, considering the diversity in our soil and the differ- 

 ence in management of different individuals. It is contended 



