120 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



On the Western prairies, where a man has acres on acres more 

 than he can cultivate, a large flock of sheep will bring him a 

 good return. In fact, all that he gets from them is clear gain. 

 So among the Granite Hills, where rocks and boulders, and 

 abrupt sides make land unfit for meadow or tillage, there sheep 

 in large numbers will be profitable. Not so with us. There 

 was a time when sheep raising was worth pursuing in Nantucket. 

 When the flocks could wander over fifteen thousand acres of 

 tolerable pasture, worth to the owners a mere song ; before 

 malice and all uncharitableness had swept the commons through 

 that " dog-in-the-manger spirit " which is at times found among 

 bad men ; before brother had commenced war on brother, and 

 the spirit of Cain had begun a warfare on our flocks, then the 

 fifteen thousand acres would feed their fifteen thousand sheep 

 (only then one sheep to an acre,') and what return was made 

 was a clear profit. 



Well now, if we come to the conclusion that we should keep 

 a few sheep, the question arises as to what kinds. As with cows, 

 so with sheep ; no farmer can afford to keep any kind but the 

 best. That is, best for the farmer, looking at all sides of the 

 account. Once, the flesh of sheep was a secondary matter. 

 Wool was the leading element. Within twenty years thousands 

 of sheep have been slaughtered for little more than the value of 

 their pelts. Merinos and Saxonies were then the rage. But 

 mutton is now of value. Therefore the farmer should now look 

 for a kind of sheep that would produce the most value, taking 

 wool and mutton both into the account. The sheep best fitted 

 for our soil and climate and for profit is the Southdown. No 

 sheep now commonly reared, will produce upon a given quantity 

 of feed so much wool, so good wool, so much mutton, so good 

 mutton, so many lambs and so hardy lambs as the Southdown. 

 The sooner you get these pure, the better for the purse. The 

 Southdown sheep and Ayrshire cow are the farmer's hand- 

 maidens. The Merinos are too tender, and the carcase almost 

 worthless. The Cotswolds are too coarse both in wool and mut- 

 ton, and so are the Leicesters. Five Leicesters or six Merinos 

 eat about as much as a cow, and as much as eight or nine 

 Southdowns. The Southdown, for flavor of the mutton, is far 

 ahead of any other known variety. 



