112 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



winter. Whenever a sheep is allowed to lose condition there is 

 a serious defect in the wool ; hence the reason why sheep, when 

 once fat, should never be allowed to grow poor, but whether 

 ewes or wethers when once fat should be sold to the butcher. 



The increase in the production of mousseline de laines 

 causes an increased demand for another kind of wool, which, in 

 some sections of Worcester County is produced very successfully, 

 and not surpassed even in Great Britain. The Southdown and 

 Merino cross produces an excellent wool for this purpose, and 

 we have seen good wool produced from a cross with the Merino 

 and Leicester, and Merino and Cotswold, and from these crosses 

 we have seen excellent mutton and very good lambs produced, 

 and we know of a great many instances where they have been 

 exceedingly profitable to the farmer. 



The increase in our woollen manufactories requires an increased 

 production of the pure-bred Merino, and when there is no 

 market for mutton it is the most profitable sheep raised ; it is 

 the wool-producing sheep, and our vast prairies should be 

 pastured by the sheep in place of the deer and buffalo. 



Though there are but few specimens of pure-breeds exhibited, 

 yet the different kinds of wool which our exigencies require 

 have been well represented in the different animals which have 

 competed for the prizes. Mr. F. M. Wood, of Grafton, exhibited 

 some pure-bred Merinos. His were the only specimens upon 

 the ground, and although we would give the preference to the 

 Merino in all those localities where there is a market for wool 

 only, yet it is our opinion that where there is such a good 

 market for mutton and lambs,- and such an increasing demand 

 for long wool, the mutton breeds are the kinds which ought to 

 be kept in Worcester County. The Merino matures slowly and 

 produces small lambs, and converts a large amount of its food 

 into grease and black gum, while the mutton breeds convert the 

 same food into mutton. The unwashed Merino fleece will 

 shrink in cleansing and preparing for the cards from 65 to 80 

 per cent., the Cotswold from 18 to 30 per cent. ; and though we 

 do not claim that the mutton breeds will produce a greater 

 weight of wool in proportion to weight of carcase, we do claim 

 that the mutton breeds will produce a greater weight of mutton 

 and wool in proportion to the quantity of food consumed than 

 the Merino. Thomas Whitaker, Chairman. 



