SHEEP. 205 



woolled sheep, and entered into the merino speculation, with the 

 belief that they would soon make an ample fortune by it ; but 

 the diseases which many of them contracted on the voyage from 

 Europe to this country, and the larger number that were kept 

 together, caused many of them to die, and the public soon came 

 to the conclusion that they were not adapted to our climate ; 

 and those sheep which but a short time previous had been 

 bought at one thousand or fourteen hundred dollars per head, 

 either died or were sold for a trifle. 



Hon. William Jarvis, of Weathersfield, Vermont, when he 

 was American Consul at Lisbon, sent home large flocks in 1809, 

 1810 and 1811. When it was established, by actual experi- 

 ment, that their wool did not deteriorate, they again rose in 

 favor, and it was soon found that they could be easily acclimated 

 here. At this time the Essex Merino Sheep Company was 

 formed, and imported largely, and rented farms in various 

 parts of the county and placed them under the care of shep- 

 herds from Spain ; but, unfortunately, they brought with them 

 the foot-rot and the scab ; and the ignorance of some of their 

 agents, and the dishonesty of others, soon involved the com- 

 pany, and it was not long before they lost most of their flocks 

 and all of their capital stock. 



The prostration of our woollen manufactures, which took 

 place soon after the restoration of peace with England, rendered 

 the merino of little value, and many who had invested largely, 

 in them were ruined. 



Although various other causes may have operated to lessen 

 the number of sheep kept in the county, the more important 

 inquiry now is, whether it is the part of good husbandry for 

 the farmers of this county to keep sheep ? One fact meets us 

 at the outset of this inquiry, which is, as the sheep have 

 decreased, our pastures have deteriorated. How far this has 

 been owing to devoting them exclusively to dairy purposes, it 

 may not be easy to determine, but we know that it is one of 

 the inevitable results, that if we continue to take from the soil, 

 year after year, the same ingredients, without in some way 

 restoring them, we shall sooner or later exhaust it. 



Whatever may have been the cause, we know that our pas- 

 tures are covered with moss, bushes and briars ; and the walls 

 thereof, if not broken down, are so settled and crooked, that 



