208 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



them a small quantity of beans or corn daily, they can be 

 wintered well, and if the lambs are sold early, they will recruit 

 before winter, even if they are required to feed our pastures 

 closely. 



There were but two entries for tlie premiums offered for 

 sheep — Richard S. Fay, of Lynn, and Jacob Farnham, of North 

 Andover. The committee were unanimous in awarding to Mr. 

 Fay the first premium of ten dollars, for his flock of Oxford 

 Down ewes. Mr. Farnham exhibited a lot of grade South 

 Downs. Some of them were good, but the committee thought, 

 as a whole, they were not worthy of the second premium. On 

 some of them we noticed the marks and galls of the fetters. 

 We cannot expect sheep to look well if they are kept fettered ; in 

 the words of one who has written much upon sheep husbandry, 

 we would say, that " fettering may be done, as a last resort, by 

 those improvident farmers who prefer, by such troublesome, 

 injurious, and at best, insecure means, to guard against tliat 

 viciousness which they might so much more easily li^vc 

 prevented from being acquired." 



The chairman would say, if he had been called upon to 

 express an opinion, it would have been in preference to Mr. 

 Fay's Oxford Down, but the committee, on whose judgment 

 we could rely, thought that tlie Cotswold buck was the best 

 suited to the wants of this county. It cannot be expected of 

 us to act very wisely upon a subject of which we have had so 

 little practical experience. Mr. Fay's animal received a prize 

 in England, where he had to contend with the best bucks in the 

 kingdom. This is not the first time that an Englishman has 

 been beaten by a Yankee. If we have erred in judgment, 

 time alone can tell which is the best animal for our own wants. 

 If at our shows the progeny of the Oxford Downs shall be 

 better than that of the Cotswold, the committee will most cheer- 

 fully acknowledge that they were mistaken. In order to" test the 

 matter, we hope to see in the offer for premiums next year, a 

 premium for the best lot of lambs, not less than four in 

 number, not less than four, nor over eight months old. 



"We extract the following from Spooner, an English writer: — 

 " The Cotswold is a large breed of sheep, with a long and abun- 

 dant fleece, and the ewes arc very prolific, and good nurses. 

 The superior hardihood of the improved Cotswold, their adap- 



