216 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



use. IIow then shall tliese pastures be reclaimed ? It is 

 claimed that sheep will renovate them. They readily feed, too, 

 upon many of those grasses and low bushes that neat stock 

 reject, which have crept into our pastures, and which cannot 

 be extirpated. 



It has been asserted — and we have no reason to doubt the 

 fact — that to a pasture that will keep a given numl)cr of cows, 

 as many sheep may be added without impairing its fertility. 

 And as six sheep require about the same amount of food as a 

 cow, per day, — or two and a half and three per cent, of their 

 weight, — it will be seen that a farmer can pasture a few sheep 

 with his neat stock, with little or no added expense, and at the 

 same time increase the fertility of the land. By stabling our 

 dairy cows at night, as is tlie general custom, our pastures are 

 becoming rapidly exhausted. 



From the testimony of those who have gone extensively into 

 this l)ranch of husbandry, particularly those in the Valley of 

 the Connecticut, and in Essex County, no stock pays a better 

 profit than sheep ; and it will not be claimed that any portion 

 of the Commonwcallh is better adapted to sheep-growing than 

 Worcester County. 



In England, where lands are of much higher value than 

 with us, and mutton and wool bring about the same price as 

 here, sheep-growing is an important branch of production, and 

 is regarded as profitable. In the selection of breeds, regard 

 should be had to the value of the wool, and the weight and 

 quality of carcass. 



A. G. Hill, Chairman. 



. HAMPSHIRE, FRANKLIN AND HAMPDEN. 



Report of the Committee. 



In attempting to make a report upon sheep, your committee 

 are aware that in some respects they are travelling a beaten 

 path, and that they are, on the contrary, to seek for truth 

 among the conflicting statements of interested parties, and 

 unsettled opinions of inidecided experimenters. 



The first inquiry that presents itself to the person who essays 

 to buy a flock of sheep, is, will it pay ? On this point there is 

 the unanimous opinion of all parties that it will. So far as 



