5 8 Essay on Sheep. 



describes as being very large and well formed, 

 parrying wool of great length, but of a coarse 

 staple. This stock, intermixed with the Bake- 

 well, are the source from which the fine Arling- 

 ton sheep are derived ; some of which, he says,= 

 carry wool fourteen inches in length, and are 

 formed upon the Bake well model. I have never 

 seen these sheep, but from Mr. Custis's descrip- 

 tion, and from the produce of the wool at the 

 public shearings, I have no doubt that they are 

 a valuable race, and such as merit the attention 

 of those whose farms yield a good rich bite of 

 grass; for upon any other I would never recom- 

 mend long-woolled sheep. The sample of wool 

 which Mr. Custis sent me from this stock pos- 

 sessed every ingredient which is esteemed in 

 combiiig wool. It was fine for the sort, soft, 

 silky, and beautifully white. It is admirably 

 calculated for hose, camblets, serges, and other 

 fine worsted fabricks; and it would be a pity to 

 see It diverted to any other objects, or to the 

 making of fine cloths, for which it appears to 

 me less adapted. It is, however, matter of 

 surprise, that a Persian ram should be the pa- 

 rent stock from which this valuable breed is 

 derived. The wool of Persia has always been 

 considered as among the finest in tlic world; 

 the white sells nearly upon a par with that of 



