74 Essai/ on Sheep, 



rams, to attaining more blood at the expense of 

 size and beauty; for though size maybe in itself 

 of minor importance; yet if you afterwards at- 

 tempt to increase it by larger rams, you will 

 find some difficulty in doing it when your stock 

 of ewes are small. They will lamb with more 

 difficulty, and afford less milk in proportion to 

 the size of their lambs. Beauty of form is 

 always to be considered ; for the best formed 

 sheep are generally the most thrifty. Such a 

 ram, with the ewes I have described, will give 

 you one-fourth breed lambs, who will carry at 

 least one-fourth more wool than your old stock; 

 and this wool will not be worth less than fifty- 

 six cents the pound, if that of the ewes sold at 

 thirty-seven cents. The quality and quantity 

 of the wool taken together will nearly double 

 the value of your fleeces in the first generation. 

 Now let us see at what expense this advantage 

 is purchased. The ram we will say cost twelve 

 dollars. The first year he will give you, if well 

 kept, and not exhausted by too many ewes, five 

 pounds of wool, worth one dollar per pound as 

 wool now sells; charge his keeping at one dol- 

 lar and fifty cents — clear profit, three dollars and 

 fifty cents, that is, ^^ per cent, on his original 

 cost; so that instead of paying any thing for a 

 ram which shall double the value of your flock, 



