Essay on Sheep. — Appeyidiv. 183 



The following table, designating the time 

 that it will take to form a Merino flock from 

 one hundred common ewes, has been compos- 

 ed and transmitted to me by Simeon De Witt, 

 Esq. Surveyor- Generall of the State, since this 

 essay went to the press. It is very ingenious, 

 and carries with it such a strong conviction of 

 the practicability of changing the whole stock 

 of the State into Merino sheep in the course of a 

 very few years, that I am sure my readers will 

 examine it with pleasure. One reflection will 

 occur, to wit, that it supposes the ewes of the 

 first year to breed. This will happen if they 

 eome early and are well kept; if otherwise, 

 many of them will not drop lambs the first year, 

 and indeed many good farmers are of opinion 

 that they should not take the ram till they are 

 eighteen months old. The table furnishes the 

 means of calculating the stock of full-blood at 

 the end of eight years in either case. Mr. Dc 

 Witt also supposes only eighty lambs from one 

 hundred ewes, though in general there will be 

 one hundred lambs raised from that number of 

 ewes, if they are properly kept; the double 

 lambs making up for those that are lost. It 

 would be curious to follow it through all its ra- 

 mifications, and state the number of Merinoes 



