SHEEP. 359 



SHEEP. 



ESSEX. 



Report of the Committee. 



There were three entries of sheep, two of which only were 

 for premium. A lot of Chinese lambs were presented for 

 exhibition by Wm. and T. Johnson, of North Andovcr. They 

 were dropped on board the ship Fleetwood, on her passage 

 home from Shanghae, when seventy days at sea. These lambs 

 evidently have no relationship to either of the varieties of fat- 

 rnmped sheep which prevail in China, but belong to a class of 

 sheep smaller in size, lighter in carcass, shorter in the leg, and 

 more European in character. They produce a tolerably fine, 

 and in that country very useful, long wool. The committee 

 saw nothing in them to recommend above our own sheep. 

 They are peculiar for their fecundity; but, in a country where 

 sheep are generally so poorly fed that they are hardly able to 

 mature one fat lamb, this may be an objection rather than a 

 recommendation. 



A buck and ewe, (imported from Seville in 1853,) with twin 

 lambs and a pair of twin cossets of the same breed, were pre- 

 sented for premium by Jarvis Slade, of North Andover. These 

 belong to the division of Spanish sheep termed stationary, and 

 are of the Chunab breed, entirely different and distinct from 

 the merino. In fact they are their antipodes — being taller, 

 larger, with heads smaller and free of wool. The staple of 

 their wool, indeed, approaches very near to hair, being six or 

 eight inches in length, almost devoid of curve, and consequently 

 of very inferior quality. This breed of sheep exists along 

 with the merino throughout the entire extent of Spain, but has 

 never been introduced either into England or the United States, 

 except as an object of curiosity. Being regarded by the com- 

 mittee in that light, and not as a breed profitable to be adopted, 

 they do not recommend them as entitled to a premium. The 

 owner, however, should have the thanks of the society for 

 adding so much to the interest of the show. 



The other lot of sheep (a buck and ten ewes) were pre- 



