SAXON SHEEP. 89 



cloths are unrivalled in strength, the brilliancy and perma- 

 nency of their dyes. 



The following Report relative to the introduction of the 

 Saxon Merinos into the United States, was drawn by Mr. 

 Grove, and read before the annual meeting of the New York 

 State Agricultural Society, in 1838, and which will be found 

 in the 1st volume of Transactions of the Society : — 



" The first importation of Saxony sheep into the United 

 States was made by Mr. Samuel Henshaw,* a merchant of 

 Boston, at the instance of Col. James Shepherd, of North- 

 hampton. They were but six or seven in number. In 1824, 

 Messrs. G. and T. Searle, of Boston, imported 77 Saxon 

 sheep. They were selected and purchased by a Mr. Kretch- 

 man, a correspondent of the above firm, residing in Leipsic, 

 and shipped at Bremen on board the American schooner 

 Velocity. I was engaged to take charge of the sheep on 

 the passage, and I also shipped six on my own account. I 

 am sorry to say, that as many as one-third of the sheep pur- 

 chased by Kretchman (who shared profit and loss in the un- 

 dertaking) were not pure-blooded sheep. The cargo were 

 sold at auction at Brookline, as ' pure-blooded Electoral 

 Saxons,' and thus unfortunately in the very outset the pure 

 and impure became irrevocably mixed. But I feel the great- 

 est certainty that the Messrs. Searle intended to import none 

 but the pure stock ; the fault lay with Kretchman. In the 

 fall of 1824, I entered into an arrangement with the Messrs. 

 Searle to return to Saxony, and purchase, in connection with 

 Kretchman, from 160 to 200 Electoral sheep. I was de- 

 tained at sea seven weeks, which gave rise to the belief that 

 I was shipwrecked and lost. When I finally arrived, the 

 sheep had been already bought by Kretchman. On being 

 informed of what the purchase consisted, I protested against 

 taking them to America, and insisted on a better selection, 

 but to no purpose. 



"The number shipped was 167, 15 of which perished on 

 the passage. They were sold at Brighton, some of them 

 going as high as from 400 to 450 dollars. A portion of this 

 importation consisted of grade sheep, which sold as high as 

 the pure bloods, for the American purchaser could not know 

 the difference. It may be readily imagined what an induce- 

 ment the Brighton sale held out to speculation, both in this 



» American Agriculturist ; the name was left blank in the Report. 

 8* 



