APPENDIX. 431 



yard. We oftentimes raise 94 to 98 lambs from an Imndred ewes. 

 The price of pure Saxony ewes varies from two to four dollars. 

 There are no diseases among sheep at present in this quarter, ex- 

 cept perhaps some cases of foot-rot. The best remedy for this 

 disease is, first, paring the hoofs closely, and then apply a wash 

 composed of the following ingredients : say, 4 oz. blue vitriol, 2 

 oz. verdigris to a junk bottle of urine. This is " sure fire." 



I have no means of ascertaining accurately the amount of hay 

 necessary for 100 sheep during the winter; I should think at 

 least 12 or 13 tons. We are in the habit of dipping our sheep in 

 a strong decoction of tobacco, immediately after shearing, for the 

 purpose of destroying ticks. We give salt weekly, but never feed 

 tar. 



[The feeding-racks of Mr. Grant conform to the cut Fig. 2, 

 to whom, with Mr. Hodskins, the writer is indebted for the de- 

 sign.] 



At the time Searle and KJratzman imported their sheep, some- 

 thing hke 1000 of the very best grades were selected in Gennany, 

 and from this lot about 150 again selected and reserved for them- 

 selves, being the cream of the entire flock. This last very supe- 

 rior lot were given into my hands to keep, and eventually became 

 mine. 



LETTER FROM JACOB N. BLAKESLEE, OF WATERTOWN, LITCH- 

 FIELD COUNTY, CONN. 



Dear Sir, — Your favor has been received, in which you ex- 

 press a wish to know the pedigree of my flock of Merinos, and 

 some particulars as to my mode of management. In reference to 

 pedigree, I must refer you to a statement of mine on the subject, 

 and published in the Nov. number of the Albany Cultivator of 

 1844. [The following is an extract :] "My pure bloods are the 

 offspring of some of the first that ever came into the United States, 

 brought into the country by David Humphreys in 1802, which were 

 a present to his wife by her father. After a few years, two pairs 

 of them were purchased by Daniel Bacon, of Woodbury, Litch- 

 field county. They were kept in their pure state till 1811. There 

 was then an importation of the Guadaloupe sheep by a company 

 formed in Litchfield county ; John De Forest, supercargo. They 

 arrived at New Haven, and were sold at auction, Jan. 17, 1811. 

 There was one full-blooded Escurial buck, which was purchased 

 by Daniel Bacon at S275, and was crossed upon those sheep that 

 came by the way of Mrs. Humphreys. He continued this cross 

 rill 1816 or 1817, when he sold his Escurial buck to Wilham K. 

 Lampson for $1,130. He kept his sheep pure till the introduc- 

 tion of Saxony sheep. He then sold the remainder of his flock to 

 Daniel Martin. I began a flock of sheep in 1815, that were im- 



