9 



ness but a nearer view reveals their power. It may be that the explanation is 

 that they are so perfectly put together. The two mares from the Allen farm 

 exhibited at the fair last year attracted great attention. These horses 

 are draft horses it is said; yes, but it is true also that our farm horses should 

 be' larger, not as large as those, clearly, but a cross between these and the native 

 stock, which will give us a larger breed with better dispositions and feet, greater 

 strength and endurance. The future farm horse will be more compactly built and 

 somewhat larger than those now in use. 



Nor is good breeding confined to the draft and farm horses alone in Berkshire 

 county. On the height west of the village of Lee lies the finest rolling farm in 

 America, seven hundred well drained acres. Here Hon. Elizur Smith has built up 

 one of the best breeding farms for trotting horses to be found in the world. 



At one time sheep raising was an important feature in the agricultural pursuits 

 of the county. It is difficult to find in the earlier years of your society's history 

 the exact number in the county. The native sheep are represented as of no dis- 

 tinct race but large, coarse boned, coarse wooled, with a clip of from three to four 

 pounds. They were hardy and bore the climate well. The merinos as imported 

 by Chancellor Livingston and exhibited by Mr. Watson in 1S07 "under the great 

 old elm'' in Pittsfield square, were larger than the Saxonys afterward introduced in 

 1829 and their wool was more suited to general use than the finer wool of the Sax- 

 onys. In 1840 the merinos were not of pure blood as when introduced (from 

 Spain) but jj and J and their clip averaged about three pounds. The Saxonys 

 were not so weli fitted for the market owing to inferiority of size and the demand 

 in 1840 was not so great for the fine wool as for that of a medium quality. The 

 Saxonys, too, were tender and could not bear the climate as well. When the finest 

 Saxony wool brought eighty cents the merino brought from fifty to sixty cents. In 

 1S40 the Dishley or Bakely sheep were beautiful, large and symmetrical, their 

 wool long and adapted for spinning into worsted, with an average clip of six to sev- 

 en pounds, but they were tender and required great care. The South Downs were 

 hardly introduced in 1840. It is fair to presume that previous to 1S10 the sheep 

 were very few. Enough were found, however, to supply mutton for the table and 

 wool for the domestic looms. They increased until about 1837 when they de- 

 clined rapidly. In 1838 Henry Coleman, Commissioner for the agricultural sur- 

 vey of the state, says, in speaking of the dairy business of Berkshire: "For a time 

 it gave way to the raising of fine wool, when the prices of that staple were high. 

 Since the abatement of the demand for wool, with that caprice for which man- 

 kind always have been, and there is reason to believe always will be remarkable, 

 many farmers have sacrificed their flocks, and are giving their exclusive attention to 

 the dairy business.'' The decline of sheep raising in Berkshire since 1840 is illus- 

 trated by the United States census. In 1840 there were 133,942; in 1850, 70,233; 

 i860, 41,316; 1870, 27,195; 1880, 22,802. 



The reasons assigned for the falling off are said to be, that sheep required barn 

 shelter about five months in the year. That the losses by indiscreet or negligent 

 management were very great. That the severe weather affected the quality of the 

 wool. Thai the foot disease discouraged many. That foreign wool coming from 

 where labor was cheaper was bought by the manufacturers. That with the growth of 



