27 



exhibitors, eveu where a critical judge would feel compelled to award 

 all the premiums to one person 



The six bucks entered were all superior animals, and well calculat- 

 ed to stamp their characteristic excellences on the commoner and 

 therefore cheaper cross bred ewes on which our supply of mutton 

 mainly depends. The ewes and lambs were also deserving of high 

 commendation ; though their merits and value would have been 

 variously estimated bv different individuals and from different stand- 

 points. 



Your committee were much pleased with this evidence of a growing 

 interest in sheep-husbandry. Fifty and a hundred years ago, large 

 numbers! of sheep were kept, and hardly a farm of any size but had 

 its flock ; for they were considered indispensable both for the good 

 of the farmer and the interest of the farm. They were generally 

 small, but tough and hardy, and well fitted to bear the rough and 

 negligent treatment they received. They were easily kept, helped to 

 clear up the weedy, briary pastures, and produced enough wool, tho' 

 of a poor texture, to supply the household wants, and a nutritious 

 and very convenient article of animal food. But times change, and 

 the introduction and rapid improvements of power machinery drove 

 the hand-loom and spinning wheel into the garret, introduced new 

 fashions and finer varieties of fabrics, and not only superseded the 

 household products, but called for a better and finer quality of the 

 raw material. This diflficulty could and doubtless would have been 

 overcome by the introduction of new and improved varieties of sheep ; 

 but the opening up and settlement of the cheap and rich lands of the 

 West, where the cost of keeping is principally comprised in the herd- 

 ing, salting and shearing of the flock, has rendered the keeping of 

 large flocks of sheep for wool unprofitable on our higher priced 

 farms, where fodder must be artificially provided for at least five and 

 a half months in the vear. Still there are good and valued reasons 

 why we may profitably keep more sheep than we do, and I think, I 

 perceive unmistakable signs of a growing interest in this branch of 

 husbandry. 



The following are some of the reasons alluded to : 



1. Sheep would afford a better income from some laud, than could 

 be obtained in any other way. 



2. To a certain extent they can be made to improve some land by 

 the destruction of bushes, brambles and other wild plants. 



3. Mutton can be produced at a less cost than any other meat, 



