112 



in proportion to their size," have great attractions to those who 

 cultivate a hard soil, under a cold sky. They are animals 

 which can be profitably fed for work, or for milk ; and ^re the 

 only animals that can be fed here for meat, without a loss. — 

 There are still, however, too many unprofitable animals in the 

 county — animals which make no fair return for the food which 

 they consume. He who produces an early and hardy variety 

 of corn, he who discovers a valuable fruit, he who introduces 

 a desirable vegetable, he who hybridizes grapes successfully, is 

 looked upon as a benefactor to the tillers of the soil. What 

 shall be said of him who introduces the best class of animals 

 to our farms, and lays the foundation of that business by which 

 corn, and fruit, and vegetables, are produced ? 



The newly awakened interest in sheep is also an encouraging 

 feature in the agriculture of the county. There are already 

 small flocks which are vtry profitable ; and there are indica- 

 tions that sheep-husbandry will, ere long, form an important 

 branch of our farming. The comparative merits of fine and 

 coarse-wooled sheep have been somewhat vigorously discussed 

 among us, especially since the attention of this Society was 

 called to the subject, by a report of a committee on sheep, 

 made in 1862. It may be remembered that the superiority of 

 fine-wooled sheep, as producers of wool, was there set forth : 

 and that it was also claimed for them, that, while they furnish- 

 ed heavy fleeces, they were the best and most economical breed 

 of sheep to feed for mutton. In order to show that the Com- 

 mittee which made that report, are not alone in these opinions, 

 we quote the following passages from " an essay on Fine 

 Wool Sheep Husbandry, read before the New York State 

 Agricultural Society, in February 1862," (since the report was 

 submitted to the Essex Society,) by Hon. Henry S. Eandall. — 

 He says, page 155 : 



" Why not meet a large part of this demand, (for mutton) 

 now suppled from abroad, with our full-blood Merino sheep ? 

 Even the epicurism of England has decided that this breed 

 produces prime irfutton. Sir Joseph Banks, in a report made 



