POPULARITY OF THE HAMMOND SHEEP 191 



Edwin Hammond, 1 of Middlebury, Vermont, a customer of 

 Atwood for the first time in 1844, is regarded as having done more 

 than any other one breeder in developing the American Merino. 

 Randall said of him that he effected quite as much of an improve- 

 ment in the American Merino as Mr. Bakewell effected among the 

 long-wool sheep of England. Using Atwood sheep, he wrought 

 great improvement in both form and fleece in a comparatively short 

 time. He purchased " Old Black " in 1849, a sheep described as 

 being "long, tall, flat-ribbed, rather long in the neck and head, 

 strong-boned, a little roach-backed, deep chested, and moderately 

 wrinkled ; his wool was about an inch and a half long, of medium 

 thickness, extremely yolky, and dark colored externally ; face a little 

 bare and not much wool on shanks. He weighed about one hundred 

 and thirty-five pounds and cut about fourteen pounds of wool 

 unwashed." Contrast with " Old Black " the ram " Sweepstakes " 

 bred by Hammond in 1856 and regarded by many as one of the best 

 he produced. " Sweepstakes " weighed about one hundred and 

 forty pounds and was almost perfect in form, being defective in no 

 essential particular. His head and belly were admirably covered 

 and he was strongly wooled to the feet. In full fleece, his wool 

 was two and one-half inches long, fine and extremely even, and he 

 yielded a year's growth weighing twenty-seven pounds. 



Popularity of the Hammond Sheep. Prominent breeders 

 began to be attracted by Mr. Hammond's, sheep about 1850. In a 

 few years they were eagerly sought by both home and foreign breed- 

 ers. On several occasions he could have sold his breeding rams for as 

 much as $2500 each. So many visitors came to his place that his 

 hospitable home is reported to have resembled a prosperous hotel. 

 Through the hundreds of people who inspected his flock and the 

 many sheep he distributed far and wide, the distinctive type he 

 bred came to be pretty generally known and was regarded as better 

 suited to American conditions -than the old Spanish type. 



As suggested elsewhere in this chapter, Mr. Hammond's sheep 

 were different from their Spanish ancestors, both in form and fleece. 

 They were thicker, shorter in neck and legs, stronger in bone, and 

 somewhat heavier. They were more nearly perfect in wool covering 

 and much superior in length, density, fineness, and weight of fleece. 



1 Associated with Edwin Hammond was his brother William, who acted 

 as shepherd and manager. 



