EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 59 



ram Lad not been iu the Mount Vernon flocks a long time, but liis set 

 liad wonderfully improved the form and greatly increased the length of 

 staple iu the flocks, and made better mutton. 



THE ARLINGTON LONG-WOOLBD SHEEP. 



The improvement inaugurated by Washington was continued by 

 George Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, who, from the Mount 

 Vernon stock, " a relic of him whose labors for the happiness and pros- 

 perity of his country ceased only with his life," produced a superior 

 sheep, known as the Arlington improved or Arlington long-wooled 

 sheep. Mr. Custis says of the race thus derived that they combined 

 many of the finest qualities desirable in sheep — a wool of great length 

 and fine texture, and a form uniting compactness of body with little 

 offal. These sheep were of good constitution, fed well, and carried fat 

 on the best parts, of good size, and fully sufflcient for the generality of 

 pasturage. These qualities could be increased to keep pace with the 

 improvements of the soil; were this not the case, Mr. Custis remarks — 



the race might degenerate for the want of proper keep. When ^\e consider that 

 the same soil which supports the miserable and degenerate race of sheep common in 

 this country would at the same time give nourishment to a superior sort, the ad- 

 vantages of improvement must be evident to every mind. Indeed the whole merit in 

 tlie science of breeding consists in producing an animal which shall yield the most 

 profit at the least expense. The famous sheep of Bakewell, which rank so high in 

 the scale of European improvements, are remarkable for being good feeders, and de- 

 riving sustenance where others would perish. All improved animals have a tendency 

 to fatten irom their superior form, and the great object of breeders has been to correct 

 the form so as to dispose of the fat upon the most beneficial parts, and leave the least 

 possible quantity of offal. * * * Oar sheep are, generally speaking, lamentably 

 deficient in the desirable qualities just mentioned, their bone being very dispropor- 

 tioned to the weight it has to sustain, and unnecessarily large for an animal which 

 performs no labor. For this reason the farmer complains of his mutton not bringing 

 him a good price, but the butcher who disposes of it by the pound very wisely cal- 

 culates the weight of his purchase, and does not buy from appearance alone. Thus a 

 sheep, to appearance very large, may weigh but very little. From a slight view of 

 the necessary requisites in breeding improved stock for the market, I again return to 

 the more patriotic considerations of the fleece, having barely called in the preceding 

 remarks to aid the cause. 



Mr. Custis bred the Arlington long-wooled sheep with particular ref- 

 erence to the market, so as, if possible, to leave no exception to the gen- 

 eral introduction of their fleece, and the manner in which he went to 

 the improvement of his sheep he has left on record. The Persian from 

 whence this stock was originally derived, carried a wool of great length, 

 but coarse, yet possessed a high form and good constitution. Upon 

 this long wool and good form Mr. Custis engrafted the fine and thick 

 wool of Bakewell, his capital premium ram of 1805, and invariably bred 

 this ram upon his descendants, thus following the doctrines introduced 

 and practiced at Dishley as far as then known. Previous to the insti- 

 tution of the premiums in 1805, he had so far succeeded in the improve- 

 ment of his own domestic stock as to produce a very capital ram, which 



