EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 163 



or four generations, through the medium of sires of that race. Then the system of 

 breeding in-and-in, as it is technically called, and as it has been ahly explained hy 

 Dr. Parry, of Bath, in his late "essay on the nature, produce, origin, and extension 

 of the Merino breed of sheep," proves decisive for the accomplishment of theolyects 

 proposed, in the shortest time, at the smallest expense, and with the greatest cer- 

 tainty of any other plan hitherto suggested. 



It is judged by the farmers in this neighborhood, who are best acquainted with 

 this confirmed mixed breed, that, aside of their suiierlor excellence with respect to 

 wool, they have a greater tendency to fatten on the same keeping than any other 

 sheep within the compass of their knowledge. Although this disposition to fatten 

 is of little consequence so long as they are bred for the fleece only, yet it may be 

 well that those farmers who may hereafter propagate them for the sake of the car- 

 cass should not be ignorant of the fact. 



From my further inquiries with regard to the weight of the fleeces of my Merinos, 

 I learn that they have increased somewhat more than I stated in my letter of the 

 28th of last month. One of the rams born here has produced this season 7 pounds 

 and 5 ounces of washed wool. This wool would, it is presumed, be worth $1.50 per 

 pound in England. I have the united testimony of all the people engaged in or 

 acquainted with its fabrication into cloth to prove that it has not deteriorated, by 

 reason of inclosing four more specimens of cloth. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 were made from 

 the wool of the pure Merinos, and No. 4 from that of the half-blooded race. 



In a preceding chapter we have noticed tlie various acts of Con- 

 necticut during its colonial period for the care and protection of sheep. 

 Attempts had been made since about 1736 to introduce woolen manu- 

 factures as a development of sheep raising, and these were revived 

 after the Eevolution. With help from the general assembly, a manu- 

 factory of woolens was established at Hartford after the peace. Its 

 product was mainly of the pepper-and-salt variety, but it was good 

 and popular, and a suit of the factory broadcloth was worn by Wash- 

 ington at the opening of Congress, 1790.* Laws were passed in 1786 

 for encouraging the raising of sheep by exempting fiom taxation at 

 the rate of is. per head all sheep from which at the time a fleece was 

 taken, and twenty were exempt from any execution or process for 

 debt, laws which remained in force until 1798, when, instead of twenty 

 sheep being exempt from process, ten sheep and one cow were so 

 exempt. A long step in progress was taken in 1802, when Humphreys 

 brought his Merinos into the State, and woolen manufactures have 

 grown and flourished and made their influence felt in national politics. 

 In 1803, to protect and preserve the purity of the Merino breed, the 

 legislature enacted that any person allowing a ram to go at large or be 

 out of his inclosure between September 1 and December 1 should pay 

 $2 to any person taking up said ram. In 1814 the time was length- 

 eued from August 1 to December 1. 



In October, 1808, Ehzur Goodrich, chairman of a committee of the 

 Connecticut general assembly, made a report to that body commending 

 Col. Humphreys for his patriotic exertions in importiug the Merino 

 sheep, and suggesting "a public testimony of the respect of his native 

 State." The committee were also of the opinion that public encour- 



' History of Connecticut, Alexander Johnston. 



