380 SHEEP INDUSTEY OP THE UNITED STATES 



Tlie acquisition of the Eotch flock iu 1856 aud of tlie Gage flock in 

 1861 made Mr. Patterson's flock tlie largest and best French Merino 

 flock in the State. In January, 1862, he furnished Mr. Eandall a fiill 

 and unreserved account of it and what it had been, which will not bear 

 abridgment, aud is herewith given : 



It would be difficult to give the characteristics of these various importations of 

 sheep, as there has heeu so great a difference in them, they having been of all kinds 

 and qualities, from good to very inferior. Some of them have been of large size, were 

 ■well proportioned, being short in the leg, broad in the chest, had strong, hardy con- 

 stitutions, were easily kept, and always in good condition. With ordinary care and 

 on ordinary feed they sheared heavy fleeces, and their wool was even aud of good 

 quality ; while others of them, and by far the greatest number, were the opposite of 

 these in all the different qualities mentioned, some having been the discarded and 

 refused sheep of good flocks, and others were grade sheep from flocks having no 

 reputation as being of strictly pure blood ; but these kinds of sheep were bought up 

 by speculators at low prices, brought to this country, and sold on the reputation and 

 credit of the better class of French sheep that had been previously imported. They 

 were long in the leg and long in the neck; were slab-sided, thin-visaged, gaunt, thin 

 through the shoulders, narrow in the chest ; their constitutions so puny and delicate 

 that it was impossible to keep them in fair condition, even with the best possible care 

 and attention ; their fleeces were light, their wool uneven in quality, some being quite 

 too fine for profit (because too light), while others would be exceedingly coarse and 

 filled with jarr. In Prance, as in this country, there are all descriptions and grades 

 of sheep, and it does not follow, as is supposed by many, that all that have been im- 

 ported from there are of the same kind aud quality, even if called by the same name. 

 My Prench rams have generally sheared from 18 to 24 pounds of an even year's 

 growth, and unwashed, but some of them, with high keeping and light use, have 

 sheared more, and my yearling rams have generally sheared from 15 to 22 pounds 

 each. My breeding and yearling ewes have never averaged as low as 15 pounds each, 

 unwashed, taking the entire flock. Some of them have sheared over 20 pounds each, 

 but these were exceptions, being large and in high condition. 



The live weight of any animal of course depends very much upon its condition. 

 My yearling ewes usually range from 90 to 130 pounds each, and the grown ewes 

 from 130 to 170 pounds eacli, and I have had some that weighed over 200 poiuids 

 each; but these would be above the average size and in high flesh. My yearling 

 rams usually weigh from 120 to 180 pounds each, and my grown rams from 180 to 250 

 pounds each; some of them have weighed over 300 pounds each, but these were 

 unusually large and in high flesh and in full fleece. I have had ram lambs weigh 120 

 pounds at 7 months old, but they were more thrifty, fleshy, and larger than usual 

 at that age. 



As you request the height from the top of the shoulders to the ground, I have 

 measured some of those of medium height, and find that yearling ewes run from 26 

 to 28 inches, the grown ewes from 28 to 30 inches; the yearling rams from 28 to 32 

 inches, and the grown rams from 30 to 34 inches. 



When running out and exposed to the storms they are as a whole, light colored 

 when compared with the Sp;inish Merinos, for the reason that they have much less 

 yolk or gum iu their fleeces, besides their oil or yolk is more of a soap-like substance, 

 and separates from their wool so readily that the rains will wash their surface com- 

 paratively clean, leaving them light colored, while the oil" or gum of the Spanish 

 merino is so adhesive and sticky it is difficult, and in many of them impossible, to 

 wash it out of their wool by ordinary brook washing; and as it is the yolk or oily 

 matter contained in the fleece (causing the dust and other matter to adhere to it) 

 which gives the external color, the Spanish Merinos are generally darker on the sur- 

 face than the French; and it is this excess of oil in the Spanish Merino which causes 



