464 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



Mr. John Oarinichael, of Loudoun County, reported the value of 

 spring lambs sent to Washiugton at $2.50 to $5, according to quality; 

 that Western ewes, bought in the autumn for breeding, cost 12.75; 

 their lambs averaged $2.30 and their wool $1 more. The ewes were fot- 

 tened and sold in tlie fall for $4 and $5. This made the gross returns 

 of the year about $8, or $5.20 above the cost of the ewe for feed and 

 profits. A correspondent from Clarke County says : 



It is far more profitable to keep tlie different varieties of the mutton breeds than 

 the flne-Tvool or Merino breed in this portion of Virginia. I say this from my own 

 experience and that of many intelligent gentlemen with whom I have conversed. 

 The Cotswold sheep and its crosses with the Southdown are less liable to lose their 

 lambs than the Merino. The lambs are more vigorous and hardy ; then add their 

 early maturity, their fitness for market at eighteen months old, and their almost dou- 

 ble value when in market, and you have advantages which far outweigh the addi- 

 tional amount of food which the mutton sheep may consume in proportion to his size. 

 I have said nothing about the difference in the value of the wool, because I believe 

 there is very little differenee ; if there is any it is in favor of the mutton breed in 

 this county. In January, 1869, 1 agreed to take from a gentleman in this county 100 

 Spanish Merino ewes to keep on shares, he giving me one-half the lambs and one- 

 half the wool for keeping them until the fall of 1869. They were put in a field of 75 

 acres sod, with 45 acres of woodland attached; the pasture was good and they 

 fattened upon it. At the same time 25 ewes of Cotswold and Southdown were put in 

 thefield; the Merinos in the spring produced 56 lambs, the 25 Cotswold and Southdown 

 ewes raised 24 lambs. The feed was the same and the same care was bestowed upon 

 each flock, for they were together all the time. All the Merino lambs were sold in 

 October, 1869, at $2 per head, except 5, which had the foot-rot so badly they could 

 not be driven to market; the Cotswold and Southdown would have brought double 

 the money per head. These views apply to this county, which is only 50 miles from 

 Washington, D. C, and about 85 miles from Baltimore. 



Thomas P. Elves, of Dinwiddle, reported that Captain Shelton had 

 a fine flock of grade Southdowns. He sowed rye and winter oats, thus 

 supplying good winter pasture. His lambs were dropped in the early 

 part of January and some in December. He generally had a lot of fat 

 lambs in the market by the middle of April, and always commanded a 

 good price for them, from $5 to $6 per head. 



In Northumberland County a flock of 68 ewes, costing $3 each, pro- 

 duced 100 lambs the first year, which brought $5 each in May, netting 

 nearly $300 above first cost, with the original flock and the wool on 

 hand. They were turned into a wheat sttibble seeded with clover, and 

 had no other food and little attention. A Lunenbui'g farmer kept 48 

 sheep at a cost of $10 per annum for shearing and feed, exclusive of 

 pasturage and care, yielding an average of $93 per annum. A Ches- 

 terfield County farmer had a flock of 40 worth $100, and had sold 24 for 

 $60 and 150 pounds of wool for $34.50. The cost of the original 18 was 

 $42, and the cost of keeping two years estimated at $30, leaving a gain 

 equivalent to $122.50, paying well for care and investment. In Orange 

 County the cost of keeping long-wooled Cotswolds was estimated at 50 

 cents a head, and 30 cents per head for a flock of 80 Merinos. The 

 profit of one of the Cotswold flocks was $6.75 per head, of another $5.90 



