EAST OP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 493 



with 200 ewes, descended from the Humphreys importation. He sub- 

 sequently added to the flock by purchases of sheep from Wells & Dick- 

 inson, and used many rams from that stock, thus forming the basis of 

 what he considered a pure Dickinson sheep, which he bred pure for 

 many years. He had an average flock of 3,000, and from it was formed 

 the nucleus of many flocks in his own section and in Ohio, and some 

 parts of Indiana. He kept his sheep in flocks of about 200 each, and 

 fed them on hay and corn. Five tons of hay and 50 bushels of corn to 

 the hundred sheep was the usual allowance. He housed his sheep from 

 the winter rains and from extreme cold weather, exposing them only 

 for the purpose of obtaining water. He raised about 75 lambs to 100 

 ewes, and the fleece of the flock did not average more than Sj pounds 

 per head in 1845, which increased, however, to 4J pounds in 1865. 



In the fall of 1822 Talbot Hammond, of Brooke County, W. Va., pur- 

 chased 7 ewes and a ram of his brother, Charles Hammond, of Belmont 

 County, Ohio. These sheep were bred directly from the flocks of Wells 

 & Dickinson, of Steubenville. The ram was an imported one, for 

 which Mr. Dickinson had been paid $80, and was quite old at the time 

 of Mr. Hammond's purchase. Mr. Hammond subsequently crossed his 

 sheep with Saxony rams from Dutchess County, N. Y., but the result 

 was not favorable, the average clip being only 2J to 3 pounds per head. 

 He continued to breed the Saxon for some years. He sheltered all his 

 sheep in the winter season, believing that no animals needed it more, as 

 the sudden changes of weather during the winter months were very 

 trying to them. He fed corn and sheaf oats. The flock was strongly 

 Saxon until after 1860, when Vermont Merinos were crossed upon it 

 and, subsequently, the Silesians, which were introduced into that sec- 

 tion of country in 1860 and 1861. 



About 1820-'22 William Brownlee, John H. Ewing, Mr. MiUer, Mr. 

 Tannehill, and hundreds of others began wool-growing. William Davis 

 and John McDowell afterwards took the Brownlee stock, and neither of 

 them suffered the sheep to deteriorate on their hands, and their wool 

 has always been regarded as among the fancy clips and commanded the 

 highest prices. James Strean had some of the same stock and he took 

 the medal at the World's Fair in London in 1851 for the best iine wool, 

 For many years his flock held its place as one of the finest in the 

 country. When ordinary wools were selling at 25 to 30 cents his wool 

 gOld at Lowell, Mass., for $1 per pound. 



In 1821 William Berry purchased one choice ram and a small number 

 of ewes from the flock of W. E. Dickinson, and placed them on his farm 

 in Cecil Township, Washington County, where he undertook the raising 

 of a flock. These sheep were represented when purchased as pure- 

 blooded descendants of the Humphreys importation, and Mr. Berry was 

 cautioned against crossing and mixing the blood. His sheep were 

 cultivated with great care and were not contaminated by any infusion 

 of the Saxon blood, subsequently so fatal to many fine flocks of this 



