EAST OP THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 641 



a ram and a few ewes from the Merino flocks of Orwell and Shoreliam, 

 Vermont. 0. M. Goodsell, of Geneva, was the first to introduce some 

 very valuable sheep from the flock of S. W. pTewett, of Vermont; and 

 Charles H. Smedley, of Hudson, imported a large number of rams 

 and some ewes of the choicest breeds from Addison County, Vt., for 

 which he found a ready sale. There were now many flocks both of the 

 Merino grades and the common kind, and a general and earnest desire 

 for improvement. Not alone were the farmers struck with the wool- 

 growing character of the new country, but those having flocks in New 

 York and Pennsylvania, tempted by the cheapness of land, drove their 

 sheep thither. 



In ISoO, iu the vicinity of Racine, there were many fine flocks of Sax- 

 ony and other breeds. They Avere said to thrive well and were very 

 healthy. In general the great mass of sheep were grades between the 

 common and the Saxony and Spanish Merino. The grade sheep gave 

 about SJ pounds of wool per head. There were a few pure Saxons and 

 a few pure Spanish Merino flocks. One of the latter was that of Arnold 

 Weeks, of Springfield. In l.sr)0 Mr. Weeks sold 10 of the pure-bred 

 Merinos which Avere brought from Vermont to C. K. Phelps. Those 

 laid the foundation of a flock which ranks high in Wisconsin. 



In 1853 there were some French Merinos in the State, and the Span- 

 ish Merinos were still being introduced, but not until 1S.")5 to 1857 did 

 any considerable number of the pure Merinos find their home in Wis- 

 consin. Quite a proportion of the flocks recorded in the Wisconsin 

 Merino register had tlieir oiigin between 181J0 and 1870. Two of ear- 

 lier date may be noticed. 



In 1857 Charles M. Clark, of Whitewater, commenced a flock by a 

 purchase of ewes and lambs that had been bred by Ebeuezer Porter 

 from Atwood stock purchased of Ward M. Lincoln. The ewes Avere 

 taken from Ttutlaud, Vt., to Wisconsin, by Mr. Porter in 1856. The 

 lambs were sired by Young Matchless, a ram bred by A. J. Wooster, 

 West Cornwall, Vt., from a ewe purchased of Edwin Hammond and 

 sired by one of their stock rams. 



In 1811 William Pomeroy, of Rutland, Vt., bought of William Jar- 

 vis, ou shijpboard in Boston Harbor, some Spanish Merino CAves of the 

 Negretti strain. In 1814 a Mr. Eastman bought of Mr. Pomeroy his 

 ewe lambs, which he continued to breed in-and-in with a JSTegretti ram, 

 except the cross of one ram, which he hired one year of AVilliam Jarvis, 

 until 18130, when they were giveu into the hands of his two sons, when 

 they purchased some Montarcos of J. Allen, imported originally by 

 him October 20, 1810. Prom that time the two families were bred 

 together. A part of this flock was takpn to Wisconsin in 1S03 or 1864 

 by L. Eastman, and bred until 1871, Avhen the entire flock Avas sold to 

 I. J. 01a]ip, Kenosha, Wis. It then sheared an average of nearly 14 

 pounds of wool, including a fleece of 17J pounds from a yearling ewe. 

 In 1858 Perry Ci'aig, of Caldwell's Prairie, commenced a pure-blood 

 22990—41 



