EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 653 



$20 to $25. Charles L. Day, of St. Croix County, keeps a flock of 

 about 175 Cotswolds, which, after trying many others, he finds the most 

 satisfactory. They are large, the fleeces average 11 pounds each, and 

 the lambs come rapidly into condition f6r market, and bring good 

 prices. They are fed on clo\er hay, Avith corn and oats alternately in 

 winter, and pastured in summer. He has warm, comfortable quarters 

 accessible from the pasture, in which the sheep and lambs can find 

 shelter from storms. They endure cold uninjured if kept dry. Charles 

 Bradley, of the same county, has Cotswolds whose fleeces averaged 12 

 pounds. 



The Lincolnshires are well known in the State and their chief recom- 

 mendation is their great size. J. W. Gaues gives the following weight 

 of some of his Lincolnshires, March 17, 1890. 



Pounds. 



Ewo dropped JIareli i, 1889, weiglied JLnrch 17, 1890 141 



Ewe dropped March 5, 1889, weiglicd March 17, 1890 166 



Etvc dropped March 21, 1889, weighed JIareh 17, 1890 180 



Twill rams dropped March 13, 1889, weighed March 17, 1890 j Jg? 



Twin rams dropped Maicli 12, 1889, weighed March 17, 1890 j ^^g 



These were wintered on clover hay without grain. Mr. Ganes' half- 

 blood Lincolns were square built and heavy quartered, and besides 

 showing good nuitton i)oints were heavy shearers, forty high-grade ewes 

 yielding 312 pounds of washed wool. These ewes raised 44 lambs. 



The Oxford Downs are represented by breeding flocks in the State and 

 the Oxford-Merino cross is found very satisfactory. Lambs of this 

 cross, less than a year old, will average from 110 to 120 pounds and sell in 

 the home market at $5.50 per hundred pounds. In locations where 

 there is a great demand for lambs the size and early maturity of the 

 Oxfords give it a preference. One of its prominent breeders considers 

 it the most hardy of the Downs, and yields him on an average 10 or 12 

 pounds of wool. He fed 200 in one i)asture but would prefer less rather 

 than more. 



Eecent sales of Oxfordshires have been made at high prices. A sale 

 of grade Oxford ewes (lialf to three-quarters bred), held on the farm of 

 the late H. Rliodes, of Slieboygan, in the midst of a strictly dairy dis- 

 trict where but very few sheep are kept, brought $10.50 to $13.50 per 

 head, prices not unreasonably high considering that ewes of this class 

 produced in 1891 from $0 to $10 per head in wool and lambs. Another 

 farmer averaged $9 each as the produce of his grade Oxford eA\a's for 

 1891. 



The Plampshire Downs are beginning to show themselves in the State 

 and have been well received. There is one breeding flock that will 

 average about 200 pounds, producing about 8 pounds of unwashed wool. 

 The progeny of rams crossed on grade ^[erino ewes average 125 to 135 

 pounds at 12 months' old when fed for the market. 



