658 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



fall-blood Merinos, which furnished fine wool for the factory subse- 

 quently located there. In April, 1812, a small flock of choice full-bloods 

 was owned at Georgetown, and in various parts of the State the animals 

 seem to have been introduced in small numbers, and they increased 

 steadily and prospered exceedingly well. They were the subject of 

 much speculation, one incident of which survives. Samuel Long, of 

 Lexington, bargained with Mr. Trotter, of the same place, for one ram and 

 one ewe, for which he was to build Mr. Trotter a four- story house 50 by 

 70 feet. The house cost $15,000, and months before it was done Me- 

 rinos fell in price, and six months had not passed before they could be 

 bought for $20. Mr. Long held on to his Merinos until they reached the 

 value of other sheep, when he killed them, made a barbecue, called all his 

 friends to the feast, and thanked God he was not worth a ducat. He 

 was ruined, and soon after died of a broken heart. In 1829 Henry Clay 

 bought 50 full-blooded Spanish Merinos in Washington County, Pa., 

 and had them taken to his farm at Ashland, where they became the 

 admiration of the neighborhood. The Saxony sheep were introduced 

 into the State about the same time, and in 1830 there were many flocks of 

 fine- wool sheep. Some of these were kept up for many years, but the 

 growing of fine wool was not the largest factor in the sheep husbandry 

 of Kentucky. 



The rich blue-grass lands of the State and the genial climate give 

 abundant pasture nearly the year round, and mark it as the favored 

 home of the mutton sheep. These have attracted much attention, not 

 to say affection, and have been tenderly and assiduously cultivated. 

 Choice specimens were imported into the State at an early day and 

 introductions from the best flocks of this country. Canada and England 

 had made great improvements. The improved Leicesters were raised 

 as early as 1829 and Southdowns not much later. When the Merinos 

 lost their popularity in the State many crosses were made and experi- 

 ments attempted with the breeds — the Southdown and the Merino — ^but 

 they generally ended in disappointment, and the Kentucky people set- 

 tled down to the opinion that the Southdowns were their sheep. Before 

 this conclusion many breeds had been tried, and all had a fair repre- 

 sentation on the farms throughout the State in 1850. In that year, in 

 Scott County, the Southdown, the Leicester, the Saxony and Spanish 

 Merinos, and the Ootswolds had all been tried by turns, and the Cots- 

 wold was then the favorite, the coarse wool being generally preferred 

 for jeans and ^\'oolseys. The Southdown was the best for miitton, and 

 a cross of the Cotswold on the Southdown produced a fine carcass, good 

 mutton, and fair yield of wool. At this time a wool-grower in Clark 

 County found wool-growing unprofitable. He had kept 100 to 200 

 Merino sheep that averaged about 4 pounds to the fleece, which he sold 

 from IG to 20 cents per pound, or 64 to 80 cents the whole fleece. In 

 consequence of low prices he had reduced his flock, and used a Cots- 

 wold ram to give him larger lambs for mutton. The coarse and flue 



