EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 661 



There are many who believe that the Cotswold crossed on the South- 

 down make the most iirofltable mutton sheep that can be produced in 

 the State, and they corae forward with the figures to substantiate their 

 claim. These are too numerous to be here reproduced. 



Mr. A. T. Drane, who was engaged in breeding Cotswolds from 1850 

 to 1S6C, without intermixture, then crossed them with the Lincolnshires 

 with apparent success. He lived in a fine grass region, such as the 

 heavy breeds delight in, and the climnte proved congenial and healthy 

 for them. They were fed upon grass exclusively, except at yeaning 

 time, when a little grain was given them. Mr. Drane reports : 



They usually have one lamb at a birth, but have twins about often enough to make 

 up for losses, and save about one lamb to the ewe bred. They are remarkably good 

 nurses. Their fleeces are heavy, long, and lustrous, and command the best prices 

 for combing. I sell rams chiefly; seldom sell ewes, and without attempting to state 

 what it will cost to keep a sheep a year, or tell how many may be kept on an acre 

 of grass, I will merely give a glimpse of the record of my flock in 1869, and let the 

 reader make his own deductions : 



From 80 sheep sold 848 pounds of wool in grease for $364. 62 



Sold sheep during the year 638. 00 



Rent of one ram 100. 00 



Total 1,102.62 



I now have on hand 83 head of sheep, and my flock has yielded a gross return of 

 $13.78 each, with a gain of 3 sheep. 



One of the most eminent breeders of long-wooled sheep in Kentucky 

 was Col. Robert W. Scott, of Frankfort, who, after many years of 

 experiment, produced what he fondly thought was a new permanent 

 race, the improved Kentucky sheep. The suggestion of the improved 

 sheep came from the belief of Col. Scott that none of the prevailing 

 breeds possessed all the requirements of sheep for the great West and 

 South; the native sheep were inferior in carcass and in fleece. The 

 Cotswolds were too delicate when young to bear exposure to the wet 

 seasons; the fleece of the Southdowns was too short, and the Merino 

 was too small. Acting upon these impressions, and believing with Sir 

 Eobert Smith, that "by proper and judicious crossing through several 

 generations, a most valuable breed of sheep may be raised and estab- 

 lished," Col. Scott began in 1839 his effort to combine in the same ani- 

 mal the hardiness and prolific quality of the native sheep, the size and 

 weight of fleece of the Cotswold, and the symmetry of form and deli- 

 cacy of mutton of the Southdown ; and also to combine in the same 

 fleeces the weight and length of the Cotswold with the thickness and 

 softness of the Merino. 



The foundation of the proposed improvement was a flock of 30 ewes 

 selected from a flock of unimproved common sheep, and these were 

 bred to a very large and fine Saxony Merino ram, the object being to 

 give in the offspring more thickness to the fleece and more fineness to 

 the fiber of the wool. This step was thought advisable before uniting 

 the coarse fleeces of the native sheep with the coarse and still more 



