128 CKOSSING FAMILIES OP MEKINOS. 



where they could find animals which presented desirable 

 qualities, and mixed these families indiscriminately together. 

 To this cause, in a very considerable measure, is to be 

 attributed the remarkably unhomogeneous character of the 

 French flocks. Breeding back, in the hands of persons 

 entertaining difierent views, has separated them into almost 

 as many families as they started from ; and the new families 

 lack within themselves the uniformity and permanent hered- 

 itary character of the original ones. Mr. Jarvls, in the 

 United States, crossed several families — all prime Leonese, 

 and not widely variant in character. The cross was guided 

 by a single intelligent will, and always toward a definite 

 and consistent end. Therefore a much greater degree of 

 imiformity was obtained. 



The present highly popular Paular family in Vermont is, 

 as has been already seen, dashed with Infantado and mixed 

 Leonese (Jarvis) strains of blood.* Crosses between the 

 present Paulars and Infantados are now common throughout 

 Vermont, and the produce is held in high estimation. The 

 Paular ewe in such cases is usually bred to the Infantado 

 ram. It should be borne in mind that the widest of these 

 crosses do not go beyond six original cabanas of prime 

 Leonese sheep, — among the best and most uniform of Spain. 



The cross began in Germany by Ferdinand Fischer, 



* I gave an acconnt of the origin of this crosa in" my Report on Fine-Wool 

 Husbandry, 1862, from the information of those who ought to have known the facta; 

 but on fuller investigation it proves to have been erroneous in some particulars. The 

 Kich (Paular) and Jarvis (mixed Leonese) sheep had been crossed somewhat anterior 

 to 1844. Judge M. W. C. Wright, of Shoreham, Vermont, having conceived the idea of 

 crossing the produce with the Infantado or Atwood family, purchased a ram for that 



Surpose of Mr. Atwood at the New York State Fair in the fall of the last named year, 

 udge Wright sold the ram, immediately after his return to Vermont, to Prosper 

 EUthorp, of Bridport, and Loyal C. Bemelee, of Shoreham, but used him himself 

 more or less for three years. This, the "Atwood ram," got the "EUthorp ram" out 

 of a ewe bred by Mr. Eemelce, and sold by him to Mr. Elltborp. The dam of the 

 Elithorp ram was got by Judge Wright's " Black Hawk" out of a pure Jarvis ewe. 



a pure Jarvis ram, purchased by Mr. Stickney of Mr. Jarvis. Mr. Elithorp sold the 

 EUthorp ram, then a lamb, in the fall of 1845, to Erastus Eobinson, of Shoreham. 

 The Elithorp ram got the " Old Robinson ram " out of a ewe bred by Mr. Elithorp, 

 and sold by him, with twenty-nine others, to Mr. Robinson in 1848. The dam of the 

 Old Robinson ram was got by the Atwood ram, above mentioned, out of a pure 

 Paular (Rich) ewe bred by Mr. Robinson, and sold by him to Mr. Elithorp in 18^. 

 The Atwood, Elithorp and Old Robinson rams, and particularly the last named, were 

 the founders of the crossed family. The Old Robmson ram in the hands of Mr. 

 Robinson and his brother-in-law, Mr. Stickney, (who subsequently purchased him of 

 the former,) begot an immense number of lambs, which were very strongly marked 

 with his own cnaracteristics, and which, in turn, generally transmitted them with 

 great force to their posterity. They were generally smallish, short, exceedingly 

 round and compact, vnth fine, yolky, and for those times and for the size of the sheep, 

 heavy fleeces. Messrs. Robinson and Stickney spread rams of this family far and 

 wide. See Appendix B. 



