FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. vere 
was dark leaden gray, or blackish, indicating consider- 
ably more yolk than No. 1, and considerably less than 
No. 2. They were not wooled below the eye, and not 
commonly below the knee and hock.* The wool was 
long, and retained its length unusually well on the 
belly, forehead, cheeks, and on the legs down to the 
knees and hocks. It was very thick over all the parts, 
and in many instances broke into masses of the same 
size on the belly as on the sides, instead of the small 
pointed tufts usual in that place on No. 1 and No. 2. 
This indicated great thickness of fleece. The fleece 
was considerably inferior to that of the preceding 
families in fineness, evenness, and general style. It 
was sometimes quite coarse on the thigh, and hairs 
were occasionally seen protruding from the edges of 
the neck folds. The lambs were often covered with 
hair when born, and their big, bony legs and thick 
coated ears were marked with patches of tan-color. 
On the ears this color continued to show faintly, on 
close examination, through life. They were better 
nurses and hardier than either of the other families: 
they were precisely the negligent farmer's sheep. I 
have often seen a flock of them, slightly sheltered by 
a haystack, stand composedly chewing their cuds, and 
treading down the drifting snow under their feet, 
when the wild northwest gale “ curled up” every other 
shivering animal on the farm.t 
*T speak of wool of length and quality fit to be put in the fleece 
when sheared. Nearly all of them had short, coarsish wool on the 
legs, and particularly on the hind legs. 
+ It may not be amiss to state that on the 8th of February, 1862, a 
number of the most prominent breeders and friends of these respective 
families of sheep, m Addison county, Vt., met me by appomtment at 
the house of Hon. M. W. ©, Wright, of Shoreham, and conceiving 
