THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



cher. A part of the. late importations have 

 been taken" to the farm of Mr. Ladd, in Ohio, 

 part are kept by Mr. Campbell, and the re- 

 mainder by Mr. Chamberlain. Some rams 

 have been sold and taken to different sections 

 of the country. There are 101 ewes and sev- 

 eral rams at Mr. Chamberlain's. About sixty 

 of the ewes had lambed at the time of our 

 visit. A few lambs had been lost, but the 

 loss was more than made up by twins, so that 

 the lambs reared would outnumber the ewes. 



We examined many of these sheep very 

 closely before they were shorn, noticed partic- 

 ularly their shape and appearance after the 

 wool was taken off, and carefully examined 

 their fleeces before they were tied up. The 

 sheep appear to excel in the following points : 

 1st, the thickness of the wool as it stands on 

 the skin, growing to an unusual extent on the 

 belly, and covering every part, giving an un- 

 common weight of fleece in proportion to the 

 size of the carcase ; 2d, the fineness of the sta- 

 ple considered in reference to the weight of 

 fleece ; 3d, the uniform character of the fleece, 

 the wool on the belly and thighs approximating, 

 to a remarkable degree, the quality of that on 

 the back; 4th, the fullness (uniform size of 

 the pile throughout its whole length,) even- 

 ness, and elasticity of the staple. On parting 

 the wool on the body of the animal, it appears, 

 to use Mr. Fleischman's expression, " as a uni- 

 formly woven cloth."* It should be added 

 that the sheep are well shaped ; they have ra- 

 ther small bones, and the body is symmetrical 

 and pleasing to the eye. The different indi- 

 viduals also bear a close resemblance to each 

 other, showing that their characteristics are 

 thoroughly in-bred. They appear to have very 

 good constitutions. Mr. Chamberlain is in- 

 clined to think they would bear the usage com- 

 monly given flocks in the country, better than 

 the French sheep, and this opinion is the re- 

 sult of several years' experience with both. 



We took the following memoranda in regard 

 to seven ewes. They were unwashed — the 

 weight of carcase was taken after shearing : 



No. 32 : 3 years old; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz ; carcass, 701bs.; weight of her 

 lamb, dropped 20th December last, 51 lbs. 



No. 100: 2 years old; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz; carcass 73 lbs.; weight of her 

 iamb dropped 20th December last, 54 lbs. 



No. Ill : 2 years old; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 8 lbs.; carcass 78 lbs.; weight of her lamb 

 dropped 2d March last, 25 lbs. 



No. 156: 3 years old ; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz ; carcass 771bs.; weight of her 

 lamb dropped 13th December last, 45 lbs. 



No. 213: 3 years old; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 9 lbs.; carcass 90 lbs., lamb dropped 17th 



* Patent Offieo Report for 1847, p 278. 



20a 



December last, was suckled till April 2d, when it 

 died. 



No. 89: 2 years old; fleece 11 months growth, 

 weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz.; has not yet lambed. 



No. 326: 3 years old ; fleece 11 months growth,, 

 weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz.; carcass 84dbs ; her lamb drop- 

 ped 23d April, not weighed. 



These were all the ewes whose fleeces we 

 took particular note of. They were not shear- 

 ed very closely; in some instances it was 

 thought half a pound more wool might have 

 been got from a sheep. None of the lambs 

 were weaned. The following was the only ram 



weighed : 

 ° • 



No. 13: 5 \ears old ; got over 100 Iambs last fall 

 — fleece 13 months growth, weighed 14 lbs. 12 oz.; 

 carcass 125 Jibs. 



I 



Messrs. Chamberlain, Campbell & Ladd 

 desire to state thqfc they would cleanse the fleece 

 of this ram, and put it in market for dollars and 

 cents in proportion to weight of carcass, 

 against any fleece of thirteen months' growth 

 taken from any ram in America the present 

 season. 



The wool in all the above fleeces was clean, 

 for unwashed. Mr. Ladd, who has had much 

 experience, both as a producer and dealer in 

 wool, thought a deduction of thirty per cent, 

 would bring the fleeces into a merchantable 

 condition — a condition in which wool of that 

 quality has sold for the last ten years at fifty 

 to sixty cents per pound. 



It is claimed that, with most flocks of the 

 country, a cross of a Silesian ram on ewes of 

 any other variety of Merinoes, will increase the 

 weight of fleece in the progeny a pound per 

 head, or upwards, over the stock to which the 

 ewes belonged, and that, except with the finest 

 Saxon, the quality will be improved. Mr. 

 Chamberlain has crossed the Silesian with the 

 French, and Mr. Campbell with both the 

 French and Spanish — the latter having been 

 long in the country — and they assure us that 

 the results correspond to the above statement. 

 In corroboration of their statements, we take 

 the following from remarks made at one of the 

 agricultural discussions at the State House, in 

 this city, last year, by Mr. Russell, represen- 

 tative from Pittsfield. The remarks were pub- 

 lished by us at the time : 



He (Mr. 11.)' spoke of the Silesian sheep, which 

 he regarded perfect as to form, with a compact and 

 fine fleece. He saw a lot of twenty yearlings, a 

 cross of the Silesian with the old-fashioned Span- 

 ish (the sire being a Silesian ram bred, by Mr. 

 Campbell) which averaged five pounds of washed, 

 wool pei' head, that sold for sixty-three cents a 

 pound. The sheep were weighed aft or bein; •; shorn, 

 and none of them weighed over sixty-one pounds 

 each ; one which weighed only forty-four pounds, 

 gave four pounds and thirteen ounces of wool, 

 washed as clean as it could be in cold water. 



