THE SHEEP. 
181 
nearly double the value of Merino, that it will of any of the English 
long or middle wools. 
“ The important question now remains, What are the other relative 
expenses of these breeds ? I speak from experience when I say that the 
Leicester* is in no respect a hardier sheep than the Merino — indeed, it 
is my firm conviction that it is less hardy, under the most favorable 
circumstances. It is more subject to colds, and I think its constitution 
breaks up more readily under disease. The lambs are more liable to 
perish from exposure to cold, when newly dropped. Under unfavorable 
circumstances — herded in large flocks, pinched for feed, or subjected to 
long journeys — its capacity to endure, and its ability to rally from the 
effects of such drawbacks, do not compare with those of the Merino. 
The high-bred South-Down, though considerably less hardy than the 
unimproved parent stock, is still fairly entitled to the appellation of a 
hardy animal. In this respect, I consider it just about on a par with 
the Merino. I do not think, however, it will bear as hard stocking as 
the latter, without a rapid diminution in size and quality. If the pecu- 
liar merits of the animal are to be taken into account in determining 
the expenses — and I think they should be — the superior fecundity of 
the South-Down is a point in its favor, as well for a wool-producing as 
a mutton sheep. The South-Down ewe not only frequently yeans twin 
lambs, as do both the Merino and Leicester, but she possesses, unlike 
the latter, nursing properties to do justice by them. But this advantage 
is fully counterbalanced by the superior longevity of the Merino. All 
the English mutton breeds begin to rapidly deteriorate in amount of 
wool, capacity to fatten, and in general vigor, at about five years old, 
and their early maturity is no offset to this, in a sheep kept for wool- 
growing purposes. This early decay would require earlier and more 
rapid slaughter or sale than would always be economically convenient, 
or even possible, in a region situated in all respects like the South. It 
is well, on properly stocked farms, to slaughter or turn off the Merino 
wether at four or five years old, to make room for the breeding stock ; 
but he will not particularly deteriorate, and he will richly pay the way 
with his fleece, for several years longer. Breeding ewes are rarely 
turned off before eight, and are frequently kept until ten years old, at 
which period they exhibit no greater marks of age than do the Down 
and Leicester at five or six. I have known instances of Merino ewes 
breeding uniformly until fifteen years old ! The improved Cotswold is 
said to be hardier than the Leicester ; but I have said less of this va- 
riety, throughout this entire letter, as from their great sizef and the 
consequent amount of food consumed by them, and the other necessary 
incidents connected with the breeding of so large animals, the idea of 
their being introduced as a wool-growing sheep anywhere, and particu- 
larly on lands grassed like those of the South, is, in my judgment, utter- 
ly preposterous. There is one advantage which all the coarse races of 
* I speak of full-blooded Leicesters. Some of its crosses are much hardier than 
the pure bred sheep. 
1 1 aaw two at the late New York State Fair, at Saratoga, which weighed over 
three hundred pounds each. 
