754 
| Assembly 
The state census of 1845 furnishes us with the following statistics of 
the sheep husbandry in the five counties of this state that rank highest 
in this branch, and also in the counties of Dutchess, Rensselaer and 
Columbia, whose local situation, and whose reputation in the wool market 
associates them with Washington county. In addition to the returns 
given by the census, a column is appended, showing the average weight 
of the fleeces in each county, this being a pretty accurate indication of 
the fineness of the wool; and also a column showing the average num¬ 
ber of sheep to every hundred acres of cleared land in the county. 
^COUNTIES. 
No. of sheep 
over one 
No. of 
No. of 
Pounds 
Av’ge wt. 
of fleeces. 
Sheep 
to 100 
year old. 
lambs. 
fleeces. 
of wool. 
lbs. 
oz. 
acres. 
Washington, 
... 199,311 
66,746 
202,848 
679,056 
e 
14 
64 
['Madison,.... 
78,278 
187,840 
671,274 
3 
1 
71 
Ontario,. 
70,326 
193,557 
630,739 
3 
4 
61 
Otsego,. 
.. 182,122 
75,542 
187,782 
548,868 
2 
16 
46 
Chautauque,.. 
... 163,495 
69,220 
160,255 
485,826 
3 
i 
64 
Dutchess,.... 
,. 139,797 
61,693 
147,928 
471,096 
3 
3 
37 
Rensselaer, ■. 
.. 118,884 
45,608 
122,021 
375,902 
3 
1 
42 
Columbia. 
62,660 
117,580 
352,739 
3 
0 
32 
State of N. York, 4,505,369 
1,870,728 
4,607,012 
13,864,828 
3 
0 
38 
108. Relative fineness of the wool. —It appears from these statistics 
that the reputation which this county has so long enjoyed in the wool 
market, justly belongs to it. In the fineness of its wool it surpasses all 
the other large wool-growing counties of the state. And one county 
only, produces a greater amount of wool than Washington, namely, On¬ 
tario ; and the wool of that county is evidently of a coarser quality than 
that which is here grown, a3 is clearly indicated by the fact that the 
fleeces there are on an average six ounces heavier than they are with us. 
These returns make the average weight of the fleeces of this county 
to be two pounds and fourteen ounces. But this, it is quite probable, is 
somewhat heavier than they actually are. Almost every man is prone 
to over-estimate the amount of his clip, and is annually disappointed 
when it comes to be weighed, to find the fleeces so light as the scales 
declare them to be. Those who have been extensively engaged in pur¬ 
chasing the wool of this county for several years, and have thus become 
familiar with its weight, think that two pounds and three quarters is 
about as high as the fleeces will average. 
109. Discrepancy between the number of sheep and of fleeces. —There 
is quite a discrepancy in the census returns above cited, between the 
anmber of sheep reported and the number of fleeces. Thus, in this 
county, thirty-five hundred more fleeces are reported, than the number 
of sheep which we had; and a similar excess is shown in several of 
Ae other oounties. This I suppose has been caused by tho unsold clip 
