ANSWERS TO SHEEP INQUIRIES 
251 
ANSWERS TO SHEEP INQUIRIES. 
In your May number, you propounded several 
inquiries in regard to sheep, to be answered by such 
of your readers or others as are owners of good 
sheep. The answers are intended for the general 
good. I read your excellent journal with great in¬ 
terest, for the honest-straightforwardness of its 
articles. No journal in the land has sown broad-cast 
over it so many able and valuable articles on Sheep 
Husbandry as yours, and I am happy to see it pur¬ 
suing the “ even tenor of its way.” Some of your 
readers in Vermont, last year felt that much of the 
language of Examiner was badly chosen, and dis¬ 
approved of his attack, upon men who had done 
nothing to offend him. I was of that number. But 
Examiner’s papers, however unjust to some, and 
severe upon others they may have been, will be the 
means of bringing to light the interesting and import¬ 
ant fact, that there are a few small flocks in the 
country of pure breed Merino sheep, which have 
escaped deterioration by crossing with inferior races. 
The cold north has an interest in knowing this truth, 
which is of great moment to her pecuniary concerns ; 
and the whole country has an interest in knowing it. 
The light-fleeced system must be abandoned if we 
would prosper, and we must return to the strong 
constitutioned and hardy, heavy-wooled Merino. 1 
thank Examiner, then, for his papers, in which were 
much truth and much error, and many statements 
which must be received with many grains of allow¬ 
ance- I hold not the edilor of the Agriculturist at all 
responsible for them. They are the errors of an 
honest, earnest writer, I doubt not, and you have too 
much magnanimity to be offended at my" honest state¬ 
ment of my impressions. I have occupied the edi- 
orial tripod myself, in a city print, and I know 
omething of the trials and discomforts of an editor, 
rhun he is blamed for that which he has not done ; 
Jnd I can truly say, that I have admired the high- 
minded course of your journal. Excuse this digres- 
>ion. 1 will answer your inquiries without naming 
Uiem, by simply referring to their numbers. 
1. I am the owner of more than 200 pure full 
blood Merino sheep. They are nearly equally divid¬ 
ed between Guadaloupes and Paulars—the last so 
called. But I doubt whether there is a pure Paular 
in the Union. Those called Paulars in this part of 
the country are probably crosses of the Spanish races 
imported by Consul Jarvis and Mr. Livingston. 
Thirty-three of these last named, with their lambs, 
are pure Paulars, if there are any in the country. They 
were purchased of J. J. Bailey, Esq., of Newport, 
R. I., who says that they were of a race imported by 
Jarvis and Cuff, and shipped to Rhode-Island by 
Capt. James De Wolf, late of Bristol; that they were 
taken from the ship to the farm on which he now 
resides, and that they have never been crossed with 
any other race. Their form, shape, size, &c., make 
them appear very much like the pure Guadaloupe; 
but an examination of their wool, shows them to be 
a distinct and different Spanish race. They bear 
strong external and internal evidence of being pure 
Spanish sheep; and perhaps they may be what they 
are said to be-^-pure Paulars. Be that as it may, 
they are very extraordinary sheep. The Guada¬ 
loupes are a very handsome, long woolled, hardy, 
large sized sheep, more active and less docile than the 
Paulars, hat of greater strength than any sheep I 
have ever seen. It takes a man to handle them 
They are, however, perfectly quiet in pasture. They 
are sheep of surpassing excellence, imported by Mr. 
Livingston. 
2. Of the change produced by acclimation and 
breeding in this country, I cannot speak with much 
confidence. I feel assured, however, that we have 
improved upon the Spaniards, and that no Spanish 
sheep can be compared to ours without suffering in 
the comparison. At present, all the sheep I have are 
remarkable for constitution, strength, size, clean 
wool, long staple, and heavy fleeces. It is wool; not 
gum, yolk, oil, or dirt—but wool, that my sheep 
yield. It is as clean as can be found anywhere; 
soft, fine, and glossy. I should like to have you ex¬ 
amine it. I think you would pronounce it of a most 
desirable grade, and very profitable to growers and 
manufacturers. 
3. My sheep are fed on grass in summer, and hay 
in winter, with but little besides. I take care, how¬ 
ever, to have the best of hay, cut when rather green, 
with as little sun as possible—but well cured; and 
always fed out under sheds, well fitted with racks for 
sheep. I strive to have all my sheep under cover all 
winter, except in the most pleasant weather. Many 
have expressed their surprise at the number I keep 
on the hay I feed out, and at the good condition they 
are always in. The secret is told above. 
4. My sheep bring their first lambs at 2 and 3 years 
old, and will rear 95 per cent, or more, of all the 
lambs yeaned. I wean them first of September. 
5. No full bloods are killed for mutton. 
6. My sheep averaged 5 lbs. and nearly 1 oz., 
each. Of the 207 fleeces, weighing in all 1,044 lbs., 
more than one-half were taken from yearlings. All 
my sheep were very thoroughly washed—90 ewes 
have lambs by their sides. If 1 were to classify my 
sheep, the shearing might be stated as follows: 
3 Ewes sheared 7 lbs. and upwards each. 
12 “ from 6 to 7 “ “ 
46 “ “ 5 to 6 “ “ 
88 “ “ 4 to 5 “ “ 
33 “ “ to 4 “ “ 
The balanee went between 3 and 3* lbs. Consi¬ 
dering that more than half were yearlings, kept with¬ 
out a particle of grain, I think the average yield a 
large one. The shearers said it was the cleanest 
wool they ever sheared. 
My stock bucks sheared as follows: 
1 yearling Paular, 10 lbs. 8 oz. 
1 “ “ 8 lbs. 10 oz. 
1 “ Guadaloupe 7 lbs. 4 oz. 
1 two-year old “ 8 lbs. 8 oz. 
1 “ Paular 8 lbs. 8 oz. 
All these sheep were washed in a swiftly running 
stream, in the most thorough manner. They were 
sheared in the middle of a sunny day, and weighed 
in the presence of a barn full of neighbors. The first 
buck fleece named is very extraordinary. The 
sheep was 14 months and 8 days old when he was 
shorn ; and the first part of the last winter he did not 
do well at all. He yielded this fleece without extra 
keep, and had no grain till near the close of winter. 
7. Wool unsold as yet. 
8. My sheep consume about the least amount of 
feed 1 ever knew any to consume—easily kept. 
9. No diseases have ever been in the flock. 
Thus 1 have gone through with your inquiries. 
