242 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
received the first premium as the best Short-horn 
bull over three years old, at the show of the New- 
York State Agricultural Society at Syracuse. Two 
of the heifers imported with him, received the two 
highest prizes in their class. 
A Sheep Question. 
Eds. Cultivator —In your March number, at 
the conclusion of your article on the “Varieties of 
_ the Merino,” you say, “ Now as regards the pro¬ 
duction of wool, what variety would yield the 
greatest profit under these circumstances? In an¬ 
swering this question, it is not sufficient to refer to 
the weight of the fleece, and to the price it would 
bring in market, or to the aggregate amount of mo¬ 
ney which each sheep annually affords. Nor can it 
be fully determined by a comparison of the net pro¬ 
ceeds afforded by the wool of different kinds, in pro¬ 
portion to the weight of carcass—although it is ad¬ 
mitted that this would be an approximation towards 
the result. But who has ever made a fair and reli¬ 
able trial of this kind?” 
On turning to Morrell’s American Shepherd, I 
find some light on these questions, which, to me, is 
pretty conclusive. On pages 229 and 243, under 
the head of Winter Management of Sheep, will be 
found the following table and remarks:— 
“Veit was Professor of Agriculture in the Royal 
Institute of Bavaria, and his work is full of experi¬ 
ments and calculations at that seat of Ag. Science. 
He makes the following observations:—The need of 
fodder is proportioned to the weight of the sheep, 
and two and a-half pounds of the value of hay is 
required daily for every 100 lbs. live weight, to keep 
the animal in a profitable state. Hence the follow¬ 
ing amount of fodder is required: 
For a long wool German sheep, his wei 
ght 100 lbs., 
2.50 daily. 
Infantado Merino, 
do 
88 “ 
2.20 “ 
Grade Saxons, 
do 
75 “ 
1.87 “ 
Electoral Saxons, (pure,) 
do 
62 “ 
1.55 “ 
In connection with this table, Mr. Morrell quotes 
from Spooner’s English work on Sheep—“An ox re¬ 
quires 2 per cent, of his live weight in hay per day; 
if he works, he requires 2\ per cent.; a milch cow 
3 per cent.; a fatting ox, 5 per cent, at first, 4^ per 
cent, when half fat, and only 4 per cent, when fat. 
Grown sheep take up 3| per cent, of their weight 
in hay per day, to keep in store condition.” It 
must be understood by the reader that, in this esti¬ 
mate as well as all others, good hay is the standard 
of nutriment, and that if any grain or other food is 
used as an equivalent, allowance must be made for 
the quantity of hay accordingly.” 
On page 243 are the following comments on the 
above:—“Now we will suppose, taking Veit’s state¬ 
ment as the standard, that the average weight of a 
flock of sheep is 801bs. per head, and the fodder¬ 
ing 150 days; this will give 2 lbs. daily to each, and 
for 150 days 300 lbs., and consequently for that pe¬ 
riod 100 will eat 30,000 lbs., or 15 tons. 
“ This certainly seems a low estimate as to the 
quantity a sheep requires daily, it being 66-100ths 
less than the English standard, as rendered by Mr. 
Spooner. But different breeds and their subdivisions 
vary so materially in weight, that to form a correct 
estimate, the sheep master should weigh some of 
each of different ages of his flock, and by classify¬ 
ing them according to their relative size, he may 
feed with greater accuracy. He must remember, 
however, that sheep when growing, of any breed, 
require as much food as when they have arrived at 
maturity; and growing sheep should never be stint¬ 
ed. 
July, 
“Another important consideration must not be lost 
sight of, namely, the quality of the hay. If it is 
coarse, much of it the sheep will reject; and conse¬ 
quently an allowance of from 10 to 25 per cent, must 
be made accordingly. It is for this reason, old mea¬ 
dows produce a better quality of hay than new ; that 
from the former being finer, and more miscellane¬ 
ous. Sheep are very fond of clover hay, and will 
increase more rapidly in flesh if it is provided for 
them, than by any other description; but the quan¬ 
tity in bulk, comparatively, they require of it, is 
enormous. 
“From the above premises, we are enabled to de¬ 
duce an exceedingly important fact, which, if always 
duly considered, will be the means of avoiding the 
serious blunders hitherto so frequently committed by 
American breeders, namely, that it requires an 
equal amount of food to produce a pound of flesh , 
or a pound of wool, without regard to the size of 
the sheep, or the breed. This is indeed a truism, 
and therefore self evident. But by way of illustra¬ 
ting the point, let us select one of each of the rival 
breeds of England—the South Down and Leicester; 
we will suppose the live weight of the former, when 
in store condition, to be 100 lbs., and that of the 
Leicester or Bakewell, 150 lbs., which is probably, 
in general, the relative disproportion. Now it is 
clear, taking the estimate of Mr. Spooner, the Down 
sheep will consume 3g lbs. of hay daily, while the 
Leicester will need about 5 lbs. Is the latter, how¬ 
ever, more or less profitable than the Down? Clear¬ 
ly there is no difference, for the offal is relatively 
the same, and so is the proportion of the valuable 
parts—the flesh and wool. The expenditure of 
food for the Leicester is'greatly the largest, but on¬ 
ly in proportion to the difference of value derived 
from the additional size of the carcass. Thus it is 
seen, the pound of everything costs alike, and all 
circumstances being equal, the profits are the 
same.* 
“ But we will go farther, and instance the Merino 
and' Saxon, alike distinguished for wool-growing 
purposes. The Saxon, it will be remembered, is of 
the same race, being only a sub-variety of the Me¬ 
rino. Let a selection be made of one of each, 
which combines to the greatest extent, their perfec¬ 
tions respectively. By taking the standard of Yeit, 
as shown in his table, of the live weight of a pure 
Merino, say 88 lbs., and that of a pure Saxon, say 
62 lbs., (which is- nearly the comparative weight 
when pure,) the Merino, if fed at the rate of 2% lbs. 
of hay per 100 lbs. of live weight, consumes 2.20 
lbs. daily, and the Saxon 1.55 lbs., a difference, it 
will be noticed, of nearly 40 per cent, less than the 
Merino. Now, both being supplied with this pro 
rata of ration daily, the Merinos will produce 40 
per cent, more of wool and flesh, at an expenditure, 
however, of 40 per cent, more of food. Thus it is 
clear that the pound of wool and flesh, in both 
cases, costs precisely the same. Hence it may be 
laid down as a rule by which the unwary may learn, 
that, after knowing the usual average weight of 
carcass and fleece of a given breed, if he hears of 
any very extraordinary individual instances of either, 
it may be ascribed to extra feeding, and a cost ac¬ 
cordingly. 
“Let not the reader, however, misapprehend the 
point in question. The breeds of sheep vary much 
in the quantity of wool they respectively produce, 
and individuals of a given breed will often outstrip 
* Let it be understood by the reader that the point is wool and flesh, 
and not fat, which.it will readily be conceded that several breeds of 
animals will gather more rapidly than others, arising either from im¬ 
proved conformation or more quietness of habit. 
