1847 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
145 
OBSERVATIONS ON SHEEP. 
Messrs. Editors. —During a short visit in Connecti¬ 
cut, the past month, I had the pleasure of examining 
the Merino flocks of Messrs. Blakeslee, Nettleton, 
Merriman, Hickox, and Matoon, of Watertown, and 
Messrs. Atwood and Smith, of Woodbury, Qt. I tound 
all of these gentlemen in possession of sheep that em¬ 
body many of the valuable qualities for the production 
of wool. But those qualities are combined in different 
proportions, each flock having their own peculiar traits 
of excellence; all of which show how much the charac¬ 
ter of a flock can be moulded to the taste of a skillul 
breeder. 
Mr. Blakeslee’s sheep are of fair size and shape, with 
a thick coating of wool of good length upon all parts of 
the body, and for fineness are perhaps unsurpassed by 
any pure Merino. It is Mr. Blakeslee’s practice to 
shear his lambs in August, consequently the average 
weight of the fleeces of his flock is not as high as it 
would be if his yearlings had a year’s growth of wool. 
Mr. Atwood’s sheep are of good quality, and truly re¬ 
markable for constitution, form, and weight of the fleece. 
Mr. Nettleton’s sheep are in Several respects rather a 
medium between Messrs; Atwood and Blakeslee’s. The 
owners of the other named flocks being absent, and 
some of their sheep in open fields, I did not so thorough¬ 
ly examine them, but they appeared like good sheep, 
with characteristics similar to those already named. 
There is also a strong family resemblance among the 
members of each of those flocks, which is another index 
of a systematic course of breeding. Yet there is a per¬ 
ceptible difference between what might be termed the 
best, an average, and the poorest. The fact is, there 
are seldom any large flocks so good but what we may 
select individuals that are comparatively poor, and sel¬ 
dom any flocks so poor that they do not contain a few 
good sheep. To judge of the real character of a flock 
we want to see the whole flock, or if we see a few indi¬ 
viduals only, we want to know their true comparative 
rank. 
I had also the satisfaction of examining the importa¬ 
tion of Mr. Taintor, of Hartford, Ct. Here we find 
size and form of carcass excelling anything I ever wit¬ 
nessed in the Merino race, and for constitution and 
weight of fleece they are of nearly a corresponding de¬ 
gree of merit. These sheep are another illustration of 
what may be brought about by a marked course of 
feeding and breeding. Were those sheep as fine as 
many other Merinos, they would be the most valuable 
stock in the country, and could the ew T es be crossed with 
fine wooled rams, it would, in my opinion, add much to 
the value of the stock, as size is a point that may be 
attained without impairing other qualities, through the 
medium of the dam, and the outward coating and quali¬ 
ty of the wool through the influence of the sire. 
From a personal inspection of some of the most no¬ 
ted flocks, and the combined offspring of the same flocks 
of equal merit, I am satisfied that the progress of our 
best flocks is frequently retarded by u in-and-in breed¬ 
ing.” I am the more strongly confirmed in this opin¬ 
ion, from the fact, that in the examination of sheep 
that have been bred in this manner for a series of years, 
it will generally be observed that the oldest sheep are the 
most valuable stock,. These observations, with my own 
experience, have caused me to place much confidence in 
the utility of making frequent crosses with the blood of 
other families of the same breed,, provided that the 
blood is superior, or equally as good as our own. It not 
unfrequently happens that the characteristics of two 
flocks equally valuable, are such that the imperfections 
of one would be counteracted by the perfections of the 
other, and by uniting the blood of the two, many of the 
offspring would surpass the parents on either side. 
I find, by conversing with wool-growers in various 
sections of the country, that many of them are ever 
jealous of the purity of such flocks as are claimed to 
be of pure Spanish origin. Those having the finest wool 
are suspected to be of a Saxon mixture, and those hav¬ 
ing the heaviest fleeces, are suspected of being crossed 
with native. It is perhaps too frequently the case that 
there is some just cause for these insinuations : but the 
bare fact that some flocks produce very fine wool, and 
others very heavy fleeces, is no sure evidence that they 
are grade sheep; for all this can be brought about by 
management in feeding and breeding, and still preserve 
the purity of Spanish blood. I believe the pure Merino, 
in their most valuable state, have both fine and heavy 
fleeces, and the country now affords many scattering 
specimens, and occasionally flocks in which these quali¬ 
ties are combined to a high degree. The reason why 
such are not as numerous as those of a medium and or¬ 
dinary character, is not because we are not abundantly 
supplied with the materials for making them so; but it 
is because the breeders of domestic animals do not suffi¬ 
ciently exercises their own faculties and means, to ac¬ 
quire that knowledge, skill, and energy which are requi¬ 
site in order to operate with the best success upon those 
materials. No one can become a successful breeder 
without having a quick perception of those external 
marks and qualities which indicate the true worth of an 
animal, and are an indispensable guide for making ju¬ 
dicious selections. Then with a thorough acquaintance 
with the principles of breeding, selection, and crossing, 
we can combine, modify, improve, and propagate those 
qualities, giving the progeny the most perfect and 
valuable organization; and if the thing is practicable, 
each succeeding issue will be an improvement upon the 
preceding. 
The prominent objections to many of our flocks, are 
more the results of injudicious breeding than any natu¬ 
ral defect in the original blood. There is no doubt in 
my mind, but that in the pure Spanish Merino, we have 
all of the natural elements for producing better sheep 
and more valuable fleeces than ever have been bred 
in this or any other country. All that is wanted is a 
more perfect and uniform development of all of the 
valuable qualities among the members of one flock; or 
in other words, a consolidation of those individual .traits 
for which many flocks have already gained a merited 
reputation. This can only be accomplished by time and 
perseverance, in crossing and re-crossing the very best 
animals upon the most correct principles of breeding. I 
will venture to predict, that if wool-growers would tho¬ 
roughly study the defects and merits of their sheep, and 
acquaint themselves with the best practical means of 
diminishing the one, preserving and improving the other, 
they might in a few years increase the value of a large 
proportion of their flocks one-third, without any addi¬ 
tional expense in feeding. If any think this impractica¬ 
ble. I would refer them to the difference in the annual 
returns between ordinary and choice flocks of the same 
breed. While the cash value of the fleeces of many 
flocks the past season has averaged no more than 
seventy-five cents each, that of others has been a dollar 
and twenty-five cents, a dollar and fifty cents, and a 
j dollar and seventy-five cents. The cash sales from one 
1 of my flocks of breeding ewes, one hundred in number, 
