oe ee,

|SF 376
.G8
Copy 1

on: ees Se
bay Hae Se

velee History of Sheep Malena) ee

ae Massachusetts. EaeEES

# * ¥
= - eS ee: Sy ———_—_—.
- ; :
“ ‘“
eee |
4 >
: ees t
y 4 “ $ 2
$y CoD ot SS
‘ a os }-<% S
— Py ss

Peel es ha OMe Bis ep?
Lar a
Hon. JAMES §. GRINNELL

QF GREENEIELD;

DELIVERED AT THE PuBLIC WINTER MnetinG oF THE Massacuusenrs

STATE Boarp oF AGRICULTURE, AT Boston,
_ DECEMBER 2, 1891.

Wirn Accompanyine Discussion.

BOSTON :
WRIGHT: & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS,
18 Post OFFICE SQUARE
1892.

story of Sheep Husbandry tn

Massachusetts.

sre aoe OBE ol aN ea bb

BY

ad

Hon. JAMES S° GRINNELL

OF GREENFIELD.

DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC WINTER MEETING OF THE MASSACHUSETTS
STaTE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, AT BosTon,
DECEMBER 2, 1891.

Witnu AccOMPANYING DISCUSSION.

BOSTON :
WRIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS,
18 Post OFFICE SQUARE,
1892.

BY TRANSFFR.

JUN 3 1910

HISTORY OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN MASSACHUSETTS.

BY HON. JAMES 8S. GRINNELL OF GREENFIELD.

The subject of sheep husbandry, always one of the greatest
importance to the whole farming community, seems again to
be exciting general interest and attention in our State, and,
in the opinion of the Board of Agriculture, would be aided
and advanced by a somewhat extended consideration in a
paper which I was directed to prepare and bring before this
meeting, and by the full discussion which is to follow.

In all ages the sheep has been a prominent representative
of rural husbandry, profitable and eminently respectable,
from the time that Abel, the first. keeper of sheep, made to
the Lord an acceptable offering of the firstlings of his
flock — early lambs; and many hundreds of years later that
great farmer and flock-master, Job, reckoned among his
stock fourteen thousand sheep.

Originally neither the flesh of the sheep nor of any other
animal was used as an article of food. According to Bibli-
‘al history, only a vegetable diet was permitted, —the fruit
of every tree in the garden of Eden (with one exception)
‘cand every herb of the field;” so that for about sixteen
hundred years, till after the deluge, no sheep were killed to
be eaten. It was only after Noah had stepped forth from
the ark and offered his sacrifice that the Divine permission
was given, ‘* Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat
for you; evenas the green herb have I given you all things.”
From this time on the flesh of the sheep was not only an
acceptable offering to the Almighty, but as an article of
food is frequently mentioned in Holy Writ, from the dress-
ing of a single lamb in very early days down to the mag-
nificence of Solomon, who, besides his established character
for wisdom generally, manifested an exceeding good taste

t

and consideration for his household by having a hundred
sheep slaughtered for their daily maintenance and enjoyment.

Sheep probably found their way into Europe by the
Hellespont with the early civilization of its inhabitants, and
after a long interval into Italy; they were early cultivated
in Spain, having probably been introduced there from Africa
long before the founding of Rome. The more northern part
of Europe was a great forest, unfavorable to the growing
of sheep, and their numbers seem always to have been small.
The Celtic tribes paid more regard to the ox than to the
sheep, and the flocks of the early inhabitants of Europe
never equalled those of the Syrian and other Asiatic shep-
herds.

As the sheep of this country (except the Merinos) mostly
‘ame from England, it would be curious and interesting to
trace their introduction to that country. Unfortunately this
is shrouded in the darkness which envelops the British
Islands prior to their invasion and conquest by the Romans.
During that dynasty, however, wool was spun and woven
and woollen fabrics were made in Britain; and in course of
time the woollens of Winchester, which were said to rival
the spider’s web in fineness, attained the highest reputation,
and maintained it for centuries; but there is no record of
the sheep from whose fleece these were spun and woven.
It is believed that the Hibernians had from the Phoenicians
acquired the art of spinning and weaving long before the
invasion of the Romans upon England, and while the people
of the larger island were still clad in the skins of wild ani-
mals, and of oxen and sheep, after their untraceable intro-
duction. From that time to the improvement of sheep and
the settlement of this country is a long interval. Either
the sheep were not very early introduced here, or the chron-
iclers of that day did not see fit to make any special mention
of them; horses, cattle, and, strangely, goats, are much
sarlier and oftener noticed than sheep.

In 1629 permission was given to ship from Southampton
one hundred and forty cattle, horses, sheep and goats ;
how many were landed, if any, does not appear. July,
1651, from Barnstable in Devonshire were shipped eight
heifers, a calf and five sheep. June 15, 1633, thirty-four

Dutch sheep were landed, forty having been lost at sea.
In the same year these or others are recorded as having
been carried onto an island in Boston harbor as a place of
protection against wolves. In 1635 eighty-eight Dutch
ewes were brought in, valued at fifty shillings each. July,
1633, an order was made that no sheep should be exported.
May 14, 1648, the following order was made by the General
Court: ‘‘ that forasmuch as the keeping of sheep tends to
the good and benefit of the country, if they were carefully
preserved, henceforth it shall be lawful for any man to keep
sheep on any common, accounting five sheep to one great
beast. And if any dog shall kill any sheep, the owner shall
either hang his dog forthwith, or pay double damages for
the sheep. And if any dog has been known to course or
bite any sheep before, not being set on, and his owner had
notice thereof, then he shall both hang his dog and pay for
the sheep.”

In 1634 an order was passed by the court: ‘*that whereas,
the country was in great straits in respect of clothing, and
the most likeliest way tending to supply in that respect is
the raising and keeping of sheep within our jurisdiction, it
is therefore ordered and enacted by this court, that after the
publication hereof no person or persons whatsoever shall
transport any ewes or ewe lambs out of this jurisdiction to
any foreign place or port, upon the penalty of the forfeiture
of five pounds for every ewe or ewe lamb so transported.”

In 1652 Charlestown had as many as four hundred sheep ;
and in 1658 John Josselyn wrote, in the account of his two
voyages to the Colonies, of there being eight hundred at
Black Point in this State, and again mentions their having
great store of sheep in the colony.

Twenty years later, Sir Edward Randolph, commissioner
of the Crown, wrote in his official correspondence that
‘¢New England abounded in sheep.” By successive impor-
tations, care in breeding and preserving, forbidding exporta-
tions and the killing of sheep as much as possible, they
multiplied greatly, they became abundant on the commons,
and were watched and guarded by a shepherd. Herding, now
so successfully practised by the most eminent sheep grower in
the State, was first used in this country in Rowley, where

6

permission was granted to erect sheep gates, or lengths of
movable fence to be set up at night as protection against
wolves and dogs.

Clothing.

Next to food and shelter, the great exigency of the early
settlers was of course clothing sufficient not only to cover
their nakedness, but to keep them warm in this cold climate.
In this respect, as in some others, they were content to
receive from the customs of their barbarous neighbors sug-
gestions which were not without use to them in their pecul-
iar circumstances. The original clothing of the Indians was
from the furs and skins of wild animals. Much skill was
evinced in the dressing of buffalo, deer, elk and other skins
for that purpose ; for external wear they were prepared with
the hair or wool on, and for under garments the smaller
skins were made into a kind of ** chamois” leather by remoy-
ing the hair and dressing them with the brains of the animal,
which rendered them very soft and pliable. A squaw would
thus prepare eight or ten skins ina day. Morton says the
Indians ‘* made their skins into very good leather, making
them ‘plume’ and soft; the moose skins they commonly
dress bare and make them wondrous white ; the moccasins
and leggings were usually made from the moose skins.”
The colonists made much use of these materials, which com-
ported well with their rugged mode of life and the severity of
the climate. Indeed, they were not unaccustomed to the use
of similar materials in their native country ; for in England,
even in that day, leather dressed as buff and in other styles,
and worn as doublets, breeches or vests, formed no incon-
siderable part of the clothing of some classes, and for some
purposes was worn by the nobility. These sober and frugal
materials continued in use till after the era of independence,
and garments wholly or in part of buckskin or other leather
could be found in the wardrobes of even the wealthy men of
that day. Deerskins dressed were then worth from three
shillings and sixpence to seven shillings each.

In 1747, Joseph Calef, a leather dresser of Charlestown,
was robbed by burglars, who took a variety of sheepskins
dressed for clothing, some cloth colored for breeches very

i

much upon the red, others were cloth colored thin skins for
gloves. In the ‘‘ Boston Evening Post,” February, 1748,
are advertised ‘‘two fulling mills for the fulling of leather.”

As fast as the settlers could produce the materials and
provide the men and means, they had spun and woven for
clothing flax of their own growing, the cultivation of which
they had commenced early; cotton from Barbadoes, and
wool imported from Malaga and some other ports. All these
textile goods for more than a hundred years were spun and
woven and dyed in the homestead ; every house had a spin-
ning-wheel, and every other house a loom. The price of
spinning worsted or linen we are told was usually two shillings
per pound ; for knitting coarse yarn stockings, half a crown
a pair; for weaving linen half a yard wide, ten to twelve
pence per yard. The cost of manufacturing eighteen pounds
of wool into twenty yards of cloth was $21.24, or $1.06 per
yard three-quarters wide. In the earlier days very little
cloth was on sale, it was largely consumed in the family or
used in barter with the neighbors for other necessities ; and
almost the only attainable way of getting at a price is to read
some dead man’s inventory. In 1671 worsted was worth
sixty-six pence per pound, and woollen thirty-two pence.
Much linsey-woolsey was made for men’s wear, of linen
warp and wool filling, valued at eighteen cents per yard.
Homespun garments or cloth were seldom inventoried; a
piece of homespun is valued at three and sixpence in 1681,
justifying a statement of a letter writer of that day, that in
1675 ‘*there is no cloth made worth four shillings and no
linen over two shillings and sixpence per yard;” perhaps
not, but it covered a race unsurpassed for bravery and
fortitude. I might perhaps truthfully say that they were
mén of great understanding, for among the outfits provided
for the colony in 1629, ‘¢a great store of shoes is ordered of
neats leather of sizes from ten to thirteen.”

Domestic manufactures began early, especially spinning
and weaving; for in 1639 home-made cloth is found in
Peter Branch’s inventory, and appears in increasing quanti-
ties, though probably insufficient to keep pace with the
increasing population, for in 1640 a bounty was offered for
home-made cloth. In 1656, finding the supply still short,

9)

8

the selectmen were ordered to assess on each family the
spinning and weaving of a certain amount of cloth. This
cloth was woven on hand looms, as was all the cloth of
every kind made in England as well as here ; for it must be
remembered that the power loom was not in existence, — it
was invented by Rev. Edward Cartwright in 1788, and per-
fected by him in 1790.

The first fullmeg mill for dressing this home-made cloth
was built at Rowley in 1643 by a company of weavers,
skilled workmen from Yorkshire, under the spiritual and
business charge of Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, where the first
woolen cloth was dressed in New England. Another fulling
mill was erected in Salem about the same time, and soon
after they became common. The price of this home-made
cloth was six or eight shillings per yard, imported cloth fifteen
to eighteen shillings.

In 1657 the value of a sheep was one pound, an ox five
pounds, horse ten pounds, cow three pounds, wool eight
pence, negro boy twenty pounds. <A story which I came
across In preparing this paper, though not entirely pertinent,
will not be displeasing to you, as illustrating some of the
trials of this early colonial life. In the latter half of the
last century lived a small family on a stony farm in Con-
necticut. The stock consisted of a dozen sheep and a cow,
who, besides her yield of milk, added her services on the
plough; corn bread, milk and bean porridge were the staples
of their diet. The father being incapacitated by long illness,
the mother did her work in the house and helped the boys
in the fields. Once in mid-winter one of the boys needed a
new suit, and there was neither money nor wool in the
house. The mother sheared the half-grown fleece from a
sheep, and ina week it was made into clothes for the boy.
The shorn sheep, so generous in such need, was protected
from the cold by a wrapping made of braided straw. They
lived four miles from the meeting-house, to which the mother
and her boys walked every Sunday. Those boys became the
Rey. Samuel Nott, a famous preacher, and Rey. Dr. Eliphalet
Nott, the President of Union College.

Our ancestors emigrated from different places in the
United Kingdom, and some from the various countries of

3)

Europe; they brought with them domestic animals and thei
implements of husbandry to subdue and cultivate the wilder-
ness. Hach, as would be natural to suppose, made choice
of the favorite breed of his own immediate district to trans-
port to the new world, and the admixture of these breeds
formed the mongrel family known as native sheep; amid the
perils of war and the incursions of wild beasts of prey these
were preserved with attentive care. The descendants of
these sheep, known in our day as ‘‘ native” in distinction from
the breeds of recent known importation, were of two types,—
one with white faces and the other with dark or spotted
faces and legs. These last were known in the Connecticut
ralley and through the western part of the State as
‘¢ English runts” or ‘* Irish smuts,” and were undoubtedly
taken from the counties lying on the south coast of England,
Devon, Hampshire and Sussex, and were the same stock of
sheep from the Downs of Sussex and Hampshire, that in
later years, under the care and skill of John Ellman, Jonas
Webb and others, became the matchless ‘‘ South Downs.”

A very convincing proof of this occurred in my own
experience. Some thirty years ago or more, when Mr. Fay
imported the Oxford Downs, I had from him a large superior
ram which I coupled with fifty of the Irish smut ewes picked
up for me by a friendly drover in the western part of
Franklin County and southern Vermont. The product was
marvellous; I had succeeded in obtaining what horse men
would call a perfect ‘‘ nick.” The type of the lambs, several
of which were twins, was entirely changed from that of the
ewes, and seemed to assume the character of the improved
South Down in the Oxford Down ram; shortened the neck,
colored the faces uniformly brown, widened the breast,
shortened the legs, put on more wool, sprung out the ribs,
deepened and broadened the hind quarters, and gave them a
weight of seventy-five pounds in ninety days. So I believe
the old South Down blood was in our ‘‘ native” sheep, and
only needed developing.

The larger white-faced, long-legged, bare-legged, light-
fleeced sheep of the country were originally brought in
considerable numbers from the Texel and other parts of
Holland. These common sheep gave a wool only suited

10

for coarser fabrics, yielding in the hands of good farmers
a fleece of not over three and one-half or four pounds.
They were slow in arriving at maturity, compared with
the present improved English breeds, and yielded when
full grown only from twelve to fourteen pounds per quarter
of a middling quality of mutton which, however, was in but
slight demand; they were usually Jong-legged, light in the
fore quarter, and narrow on the back and hind quarter.
They were hardy, easy keepers and good breeders, often
rearing, almost entirely destitute of care and shelter, one
hundred per cent of lambs, and in small flocks with more
care a still larger proportion; these were dropped in March
and April. Restless in their disposition, their impatience of
restraint almost equalled that of the untamed sheep of the
Rocky Mountains; and in many parts of the country it was
common to see flocks of from twenty to fifty roaming with
little regard to enclosures over the possessions of the owner
and his neighbors, leaving a portion of their wool on every
thorn and bush.

I do not purpose to give a history of the different breeds
of sheep cultivated in England, but briefly to notice those
that have received the preference of our own farmers.

South Downs.

Seventy-five years ago there were in the United Kingdom
of Great Britain twenty different so-called breeds of sheep,
each peculiar to the county or circumscribed district in which
they were bred, and many of them probably not breeds in
the strict sense of that term, as capable of reproducing their
own type under all circumstances. Many of these have been
absorbed, and are disappearing by cross-breeding with the
more profitable breeds ; of these, the one having undoubtedly
the most influence has been the South Down, which has
stamped its characteristics on the popular families of the
Oxford, the Hampshire and the Shropshire Downs, now,
with the exception of some Merinos, almost exclusively bred
in this State.

The chalk hills called downs, running through the county
of Sussex and into Hampshire on the south coast of England,
are the home of the South Downs, now so famous all over

11

the world, not only for themselves, but as fixing their char-
acteristics on every breed upon which they have been
crossed; and this they owe to the prepotency of their blood,
conducted down unmixed for nearly a thousand years.

But the South Downs were not always what they are now;
a little more than a hundred years ago an enterprising sheep
owner, Mr. John Ellman, commenced the improvement. of
the South Downs by selecting judiciously and breeding most
carefully. This was afterward continued with equal skill by
Mr. Jonas Webb, who with others has brought these beauti-
ful animals to their present perfect condition; their pleasant
brown faces, their broad, straight backs, their deep briskets
and splendid legs of mutton are everywhere known. For
this part of the country they and their congeners, the Shrops,
the Hampshire and the Oxford, are the most valuable and
popular sheep we have. —

Hampshire Downs.

From the South Downs, bred on the old white-faced horned
sheep of Hampshire and Wiltshire, came the grand Hampshire
Down; but the strong blood of the South Down has done
away with the horns, and given them its own dark face.
They are large, heavy sheep, producing splendid hardy
lambs, with a good fleece and an admirable leg of mutton ;
and they, as well as all the Downs, impart their charac-
teristics wherever used.

Shropshires.

The Shropshires were produced by breeding the South
Downs on the small, dark-faced horned sheep of Shropshire
on the border of Wales; the size was improved by a cross or
two of Leicester, and reverting to the South Downs, who
have taken off the horns, and made them one of the most
popular breeds in England and in this State, bearing all the
excellent characteristics of the Downs.

Oxford Downs.
The Oxford Downs were large and white-faced ; but under
the influence of the South Downs and the Hampshire Downs,
and with an occasional dip into the Cotswolds to add to and

12

keep up the size (which has been done with all these breeds
improved by the influence of South Down blood), they have
become grand sheep with a good fleece, heavier than the
Cotswold and somewhat finer; they are very likely to drop
twins, and are very capable of raising them. All of these
Down sheep are worthy of our attention and care.

Leicesters.

The original Leicesters were large, coarse, inferior ani-
mals, till Robert Bakewell, something over a century ago,
commenced their improvement; and by care, selection and
breeding steadily for one purpose, he made them the best
mutton sheep in the world at that time, not caring whether
they had any wool or not. He bred them so close and so
fine as greatly to impair their constitution. They are not
suited to our climate and general ‘treatment as pure-bred
animals, but our native sheep were years ago improved by a
cross of Leicester for size.

Cotswolds.

The Cotswolds came from the county of Gloucester, early
noted for wool production; its sheep were so highly prized
that four hundred years ago a number were exported to
Spain by royal permission. They are remarkable for size
and symmetry, and are of an imposing presence. The head
is large, without horns, carried high and well wooled, with
a large forelock hanging over the face ; the face and legs are
white, occasionally slightly mottled with gray or dark
brown; the wool is long, wavy and lustrous, sometimes
measuring eight to ten inches, and commands a high price ;
the quality of the flesh, — though not equal to the Downs, —
their great size and good shape make them desirable espe-
cially to cross on other breeds when increased size is desired,
and they have been used for that purpese in this State.

Dorsets.

Another breed which is attracting considerable attention in
this country at the present time, and has long been popular
in England, is the Dorset. From time immemorial these
sheep have been naturalized in the county of Dorset, and
formerly extended over a large tract of country.

15

These sheep possess small horns common to both male
and female ; they have white faces, and legs which are some-
what long but fine, showing a very good breast and a fine
leg of mutton with loins broad and deep; wethers will fatten
to twenty pounds to the quarter. They are a hardy race of
sheep, docile, and capable of subsisting on scanty pastures ;
their mutton is good, and they shear six er seven pounds of
close wool, finer than the Downs.

The property of the. Dorsets which remarkably distin-
guishes them is the fecundity of the females, and their readi-
ness to receive the ram at any season. This, and their
capacity for yielding an abundant supply of milk, renders
them particularly desirable for raising early lambs. In
England they have been largely and profitably used for rais-
ing lambs for winter use even as early as Christmas, and
called ** house lambs,” for which in London there is a great
demand. The lambs are hardy, thrifty, mature early, and
will dress twenty-eight to thirty pounds at sixty or
seventy days old. Probably a cross of a South Down
ram on Dorset ewes would give more size and early maturity
with the superior nursing quality of the dam. They tend
strongly to twins, sometimes having triplets, and their full
flow of milk suffices to raise the lambs. Some sheep farmers
think one lamb fora ewe is better than two ; but if the ewe isa
good milker, and well fed, twins are profitable. Mr. Youatt
says, ‘‘If a farmer has feed enough and good enough, twins
are highly desirable.” An old English couplet, written
before the first sheep was landed in Plymouth colony, says :—

“ Ewes yearly by twinning rich masters do make ;
The lambs of such twinners for breeders go take.”

Merinos.

The breed of sheep, however, which in its production of
fine wool has been the most important in the history of the
world, is the Spanish Merino. Long before the Christian
era the finest garments worn by the nobility and wealthy
citizens of imperial Rome were woven from the fine wools of
Truditania, Andalusia and Estramadura in Spain. Subse-
quently the original Spanish sheep were raised and improved
by the Moors, who brought with them into Spain fine sheep

14

from North Africa, which they had carefully cultivated, and
from whose fleeces were woven fabrics of superlative quality.

The fine sheep of Spain a hundred years ago numbered
over twenty millions, and were long preserved as a monop-
oly with jealous care. Sweden has the honor of being the
first country which secured a flock of these coveted animals.
France, though adjoining Spain, obtained none till near the
close of the last century. In 1765 the Elector of Saxony
succeeded in securing a flock, which, crossed on the native
fine sheep of his kingdom, and carefully bred, made the
Saxonies so famous for the fineness of their wool here sixty
years ago. The skill and ability with which the Spanish
Merinos were bred and cultivated in this part of the country
were convincingly shown at an international exhibition in
1861, at Hamburg, Germany, when American Merios,
bred by George Campbell of Vermont, and exhibited under
the direction of Col. Daniel Needham, formerly of our Board,
captured the prizes and defied competition.

Saxonies.

The Saxonies were first imported by Samuel Henshaw of
Boston, and much was anticipated from the introduction of
these sheep producing such superlatively fine wool. When
they were introduced, in 1823 or 1824, they were much
smaller and of a feebler constitution than their parent stock,
the Spanish Merinos; the wool was from an inch to an inch
and a half long on the back and sides, and a washed fleece
weighed only about one and three-fourths pounds. Attempts
at improvement by crossing with the Merinos were made in
rain; both deteriorated, and before 1850 the Saxonies had
mostly gone out. They have been lessening in number
ereatly ever since, and, although we nominally have about
a thousand, I doubt if there is a genuine, pure-bred Saxon
in the State.

From the long-established policy of the British Govern-
ment in encouraging and fostering the manufactures of that
country and of discouraging and even forbidding any
attempts toward it inher colonies, we found ourselves, at the
close of the war of the revolution, not only without the man-
ufactories of woollens, but also destitute of the material from

15

which to make such fine goods as were necessary. The atten-
tion of our statesmen was early directed to supply this
deficiency, and they wisely looked to the Merinos of Spain
to accomplish it; but it was with the greatest difficulty that
the Spanish Government could be persuaded to allow any of
them to be exported.

The first important importation of these was made by Col.
David Humphreys of Connecticut, then United States Minis-
ter to Spain, who brought a flock of about one hundred to
his farm in Derby, Connecticut. These increased to such’
an extent that he made at his mill in 1807 several hundred
yards of fine cloth. In 1809 President Madison was inducted
into office in the first inaugural suit of American broadcloth,
the coat from Colonel Humphrey’s flock, the waistcoat and
small clothes from the flock of Mr. Livingston of New York.
Arthur Scholfield wove the first piece of fine broadcloth that
was ever made in this country from Merino wool, at Pittsfield
in this State.

The most important early importation, however, was by
Mr. William Jarvis, American consul at Lisbon in Portugal,
who seized an opportunity to buy some of the finest sheep
in Spain, the confiscated property of some wealthy noble-
man, and sent to this State and to different parts of the
country about thirty-eight hundred fine Merinos, the most
and finest ever exported. These and others, distributed
over all the States bordering on the Atlantic coast, soon
changed the character of the wool and wool growing of the
country.

It is not strange that we of Massachusetts should have
taken the lead in this industry of wool growing and wool
manufacturing as we did in every matter advancing the
material or the intellectual progress of civilization. The
first sheep producing the desired quality of wool for making
fine cloth were either landed on our shores or brought
directly within our borders, where they were cared for and
multiplied amazingly. There were then no Western States ;
Ohio, which has since assumed the lead in sheep raising and
in sheep legislation, had just received her baptismal nomina-
tion; all the sheep, all the implements of manufacture, —
such as they were, all the men of character and industry,
were this side the Alleghanies.

16

The men who planted themselves on the coast of Massachu-
setts Bay came not only for religious freedom but to speedily
build themselves homes with such necessaries and comforts
as they enjoyed in the homes they had left behind them, by
laboring at the same occupations at which they had wrought
in England. The list of trades and those who worked in
them would astonish one, from glass workers to needle
makers ; the names of Joseph Jenks, John Pearson, Edward
Gibbon, Israel Stoughton and others who started manufact-
-ures should be kept in perpetual remembrance.

Our climate is admirably adapted to sheep growing, one
proot of which is that in no country are sheep so little liable
to disease as in New England. Our rough hills covered
with sweet herbage from which all superfluous water disap-
pears about as fast as it falls, and our sharp, dry winds,
are naturally adapted to the wants and conditions of sheep,
which always thrive best in the purest and most bracing
atmosphere. Wet seasons and wet soils are destructive to
sheep. ‘The New England flock master is forced to recognize
what the English sheep raisers were long in learning, —the
_ economy and benefit of shelter in winter, even in their less
rigorous climate. The truth is that sheep in New England,
if well sheltered and furnished with proper food, will pro-
duce better wool and mutton and a larger increase of lambs
than sheep exposed, even in the genial climate of Virginia.
Sheep are most indiscriminate feeders, and delight in a
change of food. One who takes the pains to observe them
when feeding will be surprised at the continual shifting they
make from one species of herbage to another, and upon our
hills and valleys there is to be found the full variety which
their nature requires.

The first mill for weaving and finishing fine cloth was at
Pittsfield, run by Arthur Scholfield, a weaver from York-
shire, who settled here and made the first broadcloth, fine
enough for any gentleman’s wear at that time. Several
hundred yards of homespun were annually dressed at Rowley
and Salem. That there was abundant wool of common kind
widely distributed is shown by this fact, among others, that.
in the first years of this century two thousand pairs of hand-
knit stockings were annually exported from the Island of
Martha’s Vineyard.

17

On the 15th of November I addressed circulars containing
a few interrogatories to various men in the State whose
names were given me as sheep raisers, to the number of
about a hundred. I have been much gratified at the full
replies made, of which I have received over sixty, for which
I beg to thank very heartily the senders. I intend if possible
to tabulate the results, and to have them presented to the
public at some future time.

The great decline of our sheep and wool commenced
apparently about fifty years ago. In 1838 we had 384,614
sheep, of which 200,383 were Merinos, 46,985 were Saxonies,
and 137,246 other breeds. In 1888, fifty years later, we
had 51,539 sheep, of which 4,500 were Merinos, 1,000 were
Saxonies, and about 46,000 other breeds. In 1838 the total
value of sheep and wool was $1,116,608; in 1888 it was
$295,000. Thus it will be seen that in fifty years our sheep
have decreased in numbers over 333,000, and our wool
812,000 pounds. While our losses in aggregate numbers
have been very large, yet the gain in individual animals
shows our great improvement in breeding.

In 1838 each sheep was valued at $1.50, and sheared two
and three-fourths pounds to the fleece. Fat lambs were
valued at $1.75 each. In 1888 each sheep was worth $5.00,
and sheared four and one-half pounds of wool, and lambs
were worth $5.00 each. So that men who own sheep now
hold a property worth more than ever before.

The following table shows the diminution of the sheep
generally, and by breeds, which, with any adequate causes
to account for it, I have faithfully pondered over in a spirit
of unintelligent curiosity : —

YEARS. Saxonies. Merinos. Other Breeds. Total.

1845, . : - : : 33,870 165,428 155,640 | 354,943
72,825

1855,. : : : . 6,806 65,084 145,215
1865, . : : ° : 3,126 55,428 110,888 169,442
1875,. ; : - : 1,631 14,456 42,686 58,773

1885, . : ‘ ¢ : 1,215 5,307 48,618 55,140

18

In 1890 the whole number by the assessors’ returns was
45,899; the breeds are not given. Since 1865 the decrease
has been gradual every year, and almost invariable. What
was the cause or what were the causes that produced this
unprecedented decline in an industry pleasant and profitable?

DeEcrEASE IN NUMBER OF SHEEP.

Those who know nothing of the subject confidently assert
some one reason; those who have studied the matter don’t
pretend to know, but suppose that all the causes assigned
may, combined, have produced the effect for which no one
alone can be regarded adequate. Among the causes assigned
are the operation and the fluctuation of the tariff; the
greatly increased importation of wool from Australia, New
Zealand, South America and other foreign countries; the
introduction of shoddy (invented in 1803) to a large extent
some years later; the enormously increased importation, by
enlarged railway facilities, of sheep and lambs from the,
West; the great increase of the dairy industry in milk,
cream and butter; the destruction of sheep by dogs; the
diminution of flocks induced by the decay of fences. The
first three of these alleged causes for the decrease of our
flocks apply especially to loss in the past, while the last four
show reasons which act against the revival of this industry.
I pass lightly over these, as, in the talk which will follow
this paper, these alleged causes will be more fully and satis-
factorily considered, and this will form the most valuable
part of this meeting.

Importation of Sheep from the West.

One of the most important causes for the decrease of our
own home-grown sheep for the slaughter for mutton and
lamb has been the great influx of these animals from the
West, from Canada and from other States, for killing and
not for breeding nor the production of wool, induced by the
vastly increased railway facilities showing a large advance in
the demand for mutton and lamb in our markets.

At Brighton, on the week before Christmas, 1839, two
Franklin County men held four hundred sheep, every one in
the market; yet, so ample was that supply and so inactive

19

the demand, that they could not raise the market a half cent
a pound, and finally sold with difficulty. Just twenty years
after that, Christmas week, 1859, five thousand four hundred
sheep changed hands from the drover to the butcher. On
the week preceding Christmas, 1889, fifty years from the
first date, the receipts were $10,444, and the demand such
as called for advanced rates, and a quarter of a cent per
pound was easily realized. This increase has continued
annually. In 1890 the number of live sheep discharged at
Brighton and Watertown was 583,545, of which the Western
were 370,067, from Canada 88,313, sheep of Massachusetts
6,181, from Rhode Island and Connecticut 48 head. A
very few of these are sold for breeding, some for export,
but almost all are slaughtered at the market.

The reports of animals every week (for which I am
indebted to Mr. Whitaker of the ‘* New England Farmer”)
show receipts varying in numbers from 5,000 in March to
17,722 in September and October. This indicates a very
enlarged demand for a most nutritious, cheap and wholesome
article of food, shown by theoretical considerations, as well
as by careful experiment, to be quite equal to beef and
superior to pork or almost any of the meats we use.

Dairy Industry.

Probably the great interest at the present time and for
some years past in the making of milk, cream, butter and
cheese, with a paying price and quick returns for the prod-
uct, has had much to do in repressing the keeping of sheep
and raising lambs, aggravated by the uncertainty of that
branch of farm industry through destruction by dogs. The
growth of the dairy production has been as remarkable as the
decrease of sheep products. As a matter for comparison, I
give the dairy products of 1865, the first year that a com-
plete census was attempted for them, with the last, of
1885 :—

1865.
WGN F : : 4 : A : ; ; . $1,930,409
Butter, . ; ; : F . : é j P é 1,389,027
Cheese, . : 2 ; C ; - , ; ‘ ‘ 582,253

$3,901,689

1885.
Milk, . ‘ : : , . ; ; ‘ . $10,312,762
Butter, including creamery, . A 7 5 0 ; : 2,611,351
Cheese, including factory, . : : . ° . : 99,478
Cream, . 5 : A - : c 4 - : ; 202,706
$13,226,297
The cows and heifers of 1865 numbered,. . : ; : 174,386
The cows and heifers of 1885 numbered, . : : : 198,997
Fences.

I have no doubt that imperfect fencing had a considerable
part in discouraging farmers who were keeping sheep. Many
fences, only enough of which are left to make division lines,
were built long years ago. The life of a Virginia rail fence
is about sixty years; to a stone wall there is no limit of
duration, but there is to its ability to turn sheep. <A rail
fence becomes at last broken and rotten in spots, and must
be repaired, sometimes by lopping down a small tree, some-
times by putting ina rotten rail or a couple of insufficient
stakes. The stone wall, always a ‘‘ balance wall,” has been
rudely laid a hundred years more or less by the unskilled
hands of the farmer and his hired man; year after year it has
settled, and the top stones have tumbled down, especially
on a side hill, aided by long years of storm and by careless
hunters and boys. Where the stones have fallen so as to
make a set of convenient steps, the sheep will cheerfully
walk over, or will crawl through any hole or gap in a fence.
Early in the spring the farmer, annoyed at the continual
excursions of his sheep the preceding season, starts out with
his boys to mend his fences; a long, cold, wearisome job it
is, and usually done in the most slouching and perfunctory
manner. <A few years of this, and he begins to agree with
the boys that cows are easier kept.

Recently barbed wire has come to our relief, and a single
strand stretched on posts or stakes above the top of the wall
makes it pretty secure, while a fence of four or five strands is
cheap, will restrain the sheep, and protect them from dogs.

Tariff.
Tariff is a dreadful-sounding word, and causes as much

dismay and terror now as it did when borne by that piratical
old Arab cut-throat Tarif Ibn malek al-ma-feri, who, taking

21

possession of a small island at the straits of Gibraltar, more
than twelve hundred years ago, levied a compulsory tribute
from all who came his way sailing in or out of the Mediter-
ranean, and who gave his name to a system of exaction
which has continued to this day. What influence this Arab-
born institution may have had on the increase or the diminu-
tion of sheep and wool of this State, I don’t know, and
haven’t been able to find out by a system of careful reading
and inquiry. Twenty-five or thirty years ago it was a com-
mon complaint from old farmers who had flocks of hundreds
of Merinos and Saxonies that their wool growing was ruined
by the tariff, and that they had to abandon sheep raising.
My opinion is that, for the past thirty years atleast, the
effect of any legislation would be very immaterial, con-
sidering the small quantity and low grade of our wool, in
reducing to any large extent the number of our sheep so
terribly depleted ; but I leave this to be settled in the discus-
sion to follow.
Dogs and Sheep.

Beyond all question the real reason which deters farmers
from engaging in the raising and breeding of sheep at the
present time is the constant apprehension of the destruction
of flocks and their demoralization by dogs. Our observa-
tion and the statements of sheep growers generally through-
out the Commonwealth universally show this. We are
often asked by dog owners why there is so much complaint
now, when there was but little fifty or sixty years ago.
The answer is that in numbers the dogs and the sheep are
out of all proportion to what they were then. Then, when
there were three hundred and forty thousand sheep, with
but few dogs, and the sheep in flocks of hundreds, and each
sheep worth only a dollar and a half, if a half-dozen sheep
were killed they might not be missed, and, if they were,
the damage was inconsiderable ; but now, when a man has a
flock of say forty, each worth six dollars, and often bearing
lambs, ravages by dogs, killing a half or a third of his
flock, tearing others and demoralizing all, become a very
serious matter. I shall not go into any detail of the losses
we have had, nor shall I attempt to stir up agitation. It is
of no use; dogs and dog owners have the mastery, and a
double-barreled shot gun with eleven buckshot, or a few

22

grains of strychnine placed in a beef’s head judiciously
located as a preventive against loss (by foxes), are our only
euards. To show how unavailing any attempt at legislation
must be, it is enough to give some figures.

The census shows 15,218 dogs, valued by their 13,071
owners at $10.35 each. So much for dog owners and census
returns when they make such returns as suit themselves.
The county treasurer’s books show the tax paid on dogs to
be, for 1890, $169,057. The tax is $2.00 per head for males,
and $5.00 for females. The number of dogs has not been
returned to the comptroller, but, as he says, the number of
female dogs being small, you can allow $3,000 for them ;
dividing the rest of the tax by two gives you 88,000 dogs
and about as many dog owners, as against 45,899 sheep and
2,500 owners. It’s a pitiable sight: 2,500 men contending
for the right to enjoy a peaceable, legitimate and profitable
industry, against 88,000 holders of generally dangerous,
savage and worthless non-producing brutes.

Sheep as Food.

Mutton and lamb are favorite food of the English and
Scotch of all classes ; notwithstanding all that has been said
or written of the ‘* roast beef of Old England,” more mutton
is eaten by people of every rank than beef. Mutton for-
merly was not a favorite food of the people of the United
States, though the proportional consumption is greatly
increasing ; the difference may be largely attributed to cir-
cumstances which have led to habit, and habit to a large
extent regulates the appetite. The circumstances may be
partly these: that formerly we had none ofthe real mutton
sheep to eat; our old native stock was poor, and the Merinos
yastly worse. ‘The sheep formerly killed were too often old
and poor, and the cheapness of the animals too often brought
them as food to those who were compelled to eat them ; farm
laborers, apprentices, servants and others learned to thor-
oughly dislike mutton; and many men and women so far
advanced as to have perhaps every other recollection of
school days wiped from the memory, still retain in the most
lively manner the disgust created by the inevitable daily
mutton of the boarding-house. The remarkable experiments

i

23

of Dr. Beaumont, conducted more than fifty years ago, are
authority to this day. He found that lamb and mutton were
more digestible than any other meats we are in the habit of
consuming, were assimilated more readily to the system, and
consequently are more nutritious.

While mutton is regarded by medical men and physiolo-
gists as the most nutritious meat, it is also the most econom-
ical to purchase at the usual prices. English chemists and
philosophers, by a series of careful experiments, find that
100 pounds of beef in boiling lose 26} pounds, in roast-
ing 32 pounds, and in baking 30 pounds, by evaporation and
loss of soluble matter, juices, water and fat. Mutton lost by
boiling 21 pounds and by roasting 24 pounds ; or, in another
form of statement, a leg of mutton costing raw 15 cents
would cost boiled and prepared for the table 183 cents
per pound. Boiled fresh beef would at the same price cost
19} cents per pound; sirloin of beef raw, at 16} cents,
costs roasted 24 cents; while a leg of mutton at 15, cents
would cost roasted only 22 cents. These facts have been
long known and demonstrated, and it is to be much desired
that our people should appreciate them and apply them to
daily use. The taste for and consumption of mutton will
increase according to the quantity and quality of the pro-
duction. Mr. Mechi, the celebrated farmer and scientist,
said he was convinced that beef must sell twenty per cent
higher than mutton to make it pay.

In this connection it is pertinent to recall the statement
previously made before this Board by one of its most
prominent members, of the necessity, in slaughtering sheep
and lambs, to remove immediately the paunch and intestines
before skinning. If allowed to remain in only a few minutes,
they will impart a strong, disagreeable ‘‘sheep taste.”
Probably ignorance and a disregard of this important fact
are largely responsible for the disgust in which the flesh of
mutton and lamb was formerly held.

The keeping of sheep requires constant care and is full of
solicitude, but it is profitable, and, as farming goes among
the occupations of men, it is pleasant. This is the com-
mercial and prosaic view; but there is an incident in our
history connected with this, poetical and solemn, In

24

this late season of the year, and at the approach to
Christmas Day, we cannot dissever the thoughts of this
industry from this occasion. It cannot be foreign to our
minds, nor is it unworthy of us as Christian men, to remem-
ber and note that the first announcement of the birth of the
Saviour of the world was made, not to the scientific astrolo-
gers who made the heavens their study, not to the learned
scribes and Pharisees who pondered the law and the prophets,
and not to those who lived in kings’ houses clothed in fine
raiment; but it was to shepherds who watched their flocks
by night on the star-lighted plains of Judea, followed by the
sublimest solo and chorus that ever fell on mortal ears, of
‘¢ Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good-will
toward men.”

The CuairmMan. Gentlemen, I know I voice your opinion
when, as chairman for the day, I thank Mr. Grinnell for his
most charming and instructive paper. Mr. Hollis of Boston
has kindly come here to give us some figures relative to the
amount of mutton that is consumed in Massachusetts. We
all know that there is an immense amount of mutton and
lamb consumed here which has been imported into this State.
We have plenty of land, and all we want is a little ambition
among farmers to become shepherds, and we can raise a
large percentage, if not all, of the mutton and lamb that is
needed in Massachusetts. Will Mr. Hollis kindly give us a
few figures ?

Mr. Houuis. I arrived in town this morning a few
minutes before I came up here, and I am not prepared to
give any figures.

The CuarrMan. Ina general way can you not say about
how many carcasses you slaughter or your company slaugh-
ters ?

Mr. Horus. Well, I happen to have in my pocket a
little paper on which I have kept a memorandum of the
number of sheep we have slaughtered since 1885. In 1885
we slaughtered 376,415 ; in 1886, 367,822 ; in 1887, 399,272;
in 1888, 387,345; in 1889, 396,124; in 1890, sa In
the ten months of this year, up to the first of November, we
slaughtered 357,484.

25

The CHarrman. Thank you very much. That shows,
gentlemen, that the demand for mutton is not on the decrease.
Will Mr. Hollis kindly tell us about what price mutton has
averaged for the last eight or ten months ?

Mr. Houuts. I do not think that I could. It varies from
month to month.

The Cuarrman. But for good fair mutton you usually
get from 5 to 6 cents a pound for the carcass dressed, do
you not?

Mr. Hous. I think it will vary from 6 to 10 cents a
pound, and lambs from 6 to 124 cents.

Mr. Grinnett. What proportion of the carcasses are
exported from Boston ?

Mr. Houtuis. There has not been any exported for the
last two or three years. I do not think there is any mutton
exported from the United States now.

Mr. Grinne“i. Then of course all the sheep that come
into the Brighton and Watertown markets are slaughtered
there ?

Mr. Hoxuts. - Yes, sir.

Mr. Grinnevu. Is there any reason for the variation in
the amounts in one year and another ?

Mr. Houuis. That is owing to the supply and demand.
There is no particular reason for it, that I know of.

Governor Hoarp. I would like to ask the gentleman
from what territory those sheep are mostly obtained ?

Mr. Houxits. You might say from Halifax down to
Virginia. From the first of June until the first of Septem-
ber we get our supply from Kentucky, Tennessee and Vir-
einia.

Governor Hoarp. Have you noticed any particular
improvement in the mutton character of the sheep you have
received during this year?

Mr. Hous. From some sections there is, others not.

Governor Hoarp. From what sections do you find an
improvement ?

Mr. Honus. From some parts of the West and some
sections in Canada.

Governor Hoarp. I mean, of course, in the eating quality.

Mr. Hous. Yes, sir; we see quite an improvement in
the sheep coming from Virginia and Tennessee,

26

Governor Hoarp. Do you attribute it to improved breed-
ing?

Mir: Hontise4) Yess sir:

The Cuatrrman. Well, gentlemen, we have learned that
there is a demand for mutton, and we want to learn how to
‘aise it, and we want to know how to keep out troublesome
and dangerous intruders. Mr. Sesstons, I think, is pre-
pared to talk a little about fencing.

Secretary Sessrons. Mr. Chairman, I am of the opinion
that the proposition advanced by the lecturer that the fence
question has had considerable influence in the decadence of
sheep keeping in Massachusetts is correct. As I go among
farmers and talk about the sheep industry they reply
to me, ** We cannot keep them anywhere; it will cost so
much to fence them in or fence them out that it is a nui-
sance ; and without fences we do not know where we shall
find them in the morning or in the evening.” Now, this is
a serious problem, as the lecturer has pointed out. The
fences in the more rural and farming districts of the State
are of the character which he has noted,—the old Vir-
ginia rail fence and stone wall; and every one who has
had experience with sheep knows that a stone wall is of
very little use, unless it is a very expensive wall, built
perpendicular on the side towards the sheep. And then,
again, the old Virginia fence that was a good fence when
it was first built, becomes old and dilapidated and costs
a great deal for repairs; and when you have got to refence
a pasture or make repairs to any great extent, the cost
will be enough to deter a beginner from undertaking to
raise sheep.

Now, the essayist also alluded to a new material for fene-
ing, —barbed wire. There is in the minds of some people,
many people, perhaps, a prejudice against barbed wire,
because of its ability to injure any animal; but my own
experience teaches me that that objection does not apply to
sheep. I have fenced sheep for years with barbed wire, and
I never knew a sheep to be injured by it. Occasionally ¢
sheep will be caught by it, and perhaps a trifle of wool will
be pulled off, but the waste and suffering that comes to the
sheep from that cause is trifling.

27

Now, of course the question of fencing in sheep with any
kind of fence depends upon its cost and its adaptability to
the end in view; and with us I think the question of cost is
really the one to be considered, for it is perfectly patent to
every man that barbed-wire fence can be so constructed as
to turn sheep. There is another point about this barbed-
wire fence which does not apply to a fence of any other
material, and that is, that it can be made so as to turn dogs.
I think it is perfectly feasible to construct a fence that will
turn dogs; and the cheapness of the material as now fur-
nished by the manufacturer is such that the cost of a fence
that will not only turn sheep but protect them from dogs is
comparatively small. I have some figures which I have
collated from information obtained from different parties ;
and, having applied to them my own experience, obser-
vation and judgment, I believe the estimates are reliable
considering the circumstances under which they are made.
Of course, in making an estimate of the possible or the prob-
able cost of a certain kind of fence, the estimate must be
made upon some definite set of circumstances ; and it is only
safe to predicate upon the most favorable circumstances,
because the amount of obstacles to be overcome will vary in
different circumstances and under the different conditions of
different farmers, and that must be calculated by the indi-
vidual himself, he only knowing what the obstacles are. I
refer to the cost of digging post-holes, the cost of overcom-
ing the difficulty of uneven ground, getting through bushes,
and all that sort of thing. These figures were based largely
upon a statement of the cost of eighty rods of six-wire fence
built about two years ago by Mr. Henry Green of Hadley,
Mass. He says there has not been a single dog in the pas-
ture since the fence was finished. The four lower wires are
placed nearer together than the two upper ones: The fence
is four feet high and the posts one rod apart, which is suft-
cient to support a barbed-wire fence. The wire cost 4 cents
per rod; the staples 1 cent per rod; the posts cost 7 cents
each. Mr. Green says that two men can set the posts and
string the wire for twenty-five rods ina day. The cost of
labor per day is say $1.50 per man, orat the rate of 12 cents
per rod. So we have as the cost per rod: six strands of

28

barbed wire, at 4 cents, 24 cents; staples, 1 cent; one post,
7 cents; labor setting posts and stringing wire, 12 cents.
Total, 44 cents. This, remember, is a dog-proof as well as
a sheep-proof fence.

I have also received, at my request, a price-list from the
Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, Worcester,
which gives the cost of first-quality galvanized Glidden
barbed wire at 4 cents per pound, and they state that it
weighs one pound per rod, and their discount for cash will
cover the freight. So that Mr. Green’s estimate of 4 cents
per rod is borne out by the price-list of the largest manu-
facturing establishment of the kind in the State.

I have also a statement from Prof. W. P. Brooks of the
Massachusetts Agricultural College that one man set the
posts (one rod apart) and strung the wire for sixty rods
of five-strand wire fence on the college farm in Jess than two
days. This proves that the labor estimate in the first instance
is a fair one.

These statements correspond with my own experience.
They are for work done where the soil is not stony or under-
laid with hard-pan. Allowance must of course be made for
such obstacles.

From the foregoing I calculate that it will cost to fence a
square lot of ten acres (one hundred and sixty rods) with
six wires and posts $70.40, or, per acre, $7.04. I am satis-
fied that five wires can be so arranged as to be a dog-proof
fence as well as a sheep-proof fence; and therefore I have
made a calculation of the cost of a five-wire fence, which
amounts to $62.40 for a square lot of ten acres, or $6.24 per
acre. As you all know, the larger the field the less the dis-
tance around it. I have on that account made calculations
for several sizes. To fence a square lot of twenty acres
(two hundred and twenty-six rods), six wires, with posts,
$99.44, or a cost per acre of $4.97; with five wires and
posts, $88.14, or a cost per acre of $4.41.

But there is another set of conditions on many of our
pastures, especially upon the hills in the western part of
the State and upon the pine plains of that section, where
the pastures have been neglected and considerable timber has
started, and where a line of trees will be found along the line

29

of the proposed fence, so that in many instances posts can be
dispensed with by stringing the wire on trees. Of course the
trees would not be at regular distances in all cases; but by
having posts every six, eight, or even ten rods, the inter-
vening supports can be made of stakes which can be driven,
with the help of a bar to make the holes, at a comparatively
trifling cost, and the material can be gotten from the trees
as you go along. Ihave therefore made a calculation here,
leaving out the posts and the cost of setting the posts, so that
persons having pastures situated in the way I have described
may reduce the necessary cost of fencing very considerably.
My calculations are as follows :— :

To fence a square lot of 20 acres, six wires (226 rods), posts, $99.44

Cost per acre, . ' ; ‘ : ‘ P , 3 : 4.97
With five wires and posts, . 5 ; : : ; : : 88.14
Cost per acre, . : : : : ; : ; 4.41

To fence a square lot of 20 acres, Six wires, eee trees take
the place of posts, discounting cost of posts and one-half

cost of labor, . ; F ; : ; F 5 : ‘ 70.06
Cost per acre, . ; : 3 : C : : : : 3.00
With five wires on trees, . ; : : F j ‘ f 58.76
With five wires on trees, per acre, . : : : : ‘ 2.94

To fence a square lot of 30 acres (277 rods), posts, six wires,. $121.88
To fence a square lot of 30 acres (277 rods), posts, five wires,. 108.03

Cost per acre, six wires, . : : : : : : : 4.06
Cost per acre, five wires, . : ‘ : : : : 3.93
To fence a square lot of 30 acres, without posts (trees), six

wires, : : : 5 ; : : 85.87
To fence a square lot of 30 acres, W ithout rast (trees), five

wires, : é . é ; é : ; : : 4 72.02
Cost per acre, six wires, . : ; : ; F 5 ' 2.86
Cost per acre, five wires, . ; ‘ : ; ‘ é . 2.40
To fence a square lot of 50 acres (358 rods), posts, six wires, $157.52
To fence a square lot of 50 acres (358 rods), posts, five wires, 159.62
Cost per acre, six wires, . 5 : : ; 5.15
Cost per acre, five wires, . ‘ : : ‘ : ; ; 2209
To fence a square lot of 50 acres, without posts (trees), six

wires, - ; : : . < ; » eels
To fence a square ia of 50 acres, without posts (trees), five

wires, : : , ; : : , ; ; ; : 93.08
Cost per acre, six wires, . : : ‘ 5 : 2.22
Cost per acre, five wires, . , : ; ‘ : ; : 1.56

To fence a square lot of 75 acres (437 rods), posts, six wires, $192.28
To fence a square lot of 75 acres (437 rods), posts, five wires, 170.45

Cost per acre, six wires, . j : t ; : F :
Cost per acre, five wires, . b é : : d :
To fence a square lot of 75 acres, without posts (trees), six

Wires, . ; : : ; : : : : f :
To fence a square lot of 75 acres, without posts (trees), five

wires, : y : : ; ‘ ‘ - 3 , P
Cost per acre, six wires ‘ : ‘ ; 5 ‘ F ;
Cost per acre, five “ee : : : ; : 5 : .

To fence a square lot of 100 acres (503 rods), posts, six wires,
To fence a square lot of 100 acres (503 rods), posts, five wires,

Cost per acre, six wires, . : : : 5 : : .
Cost per acre, five wires, . : ; : ; ; : 4
To fence a square lot of 100 acres, without posts (trees), six

wires, : Bo her ; i . 5 , ; ; ;
To fence a square lot of 100 acres, without posts (trees), five

wires, : : j : F é : ; ; , :
Cost per acre, six wires, . ; f : : ; ;
Cost per acre, five wires, . - : j : : : :

To fence a square lot of 200 acres (716 rods), posts, six wires,
To fence a square lot of 200 acres (716 rods), posts, five wires,

Cost per acre, six wires, . : ; ; j ; : ;
Cost per acre, ae Wires, . ; : ; 5 : : :
To fence a square lot of 200 acres, without posts (trees), six

wires, ; : : f ; : ; F ; : :
To fence a square lot of 200 acres, without posts (trees), five

wires, : ; ? ‘ : é : 3 ; : :
Cost per acre, six wires, . ; F : ; ; : ‘
Cost per acre, five wires, . : : ; 2 : é ;

To fence a square lot of 500 acres (1,131 rods), posts six wires,
To fence a square lot of 500 acres (1,131 rods), posts, five wires,

Cost per acre, six wires, ... 5 5 , : : :
Cost per acre, five wires, . : ; : : : ‘ :
To fence a square lot of 500 acres, without posts (trees), six

wires, , : : 3 , : ; ; ; : ;
To fence a square lot of 500 acres, without posts (trees), five

wires, ’ : ; , ‘ ‘ ‘ : ‘ j ‘
Cost per acre, six wires, . : 4 : F : . :
Cost per acre, five wires, . f : ; : ; : é

To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres (1,600 rods), posts, six

wires, i : F ; é : : ; ; : :
To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres (1,600 rods), posts, five
wires, : j : : é ‘ : ; ; , 5
Cost per acre, six wires, . ; ; ' ; : : 3
Cost per acre, five wires, . ; : F ; : 5 ;

To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres, without posts (trees), six
wires, ; f : ; ; ; ; ; : : :

$2.56
2.27

135.47

113.62
1.81
1.51

$221.32
196.17
221
1.96

155.93

130.78
1.55
ila@ill

$315.04
279.24
1.57
1.39

221.96

186.16
LEASE
93

PL97 . 64
441.09
99

88

350.61
294.06
.70

.59
$704.00
624.00
.70

.62

496.00

31

To fence a square lot of 1,000 acres, without posts (trees) five

wires, : : y 3 ; ; ; ; : ‘ . $416.00
Cost per acre, six wires, . ; : ; : ‘ ; A .49
Cost per acre, five wires, : 5 : 41

So you see it does not take a fortune to fence a large lot.
And this, remember, is a dog-proof fence as well as a sheep-
proof fence.

The Cuatrman. Well, gentlemen, we have not only found
that we can afford to raise sheep in Massachusetts, but we
have found out by actual figures that it is cheaper to build
a dog-proof fence than it is to lay up a stone wall.

Mr. GrinnELL. Does anybody know the cost of a board
fence built of boards say six inches wide, four on a post ?

The Cuarrman. Mr. Horton, will you kindly tell us the
expense of a board fence ?

Mr. Horron. It is very easy to get at the expense of
such a fence as that. The boards for a four-board fence with
us cost on an average about $16 per thousand feet, which
would be $1.60 for a hundred feet of fence. It takes double
the number of posts that it does for a wire fence, and the
posts require to be better posts than for a wire “fence.
Under ordinary circumstances a board and post fence four
feet high would cost something over a dollar a rod, —from
$1.06 to $1.10, using good material. Figuring it upon that
basis, it would cost about three times what it would to make
a wire fence.

The CHarrMan. And, instead of keeping dogs out, it
invites them to jump through. Gentlemen, we want to cover
the ground of sheep husbandry as carefully as we can, and I
will call on Mr. J. D. Avery of Buckland, who has been a
practical and successful shepherd for a good many years.

J.D. Avery. Mr. Chairman, some few weeks ago I
received a line from the essayist suggesting that I make a
comparison between dairying and sheep growing. Iattempted
to do this, but have not succeeded, for the reason that. the
dairymen were not prepared to give me figures showing
their receipts and expenses. I have figures from three sheep
farmers, showing their receipts, and in one instance the
writer gives me his expenses, and it may be interesting to
you to hear those figures read.

The first flock to which I will call your attention consisted

32

of 21 breeding ewes in the year 1890. They were fed upon
rowen hay twice a day during the winter till the first of
March; after that they were fed oftener, and a daily ration
of grain was added, consisting of bran four quarts, oats four
quarts, and corn two quarts. They were turned to pasture
May 1. The receipts that year were as follows : —

28 lambs, average weight August 1, 91 pounds, sold at 61
cents per pound, —. : ‘ ; : : : . . $165.62
168 pounds wool, at 22 cents, . F ; ; A ; : 36.96

Total, . , : : F : ; : - : - $202.58

which is very nearly $10 per head. This gentleman gave
me no figures of the expense except the grain, which amounted
to only $9 for the 21 sheep.

QursTION. Where were those sheep kept?

Mr. Avery. This flock was in the town of Shelburne.

Question. What was the breed of sheep?

Mr. Avery. A high-grade South Down. I have known
this gentleman’s flock for the last ten or fifteen years, and
he has used nothing but the very best of pure-bred South
Down sires. He has paid on an average probably $25 for
those rams, used them two years, then changed them to
prevent in-breeding, and he has replenished his flock by
keeping the best of the lambs. I figure those lambs as all
sold at 6} cents per pound; he did not sell them all, but of
course it is perfectly fair to figure them at that price. He
reserved five of the best of the lambs, which averaged 100
pounds apiece.

QueEsTION. At what age?

Mr. Avery. They were dropped in March, and they
were sold the first of August. Something like five months,
perhaps. He has improved his flock in that way, by using the
best pure-bred sires and selecting the best of the lambs.
Now, these lambs would have brought him 6} cents a
pound per head if he had sold them, and most of us would
probably have thought that was too much of a temptation
to resist, and would have let them go to the butcher; but,
if we are going to get a flock of sheep which will give us the
result which this flock gave him, I do not know of any way

ry

that we cain get them except to raise them in this way. I

33

have made an estimate of the expense. The grain as he has
given it to me would amount to about $9; hay, estimated at
64 tons, at $10 per ton, $63; pasturing 21 sheep 28 weeks,
at 5 cents each per week (which I think is a very liberal
estimate), $29.40; service of ram, $5.25; making a total of
$106.65, which leaves a balance of receipts above expenses
of $95.93.

QuEsTION. He got about $1.75 each for the wool?

Mr. Avery. Yes, sir; just about that.

The CuatrMan. That proves just what I have been trying
to impress upon the farmers of Massachusetts for the last
eight or ten years, with very poor success; that is, that any
farmer who has a good flock of sheep and who knows how to
treat them as Mr. Avery and the gentleman who has given
the statement which has been read here do, with average
good luck, may reasonably expect to get an income of twenty-
five per cent of the investment.

QueEsTION. Is that a continuous income from the gu —
an income that comes every day?

The Cuatrman. It does not come every day.

Mr. Avery. It comes perhaps twice a year. I have a
statement from another gentleman who raises what we term
early lambs, or spring lambs, which are turned to market
without ever being turned to grass. In this case the lambs
were dropped in December and carried to market in March
and April. Flock No. 2 numbered in 1890 17. breeding
ewes. The receipts from these 17 ewes were as follows : —

159 pounds wool, at 25 cents, . k : : : ; » 04.50
16 lambs, at $9.06}, . : : : : : : ; ~ 4500
3d lambs, at $5, . : ; ; F ‘ P ; : ; 15.00

Motaly ; ‘ ‘ ‘ ; ; ; ‘ ; . $194.05

I presume those three lambs which he kept came later,

and were reserved to replenish his stock. I made an esti-
mate of the expense of this flock also, as follows : —

5, tons of hay, at $10 per ton, . : ; F ‘ 4 . Sd: 00
Grain for sheep, . ; ; : ‘ . : : : ; 25.50
Grain for lambs, . ; . f ; 16.00
Pasturing 17 sheep 28 w aE at 3 cents each, . : : : 14.28
Service of ram, ; f é : i i , 4 C 4.95

ihotale. : f : : : F : F ; ot plete OS.

Balance of receipts above expenses, $8347.

|

o+

In this case there were no lambs to be pastured, and the
ewes could be pastured for about one-half the cost of those
that have lambs, as lambs must have the best of pasture.
This flock of sheep was produced by crossing a Spanish
Merino ram upon grade Cotswold and Leicester ewes, and
those ewes will weigh from 125 to 150 pounds. They drop
their lambs very early, most of them in December ; and they
are ready for market early, and bring a better price than
those which are dropped later. .

Mr. Ware. It will be noticed, probably, that there has
been no credit given for the manure during this time, which
is a fair item of credit.

Mr. Avery. I have offset the manure against the labor,
which is a very liberal allowance for the labor. I should be
very glad to take a thousand sheep and take care of them
for one-half the manure, if any one would furnish the hay
and @rain,

The Cnarrman. You mean to be liberal in your esti-
mates ?°

Mr. Avery. Yes, sir; I mean to be.

Question. I would like to ask Mr. Avery, if he increased
his flock four or five fold, if he would get the same result as
from a smaller flock ?

Mr. Avery. Probably not. Sheep will do better in
small flocks. I do not think the result would be as good
with a large flock. I think it is usually considered in that
hight.

Flock No. 3 consisted of 53 ewes, 6 lambs and 1 ram,
making 60 in all. The expenses were as follows :—

Grain for sheep and lambs, ; ; : ; . : . $104.50
Hay, estimated at $2 per head, . ; : j 5 ; ; 120.00
Pasturing 60 sheep 28 weeks, at 5 cents, . : : : : 50.40
Service of ram, . : : : 5 ; ; ; ' : 13.25

Motels ; ; : 2 ; : ‘ ; ; . $288.15

The owner of this flock gave me an estimate of the expenses.
He said the grain which he fed to his sheep was kept separate,
so that he knew just what his grain cost him which he fed to
his sheep and lambs, and it amounted to the sum I have
given. I will say that he also raises what we term early

1)

lambs. His receipts for lambs and wool sold amounted to
$629.50. He did not divide this up for me. I had asked
him in previous years what he was getting for his lambs, but
he never seemed inclined to tell me, and he has not here.
He gave, as the total receipts for lambs and wool, $629.50,
which you will see is almost $10.50 per head. Balance of
receipts above expenses, $341.35.

These sheep are the Vermont Merino. They are a very
superior flock of sheep for that breed. They will weigh
probably 100 or 110 pounds each, and probably shear from
eight to ten pounds of wool each. They drop their lambs
in November and December. I saw the gentleman two
weeks ago, and he had nine lambs: at that time, and more
coming right along. He has the advantage of the rest of
us in marketing his lambs, or has taken the advantage, by
selling his lambs dressed directly to the hotels in this city.
He has a son here who has assisted in finding him a market,
and I presume he gets one or two dollars a head more than
the rest of us. I think he must.

Governor Hoarp. Is the sire a Merino also?

Mr. Avery. No, sir. In all the cases of which I have
spoken, the sire is a pure-bred South Down.

The CHarrmMan. Mr. Avery, won’t you give us an account
of your own flock, which is probably one of the best in the
State ?

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I cannot show as good figures as
these men.

The CHatrmMan. “These are all too good. You know
people will not believe some of these stories.

Mr. Avery. Well, I have not prepared any figures from
my own flock.

Secretary Sesstons. How many do you keep?

Mr. Avery. I keep from 100 to 300.

Secretary Sesstons. Your experience as far as you could
give it would be very interesting, because your flock is a
large one compared with those which you have mentioned.

Mr. Avery. I can tell you about what I get for my
lambs, and about what I think it costs to raise them. The
best that I have ever done in any year was some five or six
years ago, when I raised 200 lambs from 180 ewes, and sold

36

those lambs for $1,600, and my wool averaged me about
$1.50 per head. But I estimate the expense of keeping sheep
higher than most farmers do. I have never weighed and
kept an accurate account of the grain, but I think it costs me
about $3 per head for grain for the ewes and lambs, which
is more than a dollar a head higher than this gentleman
estimates of whom I have last spoken; but he says he does
not know what the exact cost was. Perhaps he did not feed
as much grain as I do.

The CuarrmMan. Do you feed grain in summer ?

Mi. Awe. INO, Sin.

Mr. GRINNELL. When does he turn his lambs? That
makes a difference.

Mr. Avery. His lambs are dropped in November and
December, nearly all of them, perhaps some as late as Jan-
uary; and they are marketed in March and April mostly,
some perhaps as late as May.

Hon. Jonn E. Russet. Do you keep 300 sheep in one
flock ?

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I donot. In the winter my flock
is divided up into pens of perhaps 25, although perhaps 75
or 100 will be connected, with just a board fence, you might
say, between them. The hay I estimate at $3 per head and
the grain at $3 per head for sheep which raise early lambs. I
know that is a higher estimate than most farmers make, and
perhaps it is too high. I have thought sometimes that I
would experiment in that direction, and weigh my hay and
keep an accurate account of the grain; but it would be quite
an undertaking, especially to keep an account of the grain,
where there is a mixed stock and the stock are all fed from
one bin.

Secretary Sessions. What is your estimate for pas-
turage ?

Mr. Avery. I have figured the cost at 3 cents per week
for 27 or 28 weeks, but it does not actually cost me that.
I hire pastures, and in that way I get them pastured for
perhaps 2 cents a week sometimes.

Secretary Sessions. What is your pasture ?

Mr. Avery. It is an old pasture, hilly and rough.

QuEsTION. Do you take any precautions against dogs ?

Bye

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I have not taken any precautions

against dogs, and never have had any serious trouble. In
some sections of our county some very valuable flocks have
been entirely ruined by dogs. I have fortunately escaped
anything of that sort.
There is one point to which the essayist alluded which I
wish to emphasize, and that is, that the keeping of sheep
requires constant care and attention. I think there is where
many of us fail. We think that we can slight the sheep;
that they can get along almost any way, and shirk for them-
selves. That is not so. They require a certain amount of
eare. They do not require anywhere near as much care as
a herd of cows, the labor is not nearly so much; but they
‘should have just as good care as you give your cows. If
you neglect your dairy cows for a day or two, the milk pail
will tell the story; but it is not so with sheep; none but a
practised eye will notice’ the difference. But, if you are
raising early lambs especially, those lambs will very soon
show any neglect, and if they are neglected for a short time
they never will recover from it. There is no way to get
along with them and raise them successfully but to give them
good care and attention and good feed, and fit them for mar-
ket as soon as possible. The sooner and the younger they
can be prepared for market, the greater will be the profit.
It costs less to fit lambs for market if you do it in eight or
ten weeks than it does to be twelve or fourteen about it.

A. J. Buckir (of Adams). What is your method of
housing in the winter? How large an extent of shed room
do you require ?

Mr. Avery. My sheep sheds are old-fashioned, as you
might say. The sheds were built before I went on the farm,
probably thirty or forty years ago, and they are not remark-
ably warm; but still, by fixing them up a little I make them
as warm as I care to have them. I hardly
ever lose a lamb in cold weather on account of getting chilled.
As to the amount of space which they require, I have in one
pen now, which is 26 feet square, 50 ewes, and I think that

warm enough,

is perhaps as close as they should be; perhaps more room
would be better for them, but still they will do very well
with that amount of room. After they drop their lambs and

38

the lambs begin to eat, it will be necessary to give them
more room.

Governor Hoarp. I would like to ask the gentleman how
many mutton sheep can be kept safely in one flock ?

Mr. Avery. Do you mean in the pasture, or in the barn ?

Governor Hoarp. In the pasture first.

Mr. Avery. Well, the largest number I have kept as a
rule is 75 or 80.

Governor Hoarp. How many in winter quarters ?

Mr. Avery. The largest number which I have in one
pen at the present time is 50. I do not know but they might
be kept in larger numbers safely, but I do not think it is as
well. If they are kept in small flocks it prevents their
crowding.

The CHarrman. If Mr. Avery will allow me, I have kept
as many as 500 in one flock without any detriment, where
there was plenty to eat in the pasture. In winter I should
always divide them up into flocks of 30 or 40, although T am
at present keeping 175 in one flock, and they do very well.
You have got to use lots of common sense with sheep, besides
care.

Governor Hoarp. Have you had any experience in feed-
ing ensilage to sheep ?

Mr. Avery. I have not.

Mr. Haven. What breed are your sheep?

Mr. Avery. My sheep are grade South Downs.

Mr. Haven. Have you tried other breeds?

Mr. Avery. I have tried the Merino, and had very fair
success with them.

Governor Hoarp. In Wisconsin we have had quite dis-
astrous results in feeding sheep when with lamb too heavily
with ensilage. It being a carbonaceous food, it did not seem
to give the proper growth. Can you house mutton sheep
closely with safety? And, in connection with that matter
of housing, I want to know whether you can secure thorough
ventilation in your houses in winter ?

Mr. Avery. Well, if they are housed closely, it is very
necessary and important that the pens should be ventilated
in some way. There are very few days in the winter when
some of tne windows of my sheep pen are not open.

39

Governor Hoarp. Do you keep them constantly bedded,
so that they shall not lie in filth ?

Mr. Avery. I do, most certainly.

Governor Hoarp. What do you use for bedding?

Mr. Avery. I use brakes, as a rule, which I mow in the
pastures.

Governor Hoarp. How would you handle and feed a
ewe when she lambs in December, for instance, and you
want to prepare that lamb for early spring mutton?

Mr. Avery. I should feed her well from the time she
went to the barn. I should want her to go into winter
quarters in good condition; and, if I had plenty of fine
early-cut hay and rowen, that would be all I would care for
until after lambing. Soon after the lamb was dropped I
should commence to feed a little grain, and the amount of
grain would depend upon the quality of the hay. I have
fed as high as a quart, —lI have fed higher than that. I
once fed a few ewes which had two lambs each, —I was fat-
tening the ewes as well as the lambs for market, —I fed
them over two quarts per day.

Governor Hoarp. What kind of grain?

Mr. Avery. It was linseed meal, cotton-seed meal and
provender,—corn and oats ground together and mixed
in equal parts. It was more grain, I suppose, than most
people would feed to sheep; but it should be borne in mind
that those were large ewes, and suckling two lambs each.

Question. Do you feed roots at all?

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I do not, although I think they
are very excellent food for sheep.

Governor Hoarp. Do you feed any peas?

Mr. Avery. No, sir; I donot. Ihave had no experi-
ence in growing peas.

Governor Hoarp. Has any gentleman in the room had
any experience in that direction? Several gentlemen in the
West have been experimenting with peas for the past two
years, with very remarkable success, both in dairy work and
in sheep work, and we have learned some things that we did
not know two, three or four years ago even. In planting
field peas plough the ground in the fall, selecting not too
rich soil. In the spring, as early as possible, paying no

40

attention to early frosts, drag the ground thoroughly, sow
the peas, and plough them under about four inches deep.
After the peas are ploughed under, sow on the top from
three pecks to a bushel of oats to an acre, to assist in holding
up the peas. Cut the crop when ready with an ordinary
mower or reaper. We find that we can get from an acre of
peas the equivalent in value of 4,500 pounds of bran.

Mr. GRINNELL. J want to say that some two or three
weeks ago I prepared some circulars containing about a
dozen questions, and sent them around to various gentlemen
represented to me as being sheep raisers. I sent them out
by the hundred. I have received over sixty replies to those
circulars. They contain a great deal of very interesting
matter, which, if tabulated, would embrace all that has been
said to you in regard to the keeping of sheep, — the cost, the
profit, and so on.

The CHarrMAN. Well, gentlemen, we are gathering a
good deal of information about the raising of sheep; but
there is one thing which we want to learn a little something
about, and that is about our old Arab friend. We have an
old friend of the Board here who knows more or less about
the tariff. I should like to hear from the Hon. Jonn E.
RUSSELL.

Hon. Joun E. Russetyt (of Leicester). Mr. Chairman,
Members of the Board, and Gentlemen: It is eleven years
last August since I was elected Secretary of the Board of
Agriculture, and during that year I said several times in
public, that if at the end of five years I had not increased
the sheep in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by my
advocacy of sheep husbandry to the number Of half a million,
I should feel that I had been secretary in vain. After six
or seven years I retired from the office, and there were about
half or two-thirds as many sheep in the Commonwealth as
when I began to advocate sheep husbandry. Otherwise per-
haps I was of service to the Commonwealth in my position ;
I flatter myself that I was, but I did not increase the interest
of the farmers of the State of Massachusetts in sheep hus-
bandry. We had very animated meetings and institutes all
over the Commonwealth, but I notice that there has been
one very great step of progress taken. This is the first pub-

4]

lic meeting that I have ever attended in which this question
was discussed, that the whole matter was not met at the outset
by the ery, ‘*‘ We cannot keep sheep on account of dogs.” We
have not heard that here to-day, and I take it that the farmers
of Massachusetts have got to the point where they consider that
they can keep sheep if they choose to do so, dogs or no
dogs. They have also made up their minds that they can-
not prevail any further with the Legislature of Massachusetts
than we went during my term as secretary, when we had the
law very largely amended in our favor ; and we now have as
favorable a law on our side in this Commonwealth as we can
expect to have, or, I may say, as we are entitled to have.

I am glad to talk upon the sheep question; but I do
not propose to discuss our old Arab friend particularly,
because I do not recognize that the tariff upon wool
has much to do with the sheep husbandry of Massa-
chusetts. We do not raise wool enough to make it at all
important to us what the tariff is. I once’ said, amid the
jeers of a good many men who ought to have known better,
that the farmers in the States west of the Mississippi River, —
I stated it on the floor of the House of Representatives, and
it is in the congressional record, — that the farmers west of
the Mississippi River could afford to keep sheep if wool
was worth no more than hen feathers. Having said that
there, I can say here that it is immaterial what the tariff is.
I might add to that, as a sort of snapper, that when wool
was free in 1859 it was worth more money in all parts of
the United States, considering the value of money at that
time, than it had ever been before, and worth more money
than it has been since 1867 under a high tariff. The secre-
tary. says, ‘‘or ever will be in the future.” That may
be, too. I am glad to get a good price for my wool,
of course; but I do not reckon the wool as an absolute
necessity of my sheep keeping. I should keep my sheep
first for lambs, second for mutton, next for the improvement
of my pastures and the manure that I could get out of the
sheds; then if I get $125 or $150 for my wool, that is so
much addition to my profits. I agree with the gentlemen
who have spoken here who have kept sheep, as I have, for
some years, that there isa constant annual profit ; not a daily

42

profit, as one gentleman here wanted to get, although I have
known cases where sheep raisers got a daily profit by market-
ing the ewes’ milk; but I do not think we need to do that in
Massachusetts to make a profit. But the annual profit of the
sheep is, we might almost say, an absolute certainty. I told
a poor farmer within two or three months, that, if he had
my flock, which has never exceeded 75 or 80, he could
support his family, pay his taxes and hold a respectable
position as a farmer with nothing more than that flock, a
garden, and what he could do on 25 acres of land.

Mr. Saaw. I want to ask if your sheep in the winter
have exercise, or are they kept in a pen all the time?

The CHatrmMan. Ihave found from experience that with
sheds as close as I have, allowing about 10 square feet to a
sheep, and dividing them up into flocks of 50 or 60, they
need a Small yard for exercise. The larger the yard we can
have, and keep it dry, the better.

Question. Has anybody ever tried soiling sheep as we
soil cattle ?

The CHatrmMan. I do not know whether any other gen-
tleman has done that or not. I have tried it in a very small
flock myself.

Governor Hoarp. That is the English practice. All the
flocks of England are soiled. That is, they have a small
run of pasture, and generally a movable fence is used. They
plant green crops and let the sheep feed on them, moving
their hurdles four feet in the morning and at noon, and eight
feet at night, and thus make the sheep eat everything per-
fectly clean. In that way they feed on the green crop and
manure the field as they go along, and then the land is
ploughed over and sowed with another crop.

The CuarrMan. [am not aware that that has been tried in
this country, except in an experimental way. I think it has
been tried at Amherst with English rape.

Governor Hoarp. There are some surprising results
given by Professor Shaw at Ontario College... We have
commenced to try it in Wisconsin, so far with very flatter-
ing results. Professor Shaw makes the bold statement that
there will be within a comparatively few years ten million
sheep fattened in this country on rape, and he gives figures,

43

which unfortunately I have not with me, which show very
surprising results from the sheep fed on rape; and the
growth that he made upon lambs and sheep from New Bruns-
wick and the eastern Province of Ontario almost passes
belief; but the figures are given with the assurance that they
are absolutely correct.

The Cuarrman. Will Colonel Needham kindly give us
some account of his dealings with sheep in former years?
I think he took a celebrated flock across the water.

Hon. Dantex NEEDHAM (of Groton). I will occupy a
brief moment. This is a subject which has always been of
great interest to me. I had something of a flock of sheep
in Vermont for quite a number of years. I had the old Con-
sul Jarvis sheep, which he sent to this country as early as
1810 or 1811. The bucks were sold in New York at that
time for about $1,000 apiece ; the ewes brought from $100
to $150 and $200. The sheep which I took to Europe,
to which Mr. Grinnell alluded in his address this morning,
were the Spanish Merino; that is, they were the descendants
of the sheep which were imported by Consul Jarvis. Mr.
George Campbell of Vermont had travelled with American
breeders throughout Europe on two different occasions pre-
vious to 1863, when those sheep were exhibited at the Ham-
burg International Exhibition; and he was satistied that it
did not belong to Germany that she should have the exclusive
right to claim the production of blooded Merino sheep; that
as good sheep could be found in the United States as could
be found there; and he was confident that he had as good
sheep on his farm as he saw in Spain, in Saxony or
Germany.- In 1863, as very likely many of you may
remember, I was appointed a commissioner from Vermont
to go to the International Exhibition at Hamburg, to which
the United States was invited to send sheep. The great
interest of Vermont in that exhibition was in connection
with the breeding of sheep, and George Campbell was the
only man in Vermont or in the United States who dared
to venture on the sending of Merino sheep to that exhi-
bition. He sent twelve, and I went over in the same
ship that carried the sheep and the shepherd,-and in which
Mr. Campbell was also a passenger. I remember that there

44

was a German baron on board the ship, who went to Mr,
Campbell and said, **I understand you have some Merino
sheep that you are going to take to Germany to compete
with German Merinos?” Mr. Campbell said ‘*Yes;” and
he said, ** Well, it is the old story of carrying coals to New-
castle,” —and we almost felt that it was so. The sheep
reached Hamburg all right, though they had been a little
seasick on the passage, but they had eaten reasonably
well. They had been well fed with oats and beans. We
always fed our sheep with beans in Vermont, as one of
the best means of producing a good heavy fleece of wool.
Those sheep were made the subject of very general discus-
sion in the newspapers. Mr. Charles L. Flint, who was
the predecessor of Mr. Russell, in the office of secretary
of the Board of Agriculture, was also a commissioner to
that exhibition for the State of Massachusetts. (Governor
Wright of Indiana was the commissioner from his State
and from the United States, appointed by President Lin-
coln; and Rhode Island and other States had commis-
sioners there. When our sheep got there they imme-
diately began to be the butt of ridicule of the German press,
and they took up the story of the baron, that it was ‘* carrying
coals to Newcastle ;” that the United States —they did not
know anything about Vermont —had sent sheep over to
Europe to compete with the Spanish Merinos of Germany.
Germany had had almost full sway in the production of
stock Merino sheep for more than thirty-five years, — ever
since Spain gave it up. We nevertheless went to work, put
our sheep into pens, and entered them in the various classes.
There were some three hundred Merinos at the exhibi-
tion. The judges of the exhibition were men who
knew nothing about the owners of the sheep, except
so far as they were obliged to know. They were obliged
to know that there was only one lot of sheep sent
over from the United States, and so far as they had to
know they knew of the owner; but when those sheep
passed under the inspection and study of the judges it seemed
to me that they were unprejudiced. They were called
‘Vermont Merinos,” but I venture to say that there were
not fifty men on those grounds, which sometimes contained

45

one hundred thousand people, who knew where Vermont
was. They had an idea that it was somewhere over here in
this western hemisphere, but where they did not know.
The judges went around and made their decisions, and when
they came to compare notes they gave those Vermont
Merinos two first premiums and one second premium. The
excitement on the ground was intense. No language that
I can command could depict the excitement among the Ger-
man and French breeders. Louis Napoleon himself, then
the Emperor of France, had on exhibition right by the
side of those Vermont pens, in a highly decorated pen
built by himself, sheep competing with those Vermont
sheep; and there were distinguished breeders from various
countries of Europe, and some from South America. The
decision was, of course, very acceptable to the American
commissioners. Governor Wright came to me and said:
«A great victory has been won for our country; it
will result in a change of the current of trade in stock
Merinos. Our people have heretofore sent to Germany
for their stock sheep, but now they will send to Vermont,
—the American people will find their stock sheep at home.”
And they did.

But I must tell you a little more about this excite-
ment. The German and French breeders did not believe
that the decision could be honest; and yet the men
who constituted the judges were largely Europeans; they
were of all nationalities. The excitement, as I said, was
very great, and Governor Wright said to me, ‘‘I don’t
know but they will mob you and Mr. Campbell,” so wrought
up were the breeders who were exhibiting on the grounds.
They did not believe that anything good could come out of
America. I made up my mind that there was one test which
could be applied. These sheep were not sheared. One
of the first prizes which was awarded to us was upon
the weight of fleece in comparison with the weight of
body. That could be tested, and I offered 100 thalers,
which is $70, for the sheep that would shear the heaviest
fleece for the weight of body in the class of Merinos, the
sheep to be sheared and the fleece to be weighed in the
presence of a new jury appointed by the German league

46

and in the presence of the whole public. I had that notice
printed in French, in German and in English, and put up
on every pen on the great exhibition grounds, and
three days were given for the entries. When the third
day had expired no entries had been made except by
George Campbell of the United States of America. Then
the German press turned round and said, ‘*The Ameri-
can gentlemen have vindicated their integrity, and the ex-
hibitors and breeders of the European sheep on exhibition
here have not dared to enter.” After the exhibition Mr.
Campbell came home, and Governor Smith of Vermont in his
next message said that the result had been worth a hundred
thousand dollars to the State of Vermont; and he told me
afterwards that he might just as well have put in his mes-
sage that it was worth a million of dollars to the State of
Vermont. Vermont sent sheep to Australia, to Texas
and all over the United States, where the leading breeders
had been in the habit of sending to Germany; and the
whole trade in stock Merinos was changed from that great
entrepot of Spanish Merinos, Germany, to the United States.

Secretary Sessrons. I do not believe that this discussion
can be fithy closed without a leaf from your own experience,
Mr. Chairman. I believe you have the largest flock of sheep
of any man in Massachusetts, and I am sure the audience
would all like to hear from you.

The Cuairman. Well, gentlemen, I should be very glad
to give you the result of my experience, but I think most of
you have heard the oft-told tale. I should corroborate a
good deal that Ma. Avery bas said. One question that was
asked was about ventilation. The principal rules of success-
ful sheep husbandry are, that the sheep must be kept cool
and dry, and have enough to eat. That is the whole secret
of sheep husbandry. ‘* And running water” is suggested
by the essayist, which goes without saying. On that sub-
ject of water, I think few people will believe the amount of
water that a hundred-pound ewe with a lamb by her side will
drink. -I unfortunately was dependent for water for a flock
of some three or four hundred ewes on a windmill; the wind
didn’t blow for five or six days, the thermometer went down
below zero, and it was a very difficult job to haul water for

47

those sheep. I had one or two ewes with lambs by their
side ina small pen, and I found that, on the average, they
would drink between five and six quarts of water a day.

With regard to keeping mutton sheep, there has always
been an idea, I think, in this part of the country, that it was
only the Merino that would stand running in large flocks,
and when I first began I was told that I could not keep
more than twenty or thirty together; but I gradually
increased until I have kept a flock as large as four hundred
together in a summer pasture, feeding them grain. To top-
dress my pasture and kill the undergrowth, I kept the pas-
ture overstocked. I have kept them from early in May until
October on the same feeding ground, the same flock together,
and with no more disease than you would naturally expect
from hurdling as Ido at night. I have adopted that plan
with pastures which were becoming run out, grown up to
bushes and covered with moss. I hurdle my sheep at night
for two reasons. One is to top-dress the part of the pasture
which needs it most, and, secondly, as furnishing protection
against dogs. I never have had a dog jump over a hurdle.

Qurstion. What do you build your hurdle with?

The Cuarrman. Merely take an eight-foot section of an
ordinary picket fence, and two inches from the end of the
two-by-three stick to which your pickets are nailed bore a
hole, then put your sections together like an old Virginia
‘ail fence, and where the holes come above one another put
in a piece of bent iron or a five-inch spike, and your fence is
very strong and very easily moved.

Mr. Avery also said that sheep needed constant care,-and
they do. The labor is very light. There is very little hard
labor in looking after sheep ; but it is that very looking after,
the master’s eye, that covers what is called generally ‘* good
luck.” There is no such thing as good luck. It is good care ;
and in no branch of farming that I know of does good
sare go further than in looking after a flock of sheep. One
trouble that I have had in hurdling as closely as I do, three
or four hundred in a small hurdle, is that they get very foul
in the feet, and are apt to get foot-rot. The master’s eye,
if he exercises good care, sees when they are let out of the
hurdles in the morning that there is asheep or lamb affected

48

in that way, and when they are hurdled again at night that
sheep or lamb must be removed, and the disease not allowed
to get into the contagious state. In that way it can be
checked very easily.

QUESTION. How?

The CHarrman. There are various prescriptions in the
books. Our former secretary’s sheep dip is first-rate for
foot-rot. If too strong it will take the skin off of a man’s
arm, but if it is put on of the proper strength it will cure
the foot-rot. Then there is the prescription of verdigris
and carbolic soap in the old books.

I should disagree with Mr. Avery, if he will pardon me,
with regard to the expense of keeping sheep. I think he
has got it too high, particularly in the item of hay; because
I have found by actual experience that the highest-priced
hay, that is, the best quality of hay, is not so eagerly sought
after by sheep asa poorer quality. I have tried that experi-
ment by using a stack of very poor meadow hay, so poor
it was hardly worth putting in the barn. I found that when
my sheep had become used to it, say after feeding it two or
three days, they would leave early-cut rowen and hunt up
those old brakes. Of course, to keep them in condition and
to keep a flow of milk for the lambs, that feed must be sup-
plemented with a grain ration. And another thing that
reduces the expense of keeping a sheep for the whole season
is, that, where ten vears ago it used to take about three
months, more or less, to get a lamb ready for market, now,
by using a sire of one of the improved Down breeds, with a
good grade ewe, well fed, you can as often market a lamb
under fifty days as we used to do it in a hundred days.

Mr. GrinneLtyt. What age or size lamb do you find the
most marketable ?

The CHarrmMan. Our local market in Boston is not active
for lambs until into February. There may be occasionally
one asked for before that, but as an ordinary rule the market
for lambs does not open until into February, and at that
time lambs will be taken weighing from twenty-five to twenty-
eight pounds, which, bred from improved sires on good
grade ewes, ought to be put into the market at six weeks’

old.

49

S. E. Srons. I would like to ask one question in regard
to pasturing sheep. Is it desirable or proper to keep sheep
continually on the same pasture ?

The Cuatrman. They do better to change. I merely
stated that as an exaggerated system. I have tried that,
and tested it very carefully. I propose to cut my pastures
up into five or six, and let the sheep run ten days in one and
ten days in another.

QuEsTION. How many sheep can you feed on one acre,
as compared with one cow?

The CHarrMAN. From eight to ten.

Hon. J. E. Russety. You might have stated that the
buyers in Boston want lighter lambs than they used to.
They will buy lambs weighing from twenty-two to twenty-
five pounds, when they used to insist upon having a lamb
weigh thirty or thirty-five pounds. ay

The Cuarrman. When I began it took me from seventy
to eighty days to get lambs that would dress twenty-five
pounds. I can now do it easily in forty days.

ic Loko:

ee es

Pw RD eet

Se

RESS

eo)
4
oO
oO
ir
oO