Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1857-04-18


the English sheep would command in the Bri-
tsh market, and has all the time for thirty
years back, from ten to twelve cents pound.
1t is very superior mutton.
That is not all. When piece of land in
England had been titled in the manner | men
toned, and the sheep herded upon it, it would
produce twenty-five bushels of wheat to the
acre, and that wheat averages from two dollars
TO two dollars and fifty cents bushel in Eng
land at all times. Bearing these facts in mind
you will see how fruitless was the attempt TO
introduce into England these little merinoes,
small sheep, which shear about three pounds
and half in their natural condition as they
came from Spain. Even the French mernocs,
as they have improved them, yield but six, and
ours from three to three and half or four
pounds. The farmers were told by the nobii-
ty, "The King has made me present of some
fine wool sheep, aud we want you to attend
to them, so as not TO be dependent on foreign
countries for our supply of fine WOOL The
farmer saw at once that the wool from these
sheep would not bring him more than two shil-
lings sterling pound for three pounds, while
the long wool sheep would shear eight or ten
pounds of wool and then the inquiry was,
how much will that little sheep bring for NUT
toni Not cent. You can never make val
liable mutton of it, In Vermont, where we
have so many fine wool sheep, our people use
little or no mutton, though we have a little
lamb occasionally, ! never saw any mutton there
that compared at all with the Virginia mutton,
which ] see here. Indeed, am reminded OF
an anecdoie of an old neighbor of mine who
was rather fond of mutton. He used TO talk
about these little merino sheep, and said
"When you got quarter of it dressed of, you
could see the light between the ribs. In good
old times, when We had the large sheep, a man
might go out and steal sheep, and bring home
something for his family 10 eat, and now, il
you bring home one Of these little merino sheep
you might as well have tin lantern to eat
Laughter.]
The English farmer said at once 81 can do
nothing with these little sheep; may get two
or three dollars for the wool {; but can get ten
dollars for the carcass of the mutton sheep, il
| lose all else Besides, these little sheep can
not live in the fields in the winter. They are
not stout enough to endure that. | must have
the large sheep for the mutton ] can get out Of
it, and because il will live on the fields in the
winter and enrich my land, so that il will yield
twenty-five bushels Of wheat to the acre. -
That is the average in England our average
is not fourteen. DO you wonder, Mr. President,
why they would not introduce and adopt the
merino breed Of sheep in England You can
, see at once why il was so. After the utmost
exerlons for some thirty years in trying TO de-
this, and succeeding not at all, finally the royal
flock of fine wool sheep was sold at auction
| have seen the accoun, OF those sales in the
Library of Congress. showing TO whom each
sheep was sold, and how much it was sold for
Wills hisl lhgfq2easesa lgss; Gqisg on w Eng land
attended to that family of sheep which came tc
the Elector of SaXony, and had bred in entire
ly, with regard TO fneness Of the wool. They
had shcpherded them on the fields and plains o.
Germany, and bred them, in fine, by selecting
the finest all the time, without regard to size
The result was, they got delicate, small ten
der sheep, called the Saxony sheep, which is
all over the regions have mentioned.
| The gentleman who bid off, in 1877 think
the greater part OF the royal flock that was sole
in England, was a captain in the British Navy
His name do not now remember; think j
was Mitchell, or some common name of tina
kind. Tie went, about the same time, TO Sax
ony, and bought a larger flock Of the Saxonl
breed, and carried them both to Australia -
That is now the family of Australian sheep
their wool is fine silky wool 1t has beel
produced by crossing the breeds from Engan'
and Saxony.
Now, how came these sheep in our country
Mr. Livingston, who was our Minister 10 France
in the latter part Of the reign of Louis XVI.
got few sheep from the Ramboullel flock il
France, and carried them 10 New Rochelle, il
New York. Col Humphries, of Connecticut
was our Minister 10 Spain at that time, and h
got few sheep as present from the King q
Spain. They were taken 10 Connecticut bu
they never amounted 10 much
About 1910, at Bonaparle's second invasion
Of Spain, when he had possession of the Price
of Peace, and was endcavoring TO re-establis
Joseph BonapaIte on the Spanish throne, lh
CoItes ordered the sale of the royal 1ocks, 70
the purpose of raising money TO defend the ma
tion, giving 10 the purchasers the right TO carr
them out of the kingdom. William Jarvis
who is still living in Vermont, was then on
) consul at Lisbon. Seeing this advertisement
he went into Estramadura, and at that auctio
bid off eleven hundred of the sheep. He sen
them to this country-to Baltimore, Philade
phia, New York, and Bos,on-reserving floc
TO himself, as he was about 10 return home.-
! He returned with his flock 10 his farm in Vel
mont, where he now resides, and where he ha
f kept that family of sheep to this day. He ha
, shearings of each year from that time TO this
! marked with the dates, so that you can CON
pare them, and see whether the wool is impro'
ing or deteriorating. There is decided in
l provement. 1t is a great deal better than whe
5 he brought the sheep from Spain. His impol
tation was the basis of the merino sheep Of tn
country / well remember, that soon after III
t close of the last war with Great Britain,
which we suffered so much for the want
, wooleIs, some of these sheep, year or tw
old, sold for $400 piece. have seen littl
merino sheep, that man could carry under HI
, arm, sold for $400. They were thus introdu'
= ed into New England, and they have gradual
S spread off into Pennsylvania, New York, Ohit