Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1863-09-17

the manufacturers. | think they are as
liberal and honorable class of men as we
have among us. But think that they,
like most other business men, can take
care of themselves--and will do ii and
whom We attempt to do 1t for them, we,
as Doctor Wayland would say, exceed the
limits Of our responsibility.
The horizontal, killing tariff, of 1916,
imposing an even advalorem duty of 80
per centum on all woods and on cloths,
gave the finishing blow to the Saxon
sheep.
The "old-iashioned Merinon came back
into public favor, aud perhaps some of You
remember peculiar circumstance which
attended this event. very distinctly re-
member il, 1t was this: the sudden in
crease of genuine old-fashioned Merinoes
among us, without waiting to breed them,
Some Aocks changed from SaXons to
bona fde Spaniards, almost over night!
Many a clever fellow who had ignored the
existence of drop of the ''old-fashioned"
blood among his hgh-bred Saxons, now
found out that there was a good deal Of
that blood in his flock after all. After
Spanish cross or two, the Saxon blood ut
terly disappeared-so totally that it was
pretty certain there never had been any,
Now | would not for the world intimate
that these rather miraculous changes &C.
Cured IN consequence of a change in the
popularity and market price of the sheep.
BY no means. Brutus, and Cassius, and
Caska, and all hands, are honorable men.
| should like to see the man who would
dare to insinuate anything against any ofus
wool-growers- especially here in our. State
Convention. only mentioned it as one
of those striking condolences which some
times signalize the affairs of this world
as, for example the still unexplained one,
that the presence of certain kinds of saul
sages, in some regions of country, implies
the absence of dogs.
But when the Merino lights We're put
out in 1915, and again in lS24,a few per-
sons really kept the vestal fame burning
| know of about dozen such persons in
different and widely scattered states, but
only three of them became the founders of
permanent sub-families, and are therefore
the only ones / shall name. The oldest
of these, as Spanish Merino flock mas
ter, was the Hon. William Jarvis of
Weatherford the second, Stephen At
wood of Connecticut and the third, the
Hon. Charles Rich of Shoreham, Vt.
Mr.. Jarvis crossed his Spanish sheep
with Saxons, but became aware of his
mistake before his pure Spanish blood was
extinguished, and he again bred that blood
pure. Mr.. Atwood commenced by buy
ing but one eve of Col. Humphrey, in
1918. He interbred her and her posteri-
ty with Humphreys rams, owned by his
neighbors, until about 1880, when he COM
menced breeding exclusively with males
drawnsfrom bis own flock. Mr. Rich, with
Leonard Bedell, bought his stock of An
drew Cork of Flushing, Long Island, in
1928. and Andrew Cork bought them on
ship board from the importer, paying
large prices for them and until his sale
to Rich and Bedell, bred them perfectly
pure. The last fact was stated to me
both verbally and in writing, as a fact
within his own positive knowledge, by the
Hon, Effingham Lawrence of Flushing L..
l., and let me tell you that the worlu
could not shake word that dropped from
Mr.. Lawrence's lips. He was one of the
heightened, old school gentlemen Of our
state, who would not have changed ped
igree, or winked at such change, to have
saved Vermont and all the sheep in it
from humiliation
have scrutinzed the Jarvis, Atwood
and Rich pedigrees thoroughly. l believe
| was the first who very closely did scru-
tinize portion of them lat least for public
purposes. first made them matters of
permanent record, and undertake to say
that each Of them rest on testimony which
would have been strong enough when it
was made, to have placed the best man in
this company in a State Prison, if the
proof of the pedigree would have procured
his conviction.
rely twice as firmly on these pedi-
grees resting on intelligent, disinterested
and kR0agn testimony, as | would on the
pedigrees which rest solely on the asser-
tons of Spanish, French or German sa-
wants, unless, indeed, as many innocent
individuals seem to imagine, journey
across the sea improves pedigrees as it
does wine; but unluckily, if the vintage
was base one, a journey to the moon
would not make it the genuine article. |
/ suppose some of the itinerating sheep
merchants of this country-called by those
who do not put so fine point on the mat
ter, "Vermont ram peddlers" -have some
times exhibited considerable strength of
Imagination IN running back their sheep
to very illustrious ancestry. But more
mongrel sheep have crossed the broad At
lantic to be sold as full bloods, than ever
were sold out of Vermont for full boods.
Your peddler generally gets no more for
his sheep than they are actually worth to
the buyer, ire pective of pedigree. Your
foreign peddler-or your peddler Of for
eign sheep-bites deeper, And let me
say to the young men of Vermont that if
they act fairly and squarely in the bust
ness, peddling, as it is termed, is just as
legitimate and proper as importation. |
must confess | have changed my mind
considerably in regard to this matter.
The Spanish families, from which Mr..
Jarvis sub-famlv was created are known