Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-05-06

ohe uhNs anu ocing lnNteu into dinner apol-
ogized 10 Mrs. Hammond for the late hour.
when she remarked she KEPT her table spread
from morning till night, and had previous Y
waited upon fourteen To dinner that day. Mr..
Hammond has about one hundred and forty
sheep. He commenced his flock Of pure Snan-
ish Merinoes sbout twenty years ago, by pur-
chase from Mr.. Stephen Atwood Of Watertorp,
I CT. The sheep were Of the Humphrey mporia-
ton Of 1902. He has bred in and in. never
going out Of his own fock for sire ur dam. As
his flock ncreases he sells the culls and ocea-
sonally good one, but never the best At the
! time Of the rage tor French and Silesian rneri-
nos, We understand Mr.. Hammond tried each
with a view 10 test the comparative merits Of
the three breeds. keeping his stock Of Spanish
pure At all times, and finally giving up all for
them. Mr.. Hammond sold SIX cul!s in the fan
for $500 each. Has been offered $1,000 f an
undivided half Of his buck Sweepstakes. Mer
rill Bingham Of Cornwall told Us be would give
Mr. Hammond $4,000 for his buck Gold Drop
Mr.. Hammond has the last season SIS Der eve
no warrant for the use Of bis best bucks one of
which served three hundred ewes He said that
hrs bucks were too much crowded, and that he
shall charge : 10 the coming season. Sells his
buck lambs from 500 10 $1,000 each Mr. "
W. TotterSdn Of Shaitsbury, Vt. told u he was
authorized to pay Mr. Hammond $1,000 for
twenty y-eight eve lambs Mr.. Hammond had
previously refused $40, 500 for them, and held
them now at $4,000 He has "a book Of dfty
young breeding ewes which viii average about
40 pounds each, from which he expects to
show an average Of Il pounds of wool each, un-
washel, at the next clip. Those wees are con-
sdered by many persons the best flock of hfty
ewes IN the world. Four hundred dollars each
would not buy the poorest Of them Mr. Bot
tom above alluded 10 paid Mr.. Hammond $1,000
for two eve. last tall, and those we're not the
best; and $500 would not seizure the pick Of
one from that iock.
Taking the cars We reached Mr.. Meech's
place At >belhune, and founi a collection of
some - persons attending his sale Of grade, At
wool sui Hammond sheep. Whether owing to
the very cold weather. the quality Of the sheep
or tine auctionesr. the sheep seemed 10 sell very
slow. The grades sold in pens Of iye or ten
each at some S6 OF - each, with few bdlers
when. becoming discouraged, they adicurnet
to a lot Of some Il old ewes, mauv Of them
to0thle,s, varying in age from Ia 10 ! : y.-;r>.
from Mr.. Hsmmond's flock. | give the prices
at which they were struck off one SIS. Slos.
sol, SOL, $50, &c, and taking age and price
we concluded We had seen about enough Of the
elephant, and would return home, but the cars
being about three hours behind time. 30 that We
must lose our connection at Rutland, We con-
ciule~i 10 20 Dhck 10 hultNuEN. anu Ale next
day 90 out to Cornwall and see more sheep.
- The result Of our observation the next day
and the day after follows: Mr.. Henry
Hammond hs- 40 sheep. which suppose he
thinks are about equal 10 Mr. Edwin Hammonds;
mas been oferel 5000 for one buck lamb. r.
+. Sampson Of Cornwall has four two-years old
ewes for which he paid $50 each when lambs:
price now for the four : 500. Mr.. Merrill
Bingham Of Cornwall has . yearlng ewes which
he values at 5000; Mr.. Bingham has about 200
sheep; values eve lambs At 500 each and buck F
lambs at 500. $500 and $500. T. 5. Stowell
has about $50 very good sheep, values his buck
lambs on an average at 500; one buck lamb At
: 900. ew,s from 500 to ~ 900. Niessrs. /
Mead * Peet have about l3U sheep; 80 yearling
ewes which they value at 500 each. Eigar
Sanford sold last season 20 lambs for : 200;
sold George ". Campbell Is yearling ewes tor
=. 800. II. Dean sold one buck lamb for - 900. F
c. b. Lane sold 80 sheep 10 one man r s. 900; .
sold 10 yearling ewes for ,250; raised 45 lambs .
two years ago and has sold them all for Al aver
age Of 81 cash. : :. Rockwell keeps 200
sheep; and sold one buck lamb tor 500. The
iocks We saw in Middlebury and Cornwall are
all pure Spanish Merinos, mostly OF the Atwood
family although some Of them are mixed with
the Rich and other Spanish importations, and
were valued nearly As follows: Atwood sheen
improved by Nr. Hammond, first quality; At
wood sheep, hut not straight Hammond sheep,
second quality, mixture of Atwood, Rich other
impor,ations, third quality. One Of the assessors
Of Cornwall told me the sheep OF that town were
valued in town tax asseSsments-pure blcois
from $50 to $50 per eve, bucks more accord .
ing 20 value
We learned Afterwards that there were
strangers employed at Mr.. Meech's as by-bd- .
ders, and that the positive sales were not nu-
merous.
We have stated things as stated to Us, sud
a. seen BY u, and We beng strangers among
shrewd people, vouch for nothing, only that
things appeaied a. We have stated People
talked sheep, bought sheep, sold sheep, and dii
every thing but eat sheep. And with al due r
Difference to the Spanish Merino Sheep, which We
believe are the best in the world our N nd would
occasionally revert back 10 the days Of Alorus
Nultic.uls Rohan Potatoes, China Tree Corn,
Shanghai Poultry. French Merino and Silesiau
Sheep, the Wine Plant, 6c.-not excepting The .
Southern Rebellion. However, if any Of the .
readers Of the RePis5iicaR wish to SEE moderate
specimens o.; celebrated breed Of sheep, which
they do sell very high in Vermont, Nessrs- Birne .
and Snow can CRAFTY them, they had slight
touches Of the prevailing sheep fever, and made .
purchases"