The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-03-02
OLD SERIES vol I6, NC. l9.
rER ,Oosin Advance.

szA - -
wool to each sheep and the progeny we WIN
call only one Enthusiastically This gives
100 pounds Of wool. worth as an estimate,
$50. There is added to the value of in.
crease at least $Ioo, since any buyer Of
judaement would sooner pay five do.lars for
a sheep shearing foar lbs, than four doIIars
for hne that clipped but three pounds. Ono
hundred and seventy dollars pay the inter.
est at six per cent on near So 900, snd had a
| made the annual get Of the aninal two
hundred. and the.incrcase Of the 'aeecs two
pounds, as | might with fair estimate, the
sheep at $4,000 proves a good investment. >
It is the highest wisdom then to pay $500 9
or $1,000 to- obtain = pure bloodcd sheep, =
and the snpremest folly to be content With
mongrel, that clips only two pounds Of :
wool-most sure to impart all his poor quail. y
tiles il not mingled with blood superior to {.
his own. Let me not make an argument, =
nor extol a man or flock, bus tel1 you what =
| bave seen and learned -asHas9 e baYiaa
+ Mr.. Hammond is a law unto himself. In =
defiance ofwhat has been called good breed So
H'g, he pays no regard to- consangamity. >
but breeds in andin. There may be i'm. q >
It to this, yet after an incestuous intercourse 2
for ten generatians can discover no dete- -
rioration; on the contrary, the younger an. :
imals, especially the females, surpass their =
remote ancestry in every desirable quality.
As to care and feeding. observe nothing
peculiar in Mr., Hamnond's methods. The y
sheep are never wet by summer rains, or by
streams in washing. The barns are tight ,
and the stock are furnished with straw -
bed, without floor. A mixture Of timothy ]
and clover hay is their staple food. which is *
fed in boxes. together with daily portion 81
of from one-half to pint of oats or corn to %
sheep. An equivalent to this in roots or 2
oil cake is fed sometimes in the Spring.
One half pint Of corn a day Is regarded as ?
very liberal feeling. s Hgaa as q rs
No fancy picture can surpass the beauty ~
OF these animals Clothed with more than 8b
artistic grace from face to toes. with rich Z
oily, fine. thick. long, crimped aud glossy
wool, which is clipped to the amount Of l5 ~
pounds from ewes, and 25 pounds fromab
rams. Their surface is of a tar color; In .
build compact. with folds on the neck; and (
a fan like tail; their faces are Of sunny ra
whteness; the ear soft as velvet, and &C =:
such striking uniformity as. to size, build "a
and color, that the novice aud admrer says Ia
sell mo any one
1 This is one Fer'not Aock and though the
leading one. the Sanfords, the Saxtonss
Wrights, Riches, Bartons, Cowles. Farus-oil
worths, Nashss, and many others, ,hays.s,
bloods attracting attention. Thase are thesss
observations of brief visit to- attractions, /,
which would repay for a journey across the >
continent. did not wonder to hear. that !.
Prof. Agassiz, the naturalist, and DR.. Lor- i.
ing of Massachusetts,, and also Henry S.,
Randall, the friend Of the flock and polished ;,
literateur, with al uncounted "wooly fra.
ternity," were to visit these fields Might
have been Johnson's Boswell and listen
ed to criticism and excla nations, should
have been happy man, aud more enthusi-
astically have told you Of these famed ami
mails with the golden feece.r,7 lasa sys5r
j. Yours, r5f aL,B. GRINNELE. La
Xiddlsbury TT Dec. 29. 1864. csr. t-af1azs1