The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-03-31
agricultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN


sheep RAISING, re
4 pepr Rad before hs moaisg Of Tie State Board
Of Ac-,ssharr at Tsgsnns. FEB. and 4, 1874,
Ls Col. &. s. Stetetii, Of CofnlodH
(coSTiSuEp.)
In 1916 the treaty Of Gbeot removed
the embargo, re.opened commerce, I'D.
hitting cheap labor manufactured foreign
goods free. thus destroying the manufac.
turing industry of our country, and with
that, as in Spain, away went sheep.
Randall says: "Such q revulsion eusued
that before the close Of the year full.
blood merino sheep we're sold for 81 per
head Wool did not materially rally in
price for the nine succeeding years, and
during tbst period most Of the full-blood
Hocks Of the country were broken up or
adulterated."
The WOODEN tariff Of 1924 gave new
lie to the production Of fine wool, aud
for five years Saxon iperiDos were large
~ imt orted into tie United States. As
many as 1900 were brought into the port
OF Boston alone. and nearly or quite as
many more Into others. Some Of them.
selling as high as $500 to $3.50. were o.
6ue blood. but very many were low
grade, and the great majority were mis-
cradle "stop sale sheep" as they we're
called in Germany, and brought along
with them scab aud foot.rot, and from
oil accounts about all the ills that the
merino race are heir to.
These sheep sheared fleece Of fne
soft, downy wool of from 2 to 3 lbs. but
so destitute of oil that the ordinary ex-
posurc of the country would cause the
wool TO scot" on the sleeps back, and
the ends to become dead and dry. Such
wool lilies" and wastes in the manulac-
ture.
In 1898 the fine wool tariff excited a
mania" and "every producer strovo TO
obtain the finest" wool regardless of
every other consideration. Manufac.
turers went through the country offering
large prices for foe wool, drawing bright
pictures of the brilliant future Of those
who q ! to do with the growing or man.
ufacturing Of it, Owners Of Spanish
merinos were over-persuaded, and many
who had carried along their pure sheep
uider every encouragement, yielded now
and fell into the mad torrent Of Saxon
sheep, and rushed along down the stream
with the rest. There was an ignorance
OF the knowledge of fine wool breeding
and OF the demands of the American
market for woolens. We had no large
upper class "to covet wardrobe Of the
finest texture" and manufacturers failing
TO get that support they had iondly m.
ticipated from home, and receiving no
foreign orders, were unable to pay the
prices they had led growers to expect. A
reaction took place, after the crash oil
1887, and eliminated in the 6nal over.
throw Of Saxon sheep in America with
the horizontal ad ralorem tariff 10 1876.
In 1913, Stephen Atwood, of Wood
bury, Conn. bought Spanish merno
eve Of Col. Humphrey for 1920. This
eve be bred to Humphreys rams, or rams
he knew to be Of pure Humphrey blood,
unt'l about 1880, when he bred from his
own flock At this time pedgrees of the
p1.tashioned merinos received very little
attention. Dir. Atwood alone, in his re.
spect, and We may almost soy generation,
for the Humphrey sheep, having once
lived With him and formed his taste from
his Ao,k, adhered to them in opposition
to the opinions and practice OF every
other sheep breeder that was then, or has
since, come prominently before the pub.
lie, except one. Hon. Charles Rich and
Leonard Bedell, of Shorehtm, w., pur.
chased in 1928, of Andrew Cook, Of
Flushing l.. L., q flock of Pauler merinc
sheep, and tho Rich flock have undoubt
eddy been bred pure since, although they
have taken crosses of Jarvis and At
wood rams. In lS4O, the downfall o.
Soxons being assured, on account Of stock
showed the following results: The Jarvi
sheep had been largely crossed with the
Saxons, a small part remained, in which
the Ave families originally imported haC
been mixed, the greater proportion being
Paulors, although for the purpose of "ac
commodating the manufacturers" ant
slso following out the leading idea of thu
day, Escurial rams had been chiefly used
and tho sheep bred "in a contrary di
rection from the type of tho darker col
ored and yolkier families" They wer
therefore light colored, rather roug
sheep, many having the thin, high shoul
ders, Roman nose and bare face and leg
Of the German. These sheep" say
Randall, "arc now represented in ped
grees of many excellent pure bred flock
but as distinct sheep, they have bee
mostly merged in the Pauler and Atwoo
families"
The Paulers in 1870" says Randall
we're heavy, short-legged, broad animal
full in the quarters, strengthened, wit
thick, short necks aud coarse heads. Til
ewes had deep plated dewlaps and folc
Of moderate size about the neck, the ran
larger ones. They we're darker exte
nally than the Jarvis sheep, but not
much 20 Us the Atwood The wool W,
longer than that Of either of the 9th,
families, very thick, and covered the
better on the belly. legs and head. b,
it was inferior in fineness, evenness az
style, and Was quite coarse on the thie
and neck folds the yolk thick and of
golden color.
The Atwood sheep in 1910 were la
ger than the Pauler, aud like them ha
heavy dewlaps and some neck folds ar
wrinkles. Their wool was shorter fin
and evener, well crimped, brilliant, THE
and very dark colored externally. TT
inside yolk was abundant and general
eolorless.
There were few other small neiil
aocks scattered through the States, but
,hcy have tailed up to this time to maj
any note of themselves, and probably ha
all been merged in either the Pauler
Atwood families. or both, ere this, ,
will pass them by with the remark tn