The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-12
THE RUTLAND DAILY GLOBE TUESDAY MORNING MAY H. 1874

coarse on the thigh and neck folds, the
yolk thick and of golden color"
The Atwood sheep in 1910 were larger
than the Pauler, and like them had heavy
dcwlaps and some neck folds and wrinkles.
Their wool was shorter, finer and evener,
well crimped, brilliant, thick and very
dark colored externally. The inside yolk
was abundant and generally colorless.
There were a few other small merino
nocks scattered through the states, but as
they have failed up 10 this time to make
any note of themselves, and probably have
all been merged in either the Pauler or
Atwood families, or both, ere this, we
will pass them by with the remark that
the model eve of Mr.. Francis Rotch of
Louisville N. Y, an eminent sheep and
cattle breeder of 1910, from his flock of
thirty selected from the best New England
flocks. as illustrated in the Practical lShep-
he1d, shows plain. bare faced, bare-legged
eve. absolutely without dew-lap or fold OF
any kind, and sheep unworthy a place
in fourth-rate flock of Culls of the present
day.
The French sheep were represented by
small importation by Mr.. d. G.. Collins of
Hartford. Conn, who saw the government
flock at Rambouilet, while travelling in
France, and approaching the great detcri-
excellence of these, conceived the plan of
breeding rams to restore the sheep of his
own country TO their former excellence. In
fact the desire was cosmopolitan TO return
to the old fashioned merino. or something
better. But alas but few of the old land
marks remained. and those in n ruinons
condition.
In 1874 and 1916 Mr.. Edwin Hammond
Of Middlehury. VT, purchased Of Stephen
Atwood of Woodbury., Conn, of his pure
Humphrey merinos, IN three several pur-
chascs. the basis of his flock since so WIDE
" and Justly celebrated. And for twenty
! years he and his contemporaries both in
the Atwood (since called lnfantado) and
! the Paulor branches of the Spanish merino
made rapid strides in improvement, an inn
proyement by "their perfect understand
ing ana exquisite management of their ma
terials. as great as that Of Blackwell III the
coarse sheep of England, or Bates in the
improved "Shorthorn." They converted
the thin, light-boned, smallish and imper
| fectly covered sheep that they found into
large, round low, strengthened, well COW
cred sheep models of compactness and
| beauty in form and character" with which
| YOU are all so conversant and fleece such
as the world never saw bcfore-a fleece to
which the famed Golden Fleece, for which
Jason sailed the world over, bore no COM
parison; a fleece with long, fine, even, lus-
trous, elastic, strong, stylish fibre of the ut
most quantity, holding its quality even up
on flank head, legs and belly, compact, and
finer to the touch, Opening like n book, -
and showing soft. mellow, pink skin be
tween the cream tinted and water lined
! leaves.
Early in this period the profits Of breed
| ing Spanish merinos were not large. The
| American people had been misled and lost
money in sheep To he sure, they were
SaXons, and their loss was owing 20 The un-
fitness of those sheep to the American mar
ket, and the stupid policy of building up
the commerce of country at the expense
Of her manufacturers The people moved
slowly and the breeders slowly. hut surely
they were creating from but meagrc mate
rial race. breed and wonderful one it
was, hut the people didn't see it, the change
was so gradual Suddenly bright light
appeared, light meteor flash The Tain.-
or importatons of French mcrnos, those
huge models Of bone and corrugated skin
with their gross but uneven ileeCes, struck
the eye. and the American people were
thoroughly awakened, and with their char
actcristic uniflcatiOn rushed pcll nell into
their purchase. sometimes | have thought
from sheer force Of contract. Alas to be
again disappointed. The French merino
was as much too much of n good thing as
the Saxon too little.
Meanwhire the breeders of the Spanish
merino pursued the even tenor of their way,
catching, ii may be- an inspiration from
the advent Of such striking model as the
French sheep presented, and availing them
selves of the true breeders prerogative OF
moulding according to will. and to almost
any type. in form, in fleece, and all
that goes to make mp the perfect
sheep, they reached. it would seem, the
highest acme of their art, and that, too,
by judicious selections and crossings with
in the limits Of their own loclls and faml-
les. To such an extent were their i'm
provements carried, that when the prestige
of the French was lost, the awakened mind
of the American public We're ready to re-
ceive the improved Spanish mcrino as the
sheep best adapted to their wants-a sheep
that showed itself possessed of all the
merits of the French merino, without its
defects.
The profits were bountilul and the har-
vest large, increased and enhanced, it is
true, by our civil war, until the demand
was greater than the supply, and prices
such as snecp had never reached before.
| Don't blame the breeders for that their
prices were their protection. Too large .
says one. Aye, too large they might have
been, don't deny that, hut they were for
a real thing. an article that was truly and
demonstrably meritorious . For a sheep
was produced that yielded pound of wool
in the grease to four pounds of carcass, and
a pound of clean, secured wool, fit for the
cards, to a little over twelve pounds of car
cass,, and that, too, so even and fine that
nearly one-half was of one kind, known to
the trade as No. | a wool that enters most
largely into the manufacture of the best of
American cloths Individual sheep sheared
as high as, ewes 20, and rams so pounds
per head. Flocks Of pure Spanish
merlnos were established in many
parts of the west. breeders buying
a few ewes and their stock rams in
Vermont, often replenishing their stock as
they could Afford Cfor these sheep were
costly, and the good ones are yeti, in the
laudable cndcavor to become the ram
breeders of their own sections, and i'm
prove the large flocks of grades and re-
Spanish the many tlocks of SaXons, rails
ing their average from . to 6 and even s
pounds Of wool per head for large hocks
kept for the purpose of wool growing
alone.
The American merno of to-day as we
| breed them IN Ncrmont present the excel
lences combined sought out by the neces.
sites of former people, and brought out
by the art of their time. Thus we have the
white sheep of the primitive shepherds, the
fine sheep of the Roman empire, the hardy
sheep of the Spanish IranShu NANTES, the
''wooly" sheep of the Prussian Silesia, the
wrinkly, well covered sheep of The faint
or importation and Pauler cabana, with
the fine style and free oil Of the Atwood r.
a sheep that needs no covering no oil or
wines to lubricale its fleece to render it
soft and pliable, or protect it from the
"cotting' so detrimental to the SaXons, the
Silesian or French, under exposure; in
fact, an American sheep for the American
manufacturer to meet the wants of the
American citizen, in our grand commune
and mutually of interest
(Io be cOntiiued)