Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1877-02-16
Pedigrees of Sheep.


entered upon discharge of the duties assigned
them with much reluctance aud many mis-.
givings as to their ability to sift all the evi.
dence and arrive at a conclusion, in re.
gard to the purity Of the blood of tho Aocks
of sheep offered for registration, that would
be satisfactory to the association or even
themselves.
The committee found themselves obliged to
establish some rule, or standard, to govern
their action, and after good deal of time
and consultation, agreed, if the statements
and evidences presented we're such as to leave
no reasonable doubt in the minds Of the com.
mittee of the purity Of any flock, and no evi.
dence to the contrary was known by the
committee to exist, they would be obliged to
admit them to registration.
They also decided that, however much
they might respect the feelings and interests
of the owners of focks, they were of small
moment compared to the rights Of the as.
sociation and the public in preserving tho
honor of the hocks of our state, and the puri-
rity of their blood.
In tracing the pedigrees of most other
stock than Spanish Merino sheep, it would
be possible to trace the lineage through a
perfect line Of ancestry, by sire and dam,
back to importation. The registers of cat
tie generally require such a pedigree, but
your committee found if they set up such
standard and adhered to it, they would neces-
sarily exclude every sheep in the United
States, for while tradition had generally con
ceded the purity Of many focks, IN no case
could the pedigree of any sheep be traced by
recorded names or numbers, back to an i'm
portation from Spain. While certain focks
have generally been accepted by breeders
and the public as possessing pure Spanish
blood only, and many of them as having
been bred in certain families or lines from
single importations, no focks have escaped
from having doubts thrown on their purity
by certain floating stories, and charges
against their having been bred as their
owners claimed.
1t is fact easily accounted for, that the
most celebrated and popular focks have gen.
orally received more Of this kind of attention
than those less popular and more obscure. If
this kind Of evidence is to be believed, we
have no hocks of pure blood sheep, and no
close bred families in Vermont.
Some breeders who may have circulated,
if not invented, rumors affecting the reputa.
tion of their neighbors' focks, while boasting
of the great purity Of their own, are now
feeling the effect Of the laws of compensation
and retribution by having doubts thrown
upon the standing of their own, by stories
quite as tangible, and probably quite as true,
as they themselves have circulated about
others. But your committee are happy in
being able able to say, that the more they
have investigated pedigrees and histories
of focks, and the more they have
sfted and examined the evidence presented
in regard to the hocks offered for registration,
the more they are convinced that these ru-
mors have no foundation except in the jealous
minds of few selfish breeders, who would
unjustly wrest profits aud honors from their
ueighbors by shamefully depreciating their
property by insnuations against their fair
fame, accusing them of dishonest practices
aud making false representations as to the
purity of their own hocks.
Your committee, after careful examination
of statements, certificates and other evidence,
have nothing to hinder their opinion that the
following hocks are pure Spanish Merinos,
and entitled to be recorded as such in your
register, but would recommend that the
names of tho owners Of the Aocks be published
or advertised at once as having been accepted,
that any one who knows of any positive proof
against the purity of their blood may have
opportunity to appeal from our decision and
have the matter further investigated and de-
cided by the executive board. We would
also recommend that in the publication of
the register, the statement of the history
and breeding of each flock presented be SUBJ
stantially given.
Your committee would also recommend |
that your executive board adopt rule that
the sheep recorded be numbered by labels in
their ears and some plan devised whereby
notice may be given of any sheep sold that
are registered, and have the transfer recorded |
by the secretary, thus in measure prevent
ing the sale of more sheep as registered sheep |
than have been recorded