Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-02-04
MERIN0 BRE EDIN G..
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY JOHN S,
BEECHER AT ROCHERTER.

History of the Great American FIoclss
best Methods to Follow in breeding
10 secure Heaviest Fleece.
John 5. Beecher, president of the Stan
dard American Merino association, de-
liyered the following address at a meet
ing of that association held at Rochester,
n. Y, Jan IS:
The merchant understands that there
are such things as staple goods which he
must always keep in stock. They are
staple, because always i'm demand, and
that nothing suppmnts them in common
use. Special styles may change but the
kind abides.
Wheat is the staple article for bread
stuils, and will SO remain through all
| time, for it has no substitute other than In
name. Localities may change varieties,
but it is wheat through all the centuries.
Merino wool is ii staple article, for no
other material can enter into the fabrics
which the people demand, and If no other
woods were grown, manufactures of
wool would be all the softer and more
beautiful, and herein lies the secret of
the great preponderance of MerinO strains
of blood wherever great sheep walks
abound. Whenever conditions conspire
to mOngrelie this blood the trend will be
TO increase the price Of fine woods. That
there has of late years been an uupre-
cedented movement along the line of
cross breeding well nigh universal, ad-
mits of no denial, and the upward move
ment of the felting woods is an assurance
of this fact.
If history repeats itself, then this in
creased demand for MernO woods will
usher in an increased demand for Merinos.
Whether the characteristics of MerinO
sheep were created with the race or
breed, or whether to a certain extent
they are the Outgrowth of environment
and culture is a matter of little import
ance. Their herding qualities and quiet
habits may have been acquired through
the flockng or banding process in the
hands of the early Spanish shepherds.
Their longevity and endurance may
have come through the weeding-out
process of the law of the survival of the
fittest that has put in its work through
all the centuries since the dawn of eivili-
ZatiOn and the race was known to his
tory. Their freedom from disease is an
inheritance through long line of healthy
pareDtage. These traits, together with
the unrivaled beauty and texture of their
fleece, its value in manufacture, and the
quantity of product are the chief factors
which constitute their universal pOpu-
larity.
This breed of sheep which our people
chose as by common consent to be our
national breed has had checkeTed
career since their first advent to our
shores. Riding VIGOROUSLY on the pop.
ular wave during periods of national
prosperity, and the victim of neglect and
abuse whenever financial disaster has
Overtaken us as people. Yet, like the
tabled Aegis, to rise again from the
ashes of ruin and unpopularity to
fashions topmOst round when the day
star of prosperity has swung into view
again. We stand today as Merino breed
ers, hosting our sails, as we trust, for a
! successful voyage under the favoring
breeZes of protection to wool after four
years of the most disastrous wreckage
under free trade that ever swept down
upon an industry; when the Merino
+ fleece was well-nigh robbed of money
+ value and men scarcely considered the
; fleece qualities of sheep.
The best estimate that | am able to
make is that during the great registration
| period that we had between $500 and
! 5000 registered American Merino flOcks
; in the country, giving grand total OF
about 100000 sheep. Today have we
more than one-tenth as many sheep OF
: this family in the country: From 1873
to 1898, who of all the sheep men were
, dissatisfied with a well-cOnstltuted and
/ heavy-shearing flock? Under later con
diIions men not only lost their head as
to the kind of sheep, but their type as
we'll. Their thought and effort centered
+ in the mutton lamb, and the future OF
l the stock entered not into their plans
and purposes. My observation has been
this, that the higher the price of WOO
the more heavy fleeced sheep were sought
after, and the greater their popularity
among the masses of sheep men.
5 When domestic wool reaches the cost
i of foreign woods laid down in our mar.
t kets, duty paid, the price will approx
+ mate, if not fully reach, the wool values
a of former years, when the Merino were
r the cream among breeds
The great influx of the foreign mutton
breeds was the natural result of a dis
, position upon the part of our sheep mer
y to take up something new ana untried as
cure for the evils of mistaken national
- economic policy. The lessons of eX
J, perence that came to the party exploit
q ing the policy will scarcely need repeat
: ing during this generation, and the mer
/ who sacrificed their MerlnO flocks vii
# want some of the blood again, and thai
), from now on. Fortunate the man who
has the material with which to recOuI
his fortunes, and thrice fortunate the
v man who stayed to the front through the
thickest of the breeds struggle anC
= maintained the number and improved tn,
n quality.
h The facts demonstrated by the eXper
n fence of the last few years is that well
h fatted merino mutton is as good eating
4 as the best of the so-called muttoI
! breeds second, that Merno eve takeI
, the year around, keep and care con
4 sidered, is the most satisfactory of al
, sheep mothers. She will yield tn,
heaviest and most valuable fleece o
wool and when bred to Southdowl
- ram will produce an up-to-date mutton
y lamb satisfactory alike to both feede
: and butcher
e What type of Merine will meet future