Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-02-04


worlds great breeders. With the up.
ward movement of wool in the American
markets, these same conditions will pre-
vail again i'm the vast plains of our
country west and southwest. TO fur
nish the material for the improvement of
the fleece qualities these sheep will ia
the future, as in the past. be the mission
of the stud flocks of American Merinos.
-Four years more and we reach the
century milestone of American expert
ence in the culture and development of
Spanish Merino blood. A period that
has witnessed greater Improvement in
this race of animals than can be found
in any other branch of the domestic ami
NAL industry. Are the lessons of ex-
perience replete or are there new routes
to success yet untraveled and new
principles i'm breeding vet to be evolved.
or did Hammond, Sanford, Stowell and
Burmese blaze the way along the route
which all must travel if they reach the
hill-tops of success: Who since their
day has made footprints more plain or
marked, or discovered a new pathway to
better results?
True it is that many better sheep have
been bred than their eyes ever looked
upon or their hands handled yet it was
done by the men on whom their mantles
fell, and by their methods and practices.
The secret of the success of these men
was the recognition of and the putting
into practice of a few ell-established
principles in sheep breeding. First, that
like begets like; second, that the male
Is the potent influence in improvement:
third, that the male must be i'm every
way superior to the female if advance
ment is to be made fourth. that oils in a
rams fleece was as indispensable as
wool, if fleeciness and quality was to be
expected in the progeny; fifth, that
wrinkles was The channel through which
covering and density of fleece was to be
secured.
Now let us briefly outline the course
pursued by these men: Mr.. Hammond
commenced his operations in 1871 with
Atwood sheep, the females of which
would shear four pounds washed wool.
One of his first moves was to secure an
interest in the Atwood ram, "Old
Black" the first ram of this blood to
shear as much as fourteen pounds. The
next upward step was his son "W6Oster,"
that clipped nineteen and one-half
pounds, who in turn gave place to his
sons sold Greasy" and "N Dung Match
less whose flecces weighed twenty
two and twenty-three pounds respective
ly. Then came "Old Wrinkly," son of
sold Greasy" described as heavily
wrinkled over and under neck, and also
about elbows, tail and flank; flank deep
and tail broad; fleece twenty-three
pounds; then in time came his two sons,
Little Wrinkley,' who got "Sweep-
stakes" Mr.. Hammond's GROWING sue
cess that clipped twenty-seven pounds
and the Lawrence ram who was scarcely
less wrinkly than his sire, who clipped
twenty-four pounds. As result of his
course he had carried his flock of 200
| (early in the siXties) up to an average of
10 pound naeces willie in carcass and
covering the improvement was no less
marked.
Mr.. Stowell commenced his flock with
Atwood ewes purchased of Mr.. Ham
mond and bred to the McFarlqnd ram
Peerless" whom some of us recall as
being one of the very wrinkliest rams of
his day. "Peerless's son, "Stowells
Sweepstakes" got the great ram "GOl.
den Fleece that many think was tine
greatest ram of his generation. Sure it
is that the influence of his blood is with
US today. and will last on with the breed.
One of Mr.. Burnell's first moves was
to breed to the ram "Bonaparte," that
was a very shiny and excessively folded
ram. "Silver Horn" a son of this ram.
in his lamb form got the great rams of
history, bismarck" "Stubs" aud
Eureka 3D." Bismarck was the great
ram of this flock and was without a
rival in his day. At this point let us
note one fact, that "Sweepstakes was a
grandson of "Old Wrinkly," Golden
Fleece" grandson of Peerless" and
"Bismarck" grandson of "Bonaparte.'
/ "
show ram or sire which did not lay very
close in the male line do something
way above the ordinary showiness. The
course of these involved line breeding.
in-andin breeding and type breeding.
Each of these men reached the climax of
success before their life work was done
and each made the same mistake. Line
breeding we understand to consist in
keeping within certain line of blood on
the male side of descent. All of Mr.
Hammond's rams belonged to "Old