No one breed of sheep combines the highest perfection in all those
points which give value to this race of animals. One is remarkable for
the weight, or early maturity, or excellent quality of its carcass,
while it is deficient in quality or quantity of wool; and another, which
is valuable for wool, is comparatively deficient in carcass. Some
varieties will flourish only under certain conditions of food and
climate; while others are much less affected by those conditions, and
will subsist under the greatest variations of temperature, and on the
most opposite qualities of verdure.
In selecting a breed for any given locality, reference should be had,
_first_, to the feed and climate, or the surrounding natural
circumstances; and, _second_, to the market facilities and demand.
Choice should then be made of that breed which, with the advantages
possessed, and under all the circumstances, will yield the greatest net
value of the marketable product.
Rich lowland herbage, in a climate which allows it to remain green
during a large portion of the year, is favorable to the production of
large carcasses. If convenient to a market where mutton finds a prompt
sale and good prices, then all the conditions are realized which calls
for a mutton-producing, as contradistinguished from a wool-yielding,
sheep. Under such circumstances, the choice should undoubtedly be made
from the improved English varieties--the South-Down, the New Leicester,
and the improved Cotswolds or New Oxfordshire sheep. In deciding between
these, minor and more specific circumstances must be taken into account.
If large numbers are to be kept, the Downs will herd--remain thriving
and healthy when kept together in large numbers--much better than the
two larger breeds; if the feed, though generally plentiful, is liable to
be somewhat short during the droughts of summer, and there is not a
certain supply of the most nutritious winter feed, the Downs will better
endure occasional short keep; if the market demands a choice and
high-flavored mutton, the Downs possess a decided superiority. If, on
the other hand, but few are to be kept in the same enclosure, the large
breeds will be as healthy as the Downs; if the pastures are somewhat wet
or marshy, the former will better subsist on the rank herbage which
usually grows in such situations; if they do not afford so fine a
quality of mutton, they--particularly the Leicester--possess an earlier
maturity, and give more meat for the amount of food consumed, as well as
yield more tallow.
The next point of comparison between the long and the middle woolled
families, is the value of their wool. Though not the first or principal
object aimed at in the cultivation of any of these breeds, it is, in
this country, an important item of incident in determining their
relative profitableness. The American Leicester yields about six pounds
of long, coarse, combing wool; the Cotswold, somewhat more; but this
perhaps counterbalanced by these considerations; the Downs grow three to
four pounds of a low quality of carding wool. None of these wools are
very salable, at remunerating prices, in the American markets. Both,
however, will appreciate in proportion to the increase of manufactures
of worsted, flannels, baizes, and the like. The difference in the weight
of the fleeces between the breeds is, of itself, a less important
consideration than it would at first appear, for reasons which will be
given when the connection between the amount of wool produced and the
food consumed by the sheep is noticed.
The Cheviots are unquestionably inferior to the breeds above named,
except in a capacity to endure a vigorous winter and to subsist on
healthy herbage. Used in the natural and artificial circumstances which
surround sheep-husbandry in many parts of England--where the fattest and
finest quality of mutton is consumed, as almost the only animal food of
the laboring classes--the heavy, early-maturing New Leicester, and the
still heavier New Oxfordshire sheep seem exactly adapted to the wants of
producers and consumers, and are of unrivalled value. To depasture
poorer soils, sustain a folding system, and furnish the mutton which
supplies the tables of the wealthy, the South-Down meets an equal
requirement.
Sufficient attention is by no means paid in many portions of the country
to the profit which could be made to result from the cultivation of the
sheep. One of the most serious defects in the prevalent husbandry of New
England, for example, is the neglect of sheep. Ten times the present
number might be easily fed, and they would give in meat, wool, and
progeny, more direct profit than any other domestic animal, while the
food which they consume would do more towards fertilizing the farms than
an equal amount consumed by any other animal. It is notorious that the
pastures of that section of the country have seriously deteriorated in
fertility and become overrun with worthless weeds and bushes to the
exclusion of nutritious grasses.
With sheep--as well as with all other animals--much or prolonged
exercise in pursuit of food, or otherwise, is unfavorable to taking on
fat. Some seem to forget, in their earnest advocacy of the merits of the
different breeds, that the general physical laws which control the
development of all the animal tissues as well as functions, are uniform.
Better organs will, doubtless, make a better appropriation of animal
food; and they may be taught, so to speak, to appropriate it in
particular directions: in one breed, more especially to the production
of fat; in another, of muck, or lean meat; in yet another, of wool. But,
these things being equal, large animals will always require more food
than small ones. Animals which are to be carried to a high state of
fatness must have plentiful and nutritious food, and they must exercise
but little, in order to prevent the unnecessary combustion in the lungs
of that carbon which forms nearly four-fifths of their fat. No art of
breeding can counteract these established laws of Nature.
In instituting a comparison between breeds of sheep for _wool-growing_
purposes, it is undeniable that the question is not, what variety will
shear the heaviest or even the most valuable fleece, irrespective of
the cost of production. Cost of feed and care, and every other expense,
must be deducted, in order to fairly test the profits of an animal.
If a large sheep consume twice as much food as a small one, and give
but once and a-half as much wool, it is obviously more profitable--other
things being equal--to keep two of the smaller sheep. The next question,
then, is,--_from what breed_--with the same expense in other
particulars--_will the verdure of an acre of land produce the greatest
value of wool_?
And, first, as to the comparative amount of food consumed by the several
breeds. There are no satisfactory experiments which show that _breed_,
in itself considered, has any particular influence on the quantity of
food consumed. It is found, with all varieties, that the consumption is
in proportion to the live weight of the grown animal. Of course, this
rule is not invariable in its individual application; but its general
soundness has been satisfactorily established. Grown sheep take up
between two and a half and three and a third per cent. of their weight,
in what is equivalent to dry hay, to keep themselves in store condition.
The consumption of food, then, being proportioned to the weight, it
follows that, if one acre is capable of sustaining three Merinos,
weighing one hundred pounds each, it will sustain two Leicesters,
weighing one hundred and fifty each, and two and two-fifth South-Downs,
weighing one hundred and twenty-five each. Merinos of this weight often
shear five pounds per fleece, taking flocks through. The herbage of an
acre, then, would give fifteen pounds of Merino wool, twelve of
Leicester, and but nine and three-fifths of South-Down--estimating the
latter as high as four pounds to the fleece. Even the finest and
lightest-fleeced sheep known as Merinos average about four pounds to the
fleece; so that the feed of an acre would produce as much of the highest
quality of wool sold under the name of Merino as it would of New
Leicester, and more than it would of South-Down, while the former would
be worth from fifty to one hundred per cent. more per pound than either
of the latter.
Nor does this indicate all the actual difference, as in the foregoing
estimate the live weight of the English breeds is placed low, and that
of the Merinos high. The live weight of the five-pound fine-fleeced
Merino does not exceed ninety pounds; it ranges, in fact, from eighty to
ninety; so that three hundred pounds of live weight--it being understood
that all of these live weights refer to ewes in fair ordinary, or what
is called store, condition--would give a still greater product of wool
to the acre. It is perfectly safe, therefore, to say that the herbage of
an acre will uniformly give nearly double the value of Merino that it
will of any of the English long or middle wools.
What are the other relative expenses of these breeds? The full-blooded
Leicester is in no respect a hardier sheep than the Merino, though some
of its crosses are much hardier than the pure-bred sheep: indeed, it is
less hardy, under the most favorable circumstances. It is more subject
to colds; its constitution more readily gives way under disease; the
lambs are more liable to perish from exposure to cold, when newly
dropped. Under unfavorable circumstances--herded in large flocks,
famished for feed, or subjected to long journeys--its capacity to
endure, and its ability to rally from sad drawbacks, do not compare,
with those of the Merino. The high-bred South-Down, though considerably
less hardy than the unimproved parent stock, is still fairly entitled to
the appellation of a hardy animal; it is, in fact, about on a pace with
the Merino, though it will not bear as hard stocking, without a rapid
diminution in size and quality. If the peculiar merits of the animal are
to be considered in determining the expenses, as they surely should be,
the superior fecundity of the South-Down is a point in its favor, as
well for a wool-producing as a mutton sheep. The ewe not only frequently
produces twin lambs--as do both the Merino and Leicester--but, unlike
the latter, she possesses nursing properties to do justice to them. This
advantage, however, is fully counterbalanced by the superior longevity
of the Merino. All the English mutton breeds begin to rapidly
deteriorate in amount of wool, capacity to fatten, and general vigor, at
about five years old; and their early maturity is no offset to this, in
an animal kept for wool-growing purposes. This early decay requires
earlier and more rapid slaughter than is always economically convenient,
or even possible.
It is well, on properly stocked farms, to slaughter or turn off the
Merino wether at four or five years old, to make room for the breeding
stock; but he will not particularly deteriorate, and he will richly pay
the way with his fleece for several years longer. Breeding ewes are
rarely turned off before eight, and are frequently kept until ten years
old, at which period they exhibit no greater marks of age than do the
Downs and Leicester at five or six. Instances are known of Merino ewes
breeding uniformly until fifteen years old. The improved Cotswold is
said to be hardier than the Leicester; but this variety, from their
great size, and the consequent amount of food consumed by them, together
with the other necessary incidents connected with the breeding of such
large animals, is incapacitated from being generally introduced as a
wool-growing sheep. All the coarse races have one advantage over the
Merino: they are less subject to the visitation of the hoof-ail, and
when untreated, this disease spreads with less violence and malignity
among them. This has been explained by the fact that their hoofs do not
grow long and turn under from the sides, as do those of the Merino, and
thus retain dirt and filth in constant contact with the foot.
Taking into account all the circumstances connected with the peculiar
management of each race, together with all the incidents, exigencies,
and risks of the husbandry of each, it may be confidently asserted that
the expenses, other than those of feed, are not smaller per head, or
even in the number required to stock an acre, in either of the English
breeds above referred to, than in the Merino. Indeed, it may well be
doubted whether any of those English breeds, except the South-Down, is
on an equality, even, with the Merino, in these respects. For
wool-growing purposes, the Merino, then, possesses a marked and decided
superiority over the best breeds and families of coarse-woolled sheep.
As a mutton sheep, it is inferior to some of those breeds; although not
so much as is popularly supposed. Many persons, who have never tasted
Merino mutton, and who have, consequently, an unfavorable impression of
it, would, if required to consume the fat and lean together, find it
more palatable than the luscious and over-fat New Leicester. The mutton
of the cross between the Merino and the Native would certainly be
preferred to the Leicester, by anybody but an English laborer,
accustomed to the latter, since it is short-grained, tender, and of good
flavor. The same is true of the crosses with the English varieties,
which will hereafter be treated of more particularly. Grade Merino
wethers, half-bloods, for example, are favorites with the drover and
butcher, being of good size, extraordinarily heavy for their apparent
bulk, by reason of the shortness of their wool, compared with the coarse
breeds, making good mutton, tallowing well, and their pelts, from the
greater weight of wool on them, commanding an extra price. In speaking
of the Merino in this connection, no reference is made to the Saxons,
though they are, as is well known, pure-blooded descendants of the
former.
Assuming it, then, as settled, that it is to the Merino race that the
wool-grower must look for the most profitable sheep, a few
considerations are subjoined as to the adaptability of the widely
diverse sub-varieties of the race to the wants and circumstances of
different portions of the country.
Upon the first introduction of the Saxons, they were sought with avidity
by the holders of the fine-woolled flocks of the country, consisting at
that time of pure or grade Merinos. Under the decisive encouragement
offered both to the wool-grower and the manufacturer by the tariff of
1828, a great impetus was given to the production of the finest wools,
and the Saxon everywhere superseded, or bred out by crossing, the
Spanish Merinos. In New York and New England, the latter almost entirely
disappeared. In the fine-wool mania which ensued, weight of fleece,
constitution, and every thing else, were sacrificed to the quality of
the wool. Then came the tariff of 1832, which, as well as that of 1828,
gave too much protection to both wool-grower and manufacturer, into
whose pursuits agricultural and mercantile speculators madly rushed.
Skill without capital, capital without skill, and in some cases,
probably, thirst for gain without either, laid hold of these favored
avocations. The natural and inevitable result followed. In the financial
crisis of 1837, manufacturing, and all other monetary enterprises which
had not been conducted with skill and providence, and which were not
based on an adequate and vast capital, were involved in a common
destruction; and even the most solid and best conducted institutions of
the country were shaken by the fury of the explosion. Wool suddenly fell
almost fifty per cent. The grower began to be discouraged. The breeder
of the delicate Saxons--and they comprised the flocks of nearly all the
large wool-growers in the country, at that time--could not obtain for
his wool its actual first cost per pound.
When the Saxon growers found that the tariff of 1842 brought them no
relief, they began to give up their costly and carefully nursed flocks.
The example once set, it became contagious; and then was a period when
it seemed as if all the Saxon sheep of the country would be sacrificed
to this reaction. Many abandoned wool-growing altogether, at a heavy
sacrifice of their fixtures for rearing sheep; others crossed with
coarse-woolled breeds; and, rushing from one extreme to the other, some
even crossed with the English mutton breeds; or some, with more
judgment, went back to the parent Merino stock, but usually selected the
heaviest and coarsest-woolled Merinos, and thus materially deteriorated
the character of their wool. This period became distinguished by a mania
for heavy fleeces. The English crosses were, however, speedily
abandoned. The Merino regained his supremacy, lost for nearly a quarter
of a century, and again became the popular favorite. It was generally
adopted by those who were commencing flocks in the new Western States,
and gives its type to the sheep of those regions.
The supply of fine wool, then, proportionably decreased, and that of
medium and coarse increased. Wools, for convenience, may be classified
as follows: _superfine_, the choicest quality grown in the United
States, and never grown here excepting in comparatively small
quantities; _fine_, good ordinary Saxon; _good medium_, the highest
quality of wool usually known in the market as Merino; _medium_,
ordinary Merino; _ordinary_, grade Merino and selected South-Down
fleeces; and, _coarse_, the English long-wools, etc. This subdivision
is, perhaps, minute enough for all practical purposes here.
It soon became apparent that, to sustain our manufacturing
interest--that engaged in the manufacture of fine cloths--the diminution
of fine wools should not only be at once arrested, but that the growth
of them should be immediately and largely increased. An increased
attention was accordingly bestowed upon this branch of industry, and
sections of the country which had previously held aloof from
wool-growing, embarked in that calling with commendable enterprise.
The climate north of forty-one degrees, or, beyond all dispute, north
of forty-two degrees, is too severe for any variety of sheep commonly
known, which bear either superfine or fine wools. In fact, the only such
variety in any thing like general use is the Saxon; and this, as has
been remarked, is a delicate sheep, entirely incapable of safely
withstanding our northern winters, without good shelter, good and
regularly-administered food, and careful and skilful management in all
other particulars. When the season is a little more than usually
back-hand, so that grass does not start prior to the lambing season, it
is difficult to raise the lambs of the mature ewes; the young ewes will,
in many instances, disown their lambs, or, if they own them, not have a
drop of milk for them; and if, under such circumstances, as often
happens, a northeast or a northwest storm comes driving down, bearing
snow or sleet in its wings, or there is a sudden depression of the
temperature from any cause, no care will save multitudes of lambs from
perishing. If the time of having the lambs dropped is deferred, for the
purpose of escaping these evils, they will not attain size and strength
sufficient to enable them to pass safely through their first winter.
North of the latitude last named, it is necessary, as a general rule,
that they be dropped in the first half of May, to give them this
requisite size and strength; and occasional cold storms come, nearly
every season, up to that period, and, not unfrequently, up to the first
of June.
These considerations have had their weight even with the few large
sheep-holders in that section, whose farms and buildings have been
arranged with exclusive reference to the rearing of these sheep; many of
whom have adopted a Merino cross. With the ordinary farmers--the small
sheep-owners, who, in the aggregate, grow by far the largest portion of
the northern wools--the Saxon sheep is, for these reasons, in marked
disrepute. They have not the necessary fixtures for their winter
protection, and are unwilling to bestow the necessary amount of care on
them. Besides, mutton and wool being about an equal consideration with
this class, they want larger and earlier maturing breeds. Above all,
they want a strong, hardy sheep, which demands no more care than their
cattle. The strong, compact, medium-woolled Merino, or, more generally,
its crosses with coarse varieties, producing the wool classed as
ordinary, is the common favorite. In the Northwest, this is especially
the case, where the climate is still worse for delicate sheep.
At the South, on the contrary--where these disadvantages do not exist to
so great an extent, certainly--wool varying from good medium upward are
more profitable staples for cultivation than the lower classes; and in
that section a high degree of fineness in fleece has been sought in
breeding the Merino--the four-pound fine-fleeced Merino having received
marked attention. This is a far more profitable animal than the Saxon,
other things being equal--which is not the case, since the former is
every way a hardier animal and a better nurse; and, although about
twenty pounds heavier, and therefore consuming more feed, this
additional expense is more than counterbalanced by the additional care
and risk attending the husbandry of the Saxon.