51 Abner Stout, Chester.... .1 21 801 Southdown |1859, A. S...... [Athens county.

ROSS COUNTY.

52|R. R. Seymour, Bainbridge. [10] 400th full R. R. S.

TRUMBULL COUNTY.

53 Elijah Hutchins..................Southdowns.....

54 L. W. Ludlum, Butlerville. 51 303 Southdown (Shakers.

WARREN COUNTY.

55 Richard Skinner,

do

1

Southdown

Clinton and Fayette co., Importing Co.

Warren county.

No. 4.-My flock in all is 110 and three lambs. In 1859 I bought of James Childs, Blachleyville, Wayne county, a Leicester buck, that had just arrived from Bourbon, Ky., his weight was 284 pounds; price $25. His stock from long wooled ewes was large, with open wool, showing the Leicester blood; but those from fine ewes were thick, close wooled, heavy bodied, short legged and long wooled; they are good sheep. I have 25 sheep that were brought from Indiana; they are what we used to call natives (there is no such things as natives); they have long legs; the males have horns; the wool light and open; the belly and legs are bare; they are great feeders and great jumpers-poor sheep. I have some sheep from Washington county, Pa., called Black Top Merinos; small sheep, with very short and very fine wool; fleeces but three pounds; they are tender and the lambs hard to raise. I have some that I suppose was descended from the flock of Wells & Dickinson, similar to the above Southdownsthey are beauties. I have some half blood, quarter blood and eighth blood, but as long as the face and feet are speckled the lambs will be thrifty and the sheep will always be clean, fat and plump. The lambs are easily raised. I breed from half blood Southdown bucks, for the want of better. All sheep are profitable, but, I suppose, the pure Spanish, lately introduced from Vermont, are the most profitable of all; they have heavy bodies, short legs, and are wooled all over, head, belly and legs. The wool

is very thick and heavy; the fibre is twice as long as the Washington county or Black Top Merino; they are quiet and docile, and do well in large flocks. There are several flocks in this township. But the most of the sheep here are what we call middle wool. I have a number of them; they are a mixture of all bloods, by such a multitude of crosses that no man can describe. I have lived on this farm forty one years, and have, had the care of sheep all my life, and they have been constantly crossing all of that time. The result is, we have a most valuable sheep, far supe rior to the original stock, that I called natives; they have short legs, very heavy bodies, long and thick wool, are good feeders, very quiet, fleeces are heavy, and the wool now sells higher than any other. One of their most valuable qualities is that they are very prolific, very frequently producing twins, and generally raising them. We have some flocks of Saxonys; their fleeces are too light and fine for war times.

THOS. BUSHNELL.

No. 6.-I purchased thirty common ewes from 'Squire Grub, in Aller, near Lafayette, in 1860, and bred them to a full Southdown buck, that I purchased of James Kerr, in Crawford county, Ohio. He was bought by James Kerr at the Dayton fair, and taken to Bucyrus, then I purchased him, bred from him two years; then I purchased a French Merino buck, that had taken the first premium at the Lima fair, in 1860. I am breeding fifty ewes this season. I have purchased a full blood Spanish Merino buck; I am breeding a few ewes to him. I have purchased some 35 Black Top Merino ewes, which I am breeding to my French buck.

A. E. KERR,

No. 8.-Our whole flock, including wethers, is 587. We are feeding for market 262 wethers, of the different crosses, to ascertain the true value of the different grades.

J. H. DRAKE.

No. 11. The flocks of sheep in our county are mostly small. And until within a few years there has been but little attention paid to wool growing in this county. With the exception of the flocks of Slutts, Baker & Cook, they have been mostly grown from sheep brought here years ago, and, therefore, the history of their foundation cannot, with any degree of certainty, be given.

Yours truly,

HUGH DOBBINS.

No. 18.-I had last fall something over 200 head of sheep; but, owing to the dry fall, my lambs began to fall off. I had to drive them to water as far as two miles, and then some of them would not drink. I believe I have lost from 8 to 10. Nine years ago I landed in America, and since that time I have been improving my stock. I have now a good stock. I don't call them quite pure Southdowns, although they are good. I have taken every premium at the Coshocton County Fair for the last four years; I had thirteen premiums gave to me; I did not take but eleven of them last fall. Some judges say they are the best stock of Southdowns in the State, but I don't say that. Now I say that I believe I have some as good blood as can be found. I have been raising from Mr. Jonas Webb's stock, of England, and he is said to be the best breeder in England. He thinks he can challenge the world-that is a large word. Mr. Webb had a sale in 1861, on the 10th of July; the number of sheep he sold was 967, which made £10,926, English coin, and when you add that up, I think you will find it to be over $50,000. I first began my stock of sheep with a man by the name of Baine; he went himself and brought them pure from England. The next I bought from a man by the name of John Worth, of Pennsylvania, five ewes and a ram, which was raised from Jonas Webb's stock; the sire of the above ram was by a ram Mr. Jonathan Thorn bought of Mr. Webb, which was the highest priced buck at Mr. Jonas Webb's selling, his price was 130 guineas; his dam by Prince, bred by Mr. Jutere, near Albany; his grand dam was imported by John Elman, from England. I have some I bought since of the best blood I can get. At Webb's sale his choice ram was called Reserve. He would not let him be sold for $2,000 until he had kept him from July 10th till October 15th, then he sold him. I have a ram from him. Reserve was by Young Plenipotentiary; dam Young York; grandam by Southampton, the first prize yearling of the Royal English Agricultural Show, at Southampton. Mr. John Worth sent ten ewes to Reserve, and paid $10 for each ewe, and more than that he paid over $3 per head for carriage. I have ewe stock from other bucks of Mr. Webb's. I have some by England, which was sold at Webb's sale for $1,300; he was by the sire of the first prize yearling at Canterbery; dam by the Little Sheep; dam, the mother of Vigor. I have ewe stock from Webb's favorite dam by Prank. I have three yearling bucks by the ram I bought of Mr. John Worth. I mean to sell the sire next fall.

WILLIAM BLACK.

No. 24.-After a lifetime spent among sheep, and having had several breeds, I have come to the conclusion that sheep crossed from the South

downs and Leicesters, or Southdowns and French are the most safe and profitable, either for mutton or wool, and are also the best adapted for this climate; and I am certain they are a great deal the easiest kept.

Yours respectfully,

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS.

EDWARD DAVIS.

No. 33.-1. H. Pyle, East Fairfield, Columbiana county, Ohio. 2. Number of bucks, 3; variety, Southdowns.

3. Number of ewes, 49; variety, 30 half-blood Cotswolds, 18 Downs and one half-blood.

4. My flock is composed of thoroughbred Southdowns and half-blood Cotswolds, except one ewe.

5. Most of my flock may be considered first quality.

6. My flock of Cotswolds was commenced by myself in 1857, by a cross from Cotswold bucks, brought from Chester county, Pa., on good threequarter blood Merino ewes-the result has been quite satisfactory. My flock of Southdowns was commenced in the fall of 1862, by T. P. Davis, of West Chester, Pa.

7. Fourteen of my Southdown ewes were selected from the flocks of John Worth and Lewis Hoops, and two from C. Jackson, of John Hoop's stock, all of West Chester, Pa., in the fall of 1862; and the parents of three others of my flocks were brought here in 1861, from West Chester, Pa.

My buck No. 10, which I used this season, was purchased at J. C. Taylor's sale, of Holmdel, N. J., on the 3d of September last, he was sired by Reserve; dam's sire, Young York.

One ram lamb, Prize, sired by World's Prize.

One ram lamb, 89, sired by No. 89; purchased by J. C. Taylor, at Jonas Webb's sale, in England, 1861, for which he paid $1,300.

No. 35.-I purchased a Southdown buck in the fall of 1855, of J. N. Laughead, of Union county, and he of his brother, D. Laughead, of Greene county, and he from the Smith farm, of Kentucky. I crossed the above buck with a half blood Black Top Merino ewe, and from their increase I exhibited at Zanesville and took the second premium on middle wool aged buck; weight 1973 at two years old. I sold the ewes at $3 to $10 each, and the bucks from $10 to $20 for full bloods; the halfbloods I sold for an average of $8 per head. I consider the above mixture the best grade for us who live near market. The ewes are good breeders, and when mixed, as above, average five pounds of wool; always fit for market, when others in the same flock are thin; can stand hardship

better than a mixture of Cotswolds with Merino, their wool being too open.

Yours respectfully,

A. W. LIVINGSTON.

No. 37.-In November, 1860, I purchased of a butcher in Cincinnati, some 260 sheep, of the common coarse wooled variety. These were brought from Indiana. I suppose gathered up from different flocks. I cannot give the origin of any of them except by their appearance. Some of them are about quarter Southdowns. These breed much the largest and best lambs. I paid $3 per head for all; fed them all alike; sold the wethers in February at four cents gross, with a good profit; kept 100 ewes; they raised about one lamb apiece; I sheared the ewes, getting 3 pounds from each; sold at 423 cents per pound. The lambs were sold to the butcher at five months old for $1.75. Last year I wintered 110; raised 100 lambs; sold sheep and wool, amounting to $425. To-day I sold my whole flock for $310, making in all $735 in one year.

Respectfully yours,

SAMUEL DUNN.

No. 44. My pure Southdowns I bought of Mr. Thos. A. Niber, and he bought them of Mr. Hulbert, near North Leach, Gloucestershire, England. They are the largest Southdown bucks and ewes that have ever been brought to Canada. The stock has been very much increased in size, and improved in various ways. They have never been crossed with Hamp. shire Downs, nor any other kinds. They are of pure blood. My flock are from the same.

Yours truly,

THOMAS BENNINGTON.

No. 47.-I raised twenty-four; twelve were thoroughbred Cotswolds; nine were thoroughbred, cross between Leicesters and Cotswolds; three thoroughbred, cross between Saxony and Cotswolds. Amount of wool at one year old, 7 pounds; two years, 8 pounds. Amount of grain fed from November to May, one quart of meal, composed of corn in ear and oats ground together, per day, to each sheep; weight, average at two and a half years, 184 pounds.

J. H. SHIELDS.

No. 49.-There are but two flocks of sheep that number over thirty. They are called the common wool. There is but little interest manifested in the direction of wool-growing in this vicinity, and are but few fine wool sheep.

Yours respectfully,

A. STOUT.