Cattle Development in Ohio one or more pure Holsteins or a grade, and probably one fifth of the dairy cows to-day in Ohio are of this breed. The history of the cattle industry in the state has been one of continual improvement and development. The condition of Ohio being cosmopolitan, all breeds have. found foothold and favor; and some of the best and most typical animals have been bred by the skilled and painstaking breeders of Ohio. I 20 CHAPTER IX BREEDS OF SHEEP IN OHIO In Ohio the raising of wool and mutton has always been a very important branch of productive labor. With both sheep and swine the so-called native breeds, or those introduced by the first settlers of Ohio, were better calculated for the conditions attending the early periods of our history, where the lands were wild and infested with beasts of prey, than for existing circumstances. In those days fleetness and strength were desirable qualities in both. But the directly opposite quality, sluggishness, small bone, fine head, are now desirable points in their present easy circumstances. The improved sheep required acclimating and use to soil and food. At first in some sections sheep were quite popular, both for wool and mutton profit, but the serious losses occasioned by dogs and wild beasts, and the difficulty of effectually protecting the flocks against these intolerable nuisances, deterred new capital from entering the field. It was for this reason that Breeds of Sheep in Ohio improvement in sheep was slow to take place in some parts of the state. To Seth Adams belongs the honor of importing1 the first sheep for breeding purposes into this state, when he brought a pair of Spanish Merinos from France to his flock at Zanesville in 1801. In 1807 he moved to Dresden, taking with him twenty-five or thirty of his flock, the descendants of this pair. He continued to breed them for several years, but the newness of the country discouraged him and he sold his entire flock and moved back to Zanesville. The first pair Mr. Adams sold in Ohio was to Judge Todd of Kentucky, for $1,500. This importation of Mr. Adams's was of great benefit to Ohio and Kentucky. After moving back to Zanesville, Adams again took up the improvement of sheep, this time getting some of the Humphreys Spanish Merinos,2 one of the best ever imported into the United States. He had a sort of partnership agency from General Humphreys for keeping and selling them; but they soon became scattered for lack of care and appreciation. 1 The American Merino, page 11. Fine Wool Sheep Husbandry, page 31. Ohio Agricultural Report, page 460. 2 History of American Merino Sheep, page 34. in Ohio The Humphreys importation is the most Breeds of Sheep important as well as the first traceable of the early sheep importations into the United States. Colonel Humphreys had been minister to Spain under President Adams, but was recalled by President Jefferson. On his return in 1802 to his home in Derby, Connecticut, he brought with him twentyone rams and seventy ewes of the finest sheep he could obtain in all Spain. It is acknowledged on all hands that this importation was carefully selected from choicest flocks of Spain. Occupying the position of minister as he did he was in favor with the government, and was granted privileges in the selection of sheep which others had not enjoyed, and he no doubt made the best of his opportunity, and selected nothing but the best and purest blood. the The history of the improved sheep of America is full of interest, and the state of Ohio has had no little part in the production of the fine strains of the sheep we have. The Spanish Merino received our first attention, but soon in our state as in other sections of the country there were imported the French Merinos or the Rambouillet, Breeds in Ohio and the German or Saxon Merinos; and of Sheep from these early Spanish Merino importations was developed the American Merino. All these various breeds were derived from the original Merino of Spain. Sheep, originally brought into Spain and subjected to the influences there, in process of time had certain distinct traits fixed, by which they were characterized. The French Merino resulted from the change of condition, and altered system of management when the Merino was taken from Spain into France. While in the same way, the Merino, being taken from Spain into Saxony, a new isolation of them took place there; and new conditions after a time received modifications, to which the name Saxon properly belongs; and in the same way still, the Merinos being brought from Spain into the United States have undergone many changes and assumed modifications until it became a special being in itself as distinct as the Spanish, or the Saxon, or the Rambouillet. It is not necessary to go into the details of the history of the Spanish Merino sheep since its importation into the United States. There |