SHEEP.--The sheep first introduced into this country were of English origin, and generally not very dissimilar to the ancient unimproved Down sheep. Probably some were these--as many of the first cattle were the Devons of that day. More than fifty years since the Merinos were introduced and extensively bred. At various periods other choice breeds have been introduced. The number kept has fluctuated very much, depending mainly on the market value of wool. When it was high many kept sheep, and when it fell the flocks were neglected. The true mission of the sheep in fulfilling the threefold purpose of furnishing _food, and raiment, and the means of fertilization_, seems not yet to be generally apprehended. One of the most serious defects in the husbandry of New England at the present time, is the prevalent 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, and at the same time the food they consume would do more towards fertilizing the farms than an equal amount consumed by any other animal. It is notorious that our pastures have seriously deteriorated in fertility and become overrun with worthless weeds and bushes to the exclusion of nutritious grasses. Sheep husbandry has declined. If these two facts as uniformly stand to each other in the relation of cause and effect, as they certainly do in many instances, the remedy is suggested at once--replace the animal with "golden feet." After devoting the best land to cultivation and the poorest to wood, we have thousands upon thousands of acres evidently intended by the Creator for sheep walks, because better adapted for this purpose than for any other. An indication of Providence so unmistakable as this should not be unheeded.