218 8tati5 Boakd of Aokicui-turk, &c. 



of Iniilding np the commerce of a country at tlie expense 

 of lier manufactures ; the traders, the middle men of a 

 country, at the expense of her producers and consumers. 



The people moved slowly, and so tlie breeders, but surely. 

 Tliey were creating, from but meagre materials, a race, a 

 breed ; and a wonderful one it was ; but the people didn't 

 see it, the change was so gradual. Suddenly a bright light 

 appeared like a meteor flash ! The Taintor importations of 

 French Merinos, those huo;e models of bone and corrugated 

 skin, with their gross l)ut uneven fleeces, struck tlie eye, 

 and tlie American people were thoroughly awakened and, 

 witli tlieir (;haracteristic unification, rushed pell mell into 

 their purchase, sometimes, I have thought, from the sheer 

 force of contrast ; alas ! to be again disappointed. The 

 French Merino was as much too much of a a;ood thins: as 

 the Saxon was too little. 



Meanwhile the breeders of Spanish Merinos pursued the 

 even tenor of their way, catching, it may be, an inspiration 

 from the advent of such a sti'ikiuG: model as the French 

 sheep presented, and availing themselves of the true breed- 

 er's prerogative of moulding according to will, and to 

 almost any type in form, in fleece, and all that goes to make 

 up the perfect sheep, they reached, it would seem, the high 

 est point, the very acme of their art, and that too by judi- 

 cious selections, and crossing Avithin the limits of their own 

 flocks and families. 



To such an extent were their improvements carried 

 that, when the prestige of the Froncli was lost, the awakened 

 mind of the American people was ready to receive tlio 

 improved Spanish Merino as the sheep best adapted to their 



