THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



317 



In this opinion we fully concur. The high price of 

 guano willlead to beneficial results, as we have on more 

 than one occasion contended, by checking the extrava- 

 gant use of it, and leading to the utilizing of the large 

 resources of the indigenous supplies of phosphates and 

 ammonia which are now deemed unworthy of attention. 



And now, at the close of this article, let us recur to a 

 subject alluded to in the commencement. That subject 

 is the advantage which the farmer would possess from 

 the introduction of such improvements as would 

 put it in his power to give those crops which require 

 it a watering of pure water alone, equivalent to an inch 

 of rain. How often has it occurred to most of us, 

 even in so fine a season as the piesent, that the weather 

 which promotes the ripening of the wheat is destroying 

 the turnips ! How often, again, has it occurred to 



some of us, in the spring, that if our barley lands alone 

 could get a shower equivalent to an inch of rain, it 

 would be a great blessing ! Now, to enable us to obtain 

 this, all we require is a supply of water, a steam-engine, 

 and pipes laid under our land. We will assume the 

 farmer to possess an abundant supply of water. We 

 may almost assume that he possesses the steam-engine. 

 We may assume, at any rate, that he will soon possess 

 it, if we may judge from the array of those implements 

 exhibited at the meetings of the Royal Agricultural So- 

 ciety. Is the third desideratum such a difficulty after 

 all ? Give but the word, and there would be a host of 

 companies ready to lay underground iron pipes all 

 over liis farm. The question is still to be solved— how 

 far would such a system really pay, either the promoter 

 or his customer ? 



THE MERINOS AT THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION (FRENCH) OF 185G. 



(translated from the FRENCH OF J. CLAUDE ZOL.) 



With propriety we may ask why Spain, the country of 

 the Merinos, was not represented at our recent Exposi- 

 tion ? The Arabs and Moors of Spain are said to have 

 collected and handed down numerous documents of anti- 

 quity to the revival of letters, and also to have trans- 

 ported and multiplied in Spain the breed of Merinos. 

 The existence of the Merinos amongst the most civilized 

 people of antiquity is attested by many sculptures : the 

 horns, so remarkable, of the statue of Jupiter Ammon were 

 no others than those of a Merino (Ovis ammonidesj . That 

 fine race, destined for the sacrifices of the ancient festivals, 

 and for the manufacture of stuffs, purple was originally 

 from India. It would have disappeared in the midst of the 

 distractions which accompanied the accession of Chris- 

 tianity, but for the intervention of the Moors — the de- 

 scendants of the Phoenicians, who were not interested in the 

 precepts of the rising church. At present — thanks to the 

 generosity of the kings of Spain — the Merino is spread 

 throughout all Europe. It is, therefore, to be regretted 

 that Spain did not come to gather, at our Great Exposition, 

 the most valuable of premiums— gratitude. 



Two sub-races — or rather, two very distinct productions 

 •^were there exhibited : the reproductive types of Austria, 

 Hungary, Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia, &c., on the one 

 hand ; and on the other, the Merinos of France, divided 

 into two classes — the products of the mountainous dis- 

 tricts, and those of the plains. An elegant building had 

 been constructed in honour of the Electoral race of 

 Saxony. Rambouillet and Gevrolles had also their exhi- 

 bition apart. The sheepfold of Rambouillet belongs to the 

 house of the Emperor; that of Gevrolles is in the jurisdic- 

 tion of the Minister of Agriciilture and Commerce. I have 

 not to speak of the Imperial sheepfold of Montcuvrel, 

 which is chiefly occupied by English breeds and their 

 crosses. 



The English have exhibited only a small number of 

 Merinos. The spirit of the cross-Channel breeders is at 

 present turned to the precocious production of butcher's- 

 meat. Thanks to this new doctrine, we now find in ]''ng- 

 land neither beef nor mutton, but only veal and lamb. 



One breeder confessed that, for himself and friends, he 

 fatted his animals at four years old, in order to be able to 

 eat real beef and mutton, which was not to be obtained at 

 any price from the English butchers. That regimen of 

 convalescence to wliich a great nation has yielded itself, 

 threatens us also ; for the English doctrine has, with us, 

 admirers amongst the zoologists who frequent the office of 

 the iMinister of Agriculture. There were, therefore, only 

 two exhibitors of English Merinos, Messrs. Dorrim and 

 Sturgeon, both of the county of Essex, on the English 

 coast. 



Amongst the German exhibitors, I have heard a prince 

 and shepherds protest against the designation of " Ne- 

 gretti," given in the catalogue to their Merinos, which 

 many pretend to be originals from the Escurial. The 

 Prince's were of this number. Amongst the Alerino- 

 breeders I shall place Prince Esterhazy, who possesses 

 1G2,000 sheep; Princes Schwartzenberg, Auerbberg, 

 Schaumbourg, Obkawitz, and Kinski. These gentlemen 

 sent the finest animals of their flocks. Counts Larisch, 

 Zichi Ferraris, Brenner Enkovitch, Wilhelm de Homs- 

 petscli, Valdstein, H. Daun, Oswald-Thun, Frederic 

 Vallis, Hungadij, Stephankarolis, Miko, &c., &c. All 

 these counts, as well as a legion of barons and great lords 

 whom I shall not undertake to enumerate, had exhibited. 



The French breeders, both of the plains and of the 

 mountain districts, raised in their sheepfolds the animals 

 destined for the different exhibitions. They shared equal 

 care and equal allowances of barley and sainfoin. Never 

 leaving the fold, the animals are unaccustomed to the in- 

 fluences both of the mountain and the plain ; nor did we 

 observe any dift'erence between these two classes. IMessrs. 

 Guenebaut, Godin Achillc Maitre, Mouniot, Chaudeen 

 Rousselet, and Gontard represented the moimtain— that is 

 to say, the Chatellonais, which is the centre of a country 

 very productive of sheep. The Yonne and the Haute- 

 Marne are dependencies of the circle of which Chatillon is 

 the central point. 



Messrs. Simphal, Ilutin de la Lage, Hutin de Lessart, 

 Lami, Conseil Lami, Colleau, Dutfoy, belong to the plain. 



