232 A.GRICULTUEAL REPORT. 



American Merinos. Full-grown ewes, in their prime, weigb about 100 pounds, 

 and some of them 120 and 130 pounds. They are mucli rounder in the rib, 

 broader, fuller in the quarters, shorter proportionably in the limbs, and stronger 

 in the bone than were the Spanish sheep. They are indeed models of com- 

 pactness and of beauty when judged by tine-wool standards. Their hardiness 

 in respect to locomotion, or, in other words, their ability to travel, is not prob- 

 ably as gi-eat as it was sixty years ago ; for, having no necessity to drive his 

 sheep eight hundred miles a year, as did the Spaniards, the American breeder, 

 in the place of that useless ability to travel, has developed those qualities 

 which increase aptitude to take on flesh and produce wool. The improved 

 American Infautados appear to be quite as hardy in other particulars as their 

 ancestors — are more prolific, better nurses, and when properly fed, resist other 

 vicissitudes equally well, and endure cold even better ; but they probably de- 

 mand better keeping. They will thrive, however, where none of the mutton 

 breeds above described would find sufficient subsistence. Choice Infantado 

 flocks with the usual number of sheep of diJQPerent ages, yield from 9 to 10 

 pounds of wool per head. The fleece is longer, thicker, and covers the differ- 

 ent parts of the animal far better than it did on the Spanish sheep. The qual- 

 ity is probably as good. 



THE IMPROVED PAULARS. 



The improved American Paulars bear the same relation, in several particu- 

 lars, to the preceding, that the Devons do to the Short Horns among cattle. 

 They are smaller, consume less feed, and perhaps can better endure deprivations 

 of it. Accordingly they are the sheep for cold, meagre soils ; for the scanty her- 

 bage of mountain districts, and for plains subject to periodical droughts. They 

 have about the same general improved points of form as the Infantados, but 

 are shorter bodied. As breeders and nurses they are equal. Their fleeces are 

 of equal quality, but are a pound or two lighter to the head. For that reason, 

 and on account of the greater size of the former, there is, at the present time, 

 a prevailing inclination to cross the Paular flocks with Infantado rams. This 

 produces an admirable result for the wants of many farmers; but it Avould be 

 very unfortunate if the present mania for great fleeces should lead to the loss, 

 in its essential family purity, of a class of sheep so well adapted to extensive 

 regions of our country. 



THE SAXONS. 



The Saxon sheep formerly had a multitude of zealous and skilful breeders 

 in the United States. But they have so generally disappeared, and are held in 

 so little estimation, that they do not require any description here. 



THE FRENCH lUERINQS. 



The Merinos imported into the United States from France were generally the 

 largest that could be procured in that country, and they wei'e from 25 to 50 

 per cent, larger than the present American Merinos. The best of them were 

 well formed for animals grown so far beyond the natural dimensions of their 

 breed, and they had a fair degree of compactness. They were also profusely 

 wooled, but none carried as much wool for their weight as the choice American 

 Merinos. Their wool was of good medium quality and quite even on the car- 

 cass. A much larger number of them than the preceding were gaunt, flat- 

 ribbed, unthrifty animals, great consumers and hard keepers. Their fleeces 

 were very uneven. Everything goes to show that these were mongrel sheep, 

 grades between Merinos and some large, coarse-woolled variety. The best 

 French Merinos, placed under a system of keeping resembling that of France, 

 or treated as the careful growers of the improved mutton breeds treat their 

 sheep, would undoubtedly be profitable in the United States ; but such a sys- 



