NATURAL HISTORY. 



625 



ready sale for the lambs. The ori- 

 ginal ram, after I had bred from 

 him some excellent sheep, was 

 sent, for his own, and the use of 

 the farmers of Lancaster county, 

 to my late friend general Hand. I 

 was ofiered what was then deemed 

 a high price for the ram by some 

 victuallers, who wished to breed 

 lambs for the market ; but I did 

 not think it consistent with my 

 ideas of propriety to accept it. 

 Nor did I wish the lambs killed, 

 and my object of increasing the 

 numbers, and spreading the breed, 

 defeated. I gave up the manage- 

 ment of my farm to a tenant, in 

 shares, and with it the full-blooded 

 sheep. Neither he, nor those 

 who succeeded him, held the 

 sheep in proper estimation, though 

 every endeavour was made to 

 impress it upon them. The lambs 

 were sold year after year to the 

 butchers, at the prices, ornearlj', 

 so, given for those bred from 

 common sheep. It is only very 

 lately that the present tenant has 

 discovered that their value, by the 

 demand for them, which is now 

 much greater than can be supplied. 

 This demand is created by the 

 experience of those who have 

 been convinced, by their own ob- 

 servation, of their superior ex- 

 cellence. My flock is so reduced 

 that in a pecuniary point of view, 

 this late conviction of the value 

 of this breed is to me of very 

 little importance. My tenant is 

 now taking some pains to recover 

 his lost time and opportunity. I 

 am happy to know that others 

 have been more careful to pre- 

 serve this highly valuable race. 

 I mention these, and other cir- 

 cumstances, to account for these 

 sheep not being very extensively 

 Vol. LII. 



known and estimated for a length 

 of time. 



My endeavours at getting the 

 sheep into credit, were for a long 

 time very unpromising. I had 

 insensibility as well as prejudice 

 to combat ; nor do I believe them 

 yet entirely overcome. The trou- 

 ble I now give the society, by 

 a long, though just detail of the 

 character and qualities of these 

 valuable sheep, is my last effort 

 to remove and conquer what re- 

 mains of this insensibility and pre- 

 judice. Experience in the affairs 

 of the world often shows, that 

 whatever intrinsic merit a saleable 

 article may possess, the price in 

 the market is the criterion by 

 which its value is generally esti- 

 mated. It is not unlikely that 

 my object of spreading this breed 

 of sheep, and inducing care and 

 attention to them, would have 

 been (taking mankind as we find 

 them) more effectually accom- 

 plished, by demanding large sums 

 for even the few I could have sold, 

 or hired out as tups, at high prices. 

 If any new proofs of this view of 

 the subject were wanting, the 

 daily instances of purchases, at 

 prices novel and astonishing in 

 this country, made of another 

 highly valuable race of sheep, 

 would afford them. The zeal now 

 prevalent for the breeding this, or 

 any other estimable addition to 

 or stock of domestic animals, did 

 not exist at the time the Tunis 

 sheep made their first appearance. 

 I am highly gratified by present 

 prospects on this subject. I am by 

 no means desirous that it should 

 be repressed in its application to 

 the favourite race of sheep now 

 endeavoured, almost exclusively, 

 to be brought into fashion. I am 

 2 S 



