LECTURE LXVII, 



AMERICAN MERINOS. 



Origin, History, and Development. 



The ancestors of the American Merino were imported to 

 the United States from Spain. It is believed that primarily 

 these sheep came from Syria to Greece, from Greece to Italy, 

 and then were imported to Spain at the time of the Roman 

 conquest. 



Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, Miletus, a 

 Grecian colony in Syria, was celebrated for its woolen fabrics, 

 and from here, history tells us, that both cloths and sheep 

 were taken to Greece. 



In 708 B. C. the Greeks settled in Tarentum, Italy, and there 

 they took their sheep. Special mention is made of the fine- 

 ness of the wool borne by these Tarentine flocks. These 

 Tarentine sheep and those of Spain bear a very strong resem- 

 blance in that both are noted for the fineness of their wool 

 as well as the characteristic horns borne only by the rams. 

 Youatt. and other writers are of one opinion that the Spanish 

 Merino is a descendant of the Tarentine flocks of Italy. 



During the eighth century the Moors conquered a portion 

 of Spain, and while they occupied the country the sheep in- 

 dustry flourished in their hands. Wool production and wool 

 weaving afforded a great source of revenue to Spain. 



Probably the first importation from Spain to the United 

 States was made in 1801 by Seth Adams, who brought over a 

 pair of Merino sheep and took them to his farm at Zanesville, 

 Ohio. In the same year a Merino ram, "Don Pedro," was 

 brought over. 



The next year, 1802, Colonel David Humphreys made quite 

 a large importation from Lisbon seventy ewes and twenty- 

 one rams which he took to his farm at Derby, Conn. The 



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