THE WOOL BREEDS OF SHEEP 363 



thaginians and the Moors, and from Italy. At the be- 

 ginning of the Christian era, historians related that the 

 sheep of Spain had a superior fleece. When in the eighth 

 century the Moors took possession of Spain, they intro- 

 duced the manufacture of fine fabrics, and the sheep of 

 Spain furnished the wool. It seems probable that the 

 development of the Merino as a bearer of fine wool was 

 begun at a date prior to the beginning of the Christian 

 era. 



Sheep in Spain have long been nomadic, spending the 

 summers in the highlands and the winters on the low 

 plains. The annual movement of these millions of sheep 

 was a notable event. In this connection it is interesting 

 to note that the sheep were divided into two great groups 

 as related to these drives. One group known as Estantes, 

 was stationary on the farms, and was composed of sheep 

 of fairly large size, with wool somewhat coarser than that 

 of the other type, less exposed, perhaps, to the rigors of 

 climate. The second great group, known as Trans- 

 humantes, was made up of the migratory sheep that 

 constituted the drives. These were subdivided into 

 flocks or " squads " of manageable size for the move- 

 ments. 



447. History in America. Successful importation of 

 Merinos to America began in 1801, when Seth Adams 

 brought a pair to Massachusetts. In the same year, M. 

 Dupont de Nemours is said to have imported one Merino 

 ram, which had considerable influence on certain flocks 

 in New York and other eastern states. In 1807, Seth 

 Adams removed to Ohio, taking with him his Merinos, 

 now considerably increased. In 1802, Colonel David 

 Humphrey imported from Spain to Connecticut ninety- 

 three Merinos, chiefly ewes. The good quality of these 



