146 TALE AGRICULTURAL LECTURES. 



hint. The best health is obtained by neither over-feeding nor 

 starving. 



The lecturer gave sketches of the various outlandish breeds 

 of sheep found in various parts of the world, among which 

 were the "fat-tailed" family, the "fat-rumped" sheep of Asia, 

 the many-horned sheep of Cyprus and Iceland, the Siberian, 

 Tartarian, Russian, and others. It is not known if the Merino 

 is a native of Spain. Beside that breed, there is in Spain an 

 other a coarse-woolled, large variety, to improve which a num 

 ber of Cotswold bucks were imported in the fifteenth century. 

 Royal ordinances in time were passed favoring the improve 

 ment of the Merino, and great progress has been made in that 

 direction. The number of Merinos in Spain is estimated from 

 four millions upward. The native sheep of France were coarse, 

 ill-formed animals, but in 1786 the Government purchased 376 

 sheep, selected from the best flocks of Spain, and placed them 

 at Rambouillet, in the neighborhood of Paris, where there was 

 an establishment devoted to breeding of animals. George III, 

 in 1791, introduced the Merino into England ; but although 

 found to improve in size of carcass and in other particulars, 

 they had given place to the true English breeds, because found 

 less profitable. The " middle wools," embracing the Southdown, 

 Norfolk, Dorset, Ryland, Cheviot, and others, are famous for 

 their mutton. The Cheviots are the most hardy sheep of 

 Great Britain, among the improved breeds, and any one who 

 would try them in New England would be a public benefactor. 

 They thrive on bleak hill-sides and poor pastures, and their 

 meat is excellent. The Southdown is a native of the chalky 

 hills of Southern England, on which grows a short, nutritious 

 grass, well suited to mutton-making. By skilful breeding 

 they have been brought well-nigh to perfection as regards 

 shape, and their meat is most prized, combining as it does fat 

 ness with tender, lean meat, and having a flavor equal to the 

 Highland mutton. 



One hundred years ago, Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, England, 



