SHEEP. 329 



same manner, but at an increased price, some selling as high 

 $450 each. These prices excited the spirit of speculation, 

 and the following year witnessed the importation of near 

 3000, many of which were decidedly inferior. These were 

 all thrown upon the market for the most they would com- 

 mand, and in many instances, the sales not half covering the 

 cost of importation, the enterprise was abandoned as a specu- 

 lation, or commercial operation. The late Henry I). 

 Grove, of Hoosic, New-York, a native of Germany, and a 

 highly intelligent and thoroughly bred shepherd, accompa- 

 nied some of the best early importations to this country. He 

 selected 105 choice animals for his own breeding, which he 

 imported in 1827, and 70 more equally good, in 1828, and 

 with these he formed the flock from which he bred to the 

 time of his decease, in 1844.* 



THE RAMBOUILLET FLOCK was founded in 1786, by Louis 

 XVI, from a selection of 400 of the best Spanish sheep, 

 which were placed on the royal farm at Rambouillet. These, 

 like the Saxon, received all the attention which intelligence 

 and wealth could bestow, and the consequence was soon 

 manifest in their larger size, and the increased weight and 

 uniformity in the fineness of their fleece ; the last improve- 

 ment being particularly evident in the absence of the coarse 

 wool which in many cases infested the quarters, and the jarr, 

 or hair which frequently abounds on the flanks, legs and thighs 

 of the original merino. Besides the crown flocks at Rambou- 

 iilet, they are found in equal perfection on several other of the 

 royal farms, especially those of Malmaison, Perpignan, Aries, 

 Clermont, and some others. These flocks have been brod 

 for hardy constitution, large carcass and heavy fleece, of as 

 much fineness as consistent with large weights, and as uniform 

 in quality throughout, as possible. Mr. Gilbert, who was 



* The average weight of fleece from the entire flock of Mr. Grove, nearly all of 

 which were ewes and lambs, as stated by him to the writer, in 184-2, was a Ibs. 14 

 ounces, thoroughly washed on the sheeps' back. This was realized after a short 

 summer and winters' keep, when the quantity of hay or its equivalent, did not 

 exceed by actual weight, 1 Ibs. per day, except to the ewes, which received an 

 additional quantity just before and after lambing. This treatment was attended 

 with no disease or loss by death, and with an increase of lambs, equalling one 

 for every ewe. 



In a flock of pure Saxony sheep owned by Mr. Smith of Connecticut, as stated in 

 a letter from the owner, published in the American Shepherd, 104 ewes raised 101 

 lambs, and yielded 311 Ibs of wool, which sold at 70 cents per Ib. For the 18 

 months preceding, he lost but three animals out of 300, from ordinary casualties. 

 But some flocks of pure Saxony, do not, in good condition, average over 2 Ibs. per 

 head. A recent importation (May, 1846) made by Mr. Taintor of Connecticut, 

 consisting of four bucks and four ewes, from the celebrated Saxon flock of Baron 

 de Spreck, shew a size and vigor of constitution equal to any of their Merino 

 progenitors. 



