FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 7 



past, but does not come within the scope of this paper. 

 It will be found described with sufficient fulness by 

 Mr. Livingston, whose valuable " Essay on Sheep," 

 now recognized authority throughout the world, was 

 laid before the New York State Agricultural Society 

 in 1809."* 



Livingston makes the following territorial classifica- 

 tion of the Merinos in Spain at the opening of the 

 present century : " Castile and Leon has the largest 

 with the finest coats. Those of Soria are small, with 

 very fine wool. Those of Valencia, which, like the 

 last, do not travel, have fine wool, but a very short 

 staple." 



The Leonese Transhumantes, considered the best 

 sheep of Spain, were the only ones which, ever at- 

 tracted much foreign notice, and they composed the 

 principal importations into the United States. Some 

 of the most esteemed families of them were thus 

 briefly characterized, by Lasteyrie, one of the best 

 informedf and most reliable writers, early or late, in 

 respect to the Merino : 



* I have thus termed the Society, because it will convey a more 

 correct impression to many readers of the present day, than to give 

 it its actual designation, which was, " The Society for the Promotion 

 of Useful Arts." It was the lineal ancestor of our present organi- 

 zation. 



Robert R. Livingston, LL. D., Secretary of Foreign Affairs under 

 the American Articles of Confederation, Chancellor of New York, 

 &c., &c., went as American Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1801. 

 He there gave much attention to the Merinos preparatory to an im- 

 portation of them. He is an able, and in matters of fact, extremely 

 reliable, writer. He was one of the most spirited and influential 

 agricultural improvers in our country, and is never to be forgotten as 

 the patron and coadjutor of Fulton. 



f Lasteyrie travelled into every country in Europe, where the 



