S64< THE SHEEP OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



gling transaction : and as they could not be shipped from anj 

 Spanish port without a licence from the King of Spain, they were 

 driven through Portugal, embarked at Lisbon, and landed at 

 Portsmouth ; but, being hastily selected from various proprietors, 

 they were not considered good enough to make any experiment 

 with. It was accordingly determined in 1791 to apply direct to 

 the Spanish monarch for permission to select some from the best 

 flocks. This was liberally and promptly granted, and a little 

 flock was draughted of the Negrette breed, the most valuable of 

 all. They were transferred to Kew, and the experiment of the 

 naturalisation of the merino, and the crossing them with British 

 sheep, was commenced. In 1804, thirteen years after the impor- 

 tation, the first sale took place, and what are even now thought 

 fair prices were obtained. One of these Negrette rams sold for 

 forty-two guineas, and two ewes for eleven guineas each, the 

 average of the rams being 191. 14s., of the ewes SI. 15s. 6d. At 

 the second sale in August, 1805, seventeen rams and twenty-one 

 ewes were sold for 1148Z. 14s., being an average of about SOI. 

 €ach. In 1810 thirty-three merino rams sold for 1920 L 9s., being 

 an average of more than 58Z. each. One full-mouthed Negrette 

 ram was sold to Col. Searle for 173 guineas, one for 134 guineas 

 to Sir Holme Popham, one for 116 guineas to Mr. Gale, one for 

 105 guineas to Mr. Sumner, and one for 101 guineas to Mr. 

 Woods ; and of the ewes, a full-mouthed Negrette was sold to 

 the last-named gentleman for seventy guineas, two others for 

 sixty-one and sixty-five guineas each, one to Mr. Down for 

 ninety-two guineas, and another to Mr. Willis for sixty guineas ; 

 seventy averaging S7l. 10s. per head. 



The first advocates of the merino thus saw their predictions 

 most fully realised, and in the following year, says an old his- 

 torian, a merino society was formed, with a great number of 

 members of station and influence. Sir Joseph Banks was the 

 president ; fifty-four vice-presidents were appointed, and local 

 committees were established in every county of England, Scot- 

 land, Wales, and Ireland. From this very period, however, is to 

 be dated the decay of the merino in English public opinion. 

 These sheep could not be adopted generally in this meat-eating 

 country of England, being deficient in the principle of early 

 maturity and general propensity to fatten, which in the colonies 



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