-popular SDtcttcmani nf &mmatetr $attire. 609 



softness of fleece. Other agriculturists un- 

 doubtedly imitated him, and thus the purest 

 white was communited to the black or parti- 

 coloured native flocks, which, according to 

 Pliny, were common in Spain. The atten- 

 tion paid by the ancients to the Sheep was 

 excessive, and the animal was extremely 

 tender ; so that we must account for the 

 transition from the ancient Sheep to the 

 Merino, which is a hardy animal, thriving 

 almost in any climate, by supposing that 

 other agriculturists imitated Columella, 

 and by crossing the breed imparted a 

 stronger constitution to the fine-fleeced but 

 delicate Sheep of ancient Italy. Strabo, in- 

 deed, describes the beginning of this improve- 

 ment as having taken place in the reign of 

 Tiberius. Five rams were at that time sold 

 at Truditania, part of Bcetica, for a talent, 

 or about 250/., a price which, considering the 

 value at that period, is immense. When the 

 Roman empire was overrun, and almost all 

 traces of civilization swept away, the Taren- 

 tine stock in Greece and Italy, being very 

 tender and requiring the greatest care, be- 

 came extinct ; but the regenerated stock of 

 Bcetica the Merinos being able to live on 

 the mountains, survived the conquest of 



MEIUNO RAM. 



Spain by the Goths and Vandals ; and from 

 these Merinos are descended those animals 

 which supply all the manufactories of fine 

 cloth in Europe. Care was early taken in 

 Spain that the improved Sheep should not 

 mix with the coarse native Sheep. The 

 government soon took this important branch 

 of national industry under its protection, 

 and established particular courts to have 

 jurisdiction over all subjects connected with 

 Sheep, wool, shepherds, pastures, &c. 



It does not appear that in this country the 

 Sheep was an object of much attention prior 

 to the invasion of the Romans ; but they es- 

 tablished a woollen manufactory at Win- 

 chester, which soon acquired so much cele- 

 brity that it supplied the finest and most 

 expensive woollen cloths for the Roman 

 market, such as were employed for the 

 festival dresses of the patricians. Surrounded 

 by downs and grazing land, and the valley 

 in which that ancient city is situated being 

 plentifully supplied with streams of the 

 purest water, the site was well chosen ; and 

 for many centuries, after England had sub- 

 mitted to less civilized conquerors than the 

 haughty Roman, it continued to be the great 

 emporium of the woollen cloth trade, as 

 well as for the raw material. 



The Spanish breed of Sheep was first in- 

 troduced into Great Britain in 1787. Some 



individuals of the black and spotted kinds 

 had indeed been procured and kept in the 

 parks of noblemen previously, but without 

 any regard to the wool ; nor was much in- 

 terest awakened by the flock imported in 

 1787. Subsequently, great attention was 

 paid to the improvement of English wool ; 

 but it was ascertained that though the fleece 

 of the Merino did not degenerate in England, 

 it did not improve ; and the farmers accord- 

 ingly found it for their interest to return to 

 the native breeds, and to give up the Spanish 

 Sheep. The breed of Sheep that was carried 

 out to New Holland and Van Diemen's 

 Land has succeeded remarkably well ; and 

 the former promises, at no distant day, to be 

 one of the principal wool-growing countries 

 in the world. 



It appears that a great deterioration in the 

 quality of British wool has taken place in 

 the present century. The great object of the 

 agriculturists has been to increase the weight 

 of the carcase and the quantity of the wool, 

 and it seems very difficult, if not impossible, 

 to accomplish this without injuring the fine- 

 ness of the fleece. We now have to speak 

 of some of the principal breeds of Sheep of 

 which Great Britain can boast. 



The Southdown Sheep takes its name from 

 an immense tract of downs, formed by a long 

 range of chalk hills extending more than 

 sixty miles in length, through part of the 

 counties of Sussex", Surrey, and Kent. Its 

 head is small and hornless ; the face dun, 

 black, or speckled ; the ears tolerably wide, 

 and well covered with wool, as it also the 

 forehead, and the space between the ears ; 

 the eyes full and bright, but not prominent : 

 the chest wide, deep, and projecting between 

 the fore- legs : the shoulders on a level with 

 the back, and not too wide above, but bow- 



ing outward from the top to the breast : the 

 back flat from the shoulders to the setting on 

 of the tail ; the loin broad and flat ; the 

 rump long and broad ; the hips wide ; and 

 the ribs presenting a circular form, like a 

 barrel : the belly as straight as the back : 

 the fore legs straight from the breast to the 

 foot, not bending inward at the knee, and 

 standing far apart both before and behind ; 

 the hocks having a direction outwards, and 

 the meeting of the thighs being particularly 

 full : the bones fine, but having no appear- 

 ance of weakness ; and the legs of a speckled 

 dark colour. The wool short, close, curled, 

 and free from spiry, projecting hairs. The 

 Southdown is adapted to almost any situa- 

 tion in the midland part of England, but 



