134 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



themselves. The crosses may give animals more or less 

 approaching the race, but never the same. 



The size of Merinos is medium. They hold about the middle 

 point, in respect to dimensions, between the small and the large 

 races. They have large heads, flat noses, and wrinkled faces. 

 The horns are thick, large, turned in spirals, and of great 

 length. There are cases in which they have a spread of more 

 than twenty inches. 



Among the animals of the short-legged family some distinc- 

 tions are kept up at Rambouillet, to satisfy the different tastes of 

 amateur breeders. Certain animals have dewlaps, others, folds 

 on the shoulders, the buttocks, and the neck ; there are others 

 still, whose cheeks, the lower part of the jaw, and the forehead, 

 are entirely covered with wool, which sometimes comes down 

 over the eyes. By the choice of animals the breeder can maintain 

 or efface these characters. There were, at Rambouillet, lambs 

 eighteen months old having immense folds on every part of the 

 body, of which not a trace now remains. These animals are 

 magnificent and have abundant fleeces. 



It was in 1785 that Louis XVI. bought of the Duke de Pen- 

 thievre the land of Rambouillet. 



By orders of the king, a beautiful farm was made in the 

 park, designed for such experiments, under his direction, as 

 the various branches of rural economy and the breeding of 

 cattle seemed to require, to prove to the public the interest 

 which the sovereign took in that first of all arts and most 

 important industry. 



Louis XVI. wrote with his own hand to the king of Spain 

 and obtained a remittance of valuable animals, which arrived 

 at Rambouillet on the twelfth October, 1786, and was placed in 

 the buildings which had been provided for it. Subsequently, 

 and by order of the first consul, a second importation took 

 place, under the care of Gilbert. 



During the captivity of the king, and after liis death, the 

 flock several times ran the risk of being destroyed. Fortu- 

 nately, some well-disposed minds caused it to be understood that 

 it had not been merely the object of a royal fancy, and main- 

 tained with warmth how useful it was to the nation. In May 

 and June of the second year of the Republic, some decrees of 



