132 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



regions of the north; an appetite which renders them apparently satis- 

 fied with the coarsest food ; a quietness and patience into whatever 

 pasture they arc turned, and a gentleness and tractableness not ex- 

 celled in any other breed. The average weight of the fleece in Spain 

 is 8 pounds from the ram and 5 from the ewe. 



The Spaniards long preserved the monopoly of this race of sheep 

 with jealous care. To allow their departure from Spain without special 

 permission of the sovereign was punishable with death or heavy pen- 

 alties, according to the rank of the offender. Other countries, however, 

 at length were able to carry off the invaluable Golden Fleece of Spain, 

 and the Merino race is spread over the greater part of Europe. It has 

 been taken to Asia and to the southern extremity of Africa, has been 

 brought to America, and been introduced on the boundless plains of 

 Australia and New Zealand, in all of which places it has been found to 

 retain, with wonderful constancy, the characters which were imprinted 

 on it in its native pastures, and in many cases to surpass in useful 

 properties those of the parent stock. 



It is estimated that in the sixteenth century the Transhumantes, or 

 migratory sheep of Spain, numbered 7,000,000 5 under Philip III the 

 number fell to 2,500,000. At the beginning of the eighteenth century 

 it was placed at 4,000,000. It is the general opinion of those qualified 

 to judge that at the beginning of the present century the migratory 

 sheep numbered 5,000,000. And now began the decline both in the 

 condition and the sacredness of her flocks and her monopoly in fine 

 wool. War desolated her soil and the once fine flocks fell away under 

 the rapacity of the soldiery. Napoleon entered Spain ; his soldiers and 

 those of Wellington slaughtered and ate thousands of sheep ; the French 

 marshals and generals drove other thousands out and transported 

 them to their estates; thousands were shipped to England, and still 

 other thousands to the United States, and the once famous cabanas 

 were extinguished forever. Not as immediately, but quite as effectually, 

 had another agency been at work to pull down her monopoly in fine 

 wools. At various times, from 1723 to the close of the century, several 

 princes and persons of Europe had obtained permission to take from 

 the kingdom small flocks for the improvement of the common or native 

 sheep of their respective states. Great care and skillful breeding- 

 carried the improvement forward until at last Saxony appeared in the 

 markets of Europe with a wool superior to the far-famed wool of Spain, 

 and broke down her monopoly. The Saxony Merino had eclipsed its 

 progenitor, the far-famed Merino of Spain. 



When too late the Spanish Government saw the errors it had com- 

 mitted, or allowed the kings to commit, in permitting, through an excess 

 of kingly courtesy, the dissemination of the fine-wooled Merino over 

 Europe to states friendly and unfriendly. Though the law against the 

 exportation of these sheep was very severe, it was frequently violated, 

 and numbers of the finest animals were taken from the flocks in Spain, 



