EAST -OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 147 



In answer to the first objection: it was said that the Merinos were a 

 distinct race and could not be reduced to the same kind, though when 

 neglected they would become smaller, the wool shorter, less in quantity 

 and not coarser; and Sweden, France, and Saxony were pointed to, 

 and the fact was restated that in our own country the climate had 

 been favorable to the fineness of the wool. To the second objection he 

 opposed facts. Superfine broadcloths and some other articles could 

 not be made without Merino wool. Great Britain usually imported 

 6,000,000 pounds of it annually from Spain. The Spanish war pre- 

 vented this importation and Merino wool rose to $6 per pound. Im- 

 portations being renewed wool fell to $3 per pound. Britain was sup- 

 posed to have a stock on hand sufficient for two years; when this 

 should have been expended, from whence could she be supplied ? Al- 

 though her land was excellent for tillage she purchased part of her 

 grain ; she could not, therefore, afford to make any considerable addi- 

 tion to her sheep. 



The system of raising sheep in Spain was thought to be at an end, and 

 as that country purchased the greater part of its grain, it ought not to 

 be, and probably would not be, revived. The United States was the 

 only country which afforded any prospect of a considerable supply. It 

 was considered possible, without a doubt, in ten years to increase the 

 stock of Merino sheep to 100,000, although it was presumed that it 

 would not be done. One hundred thousand sheep would yield 500,000 

 pounds unwashed wool, and it was hoped that in ten years the United 

 States would manufacture that amount themselves, but if they should 

 not use a single pound, that would not be a twentieth part of what 

 would be wanted by England alone. It could, therefore, be safely in- 

 ferred that for a long period in the ordinary course of things the price 

 of Merino wool would not be less than from $3 to $6 per pound. 



An elaborate table was then presented to show the progress that might 

 be made in raising Merino sheep in eight years. It supposed a man to 

 begin with a Merino ram and 100 common sheep, and that he would 

 rear annually 80 lambs, and that not wishing to enlarge his flock he 

 would annually sell the increase that is, 40 ram lambs and 40 of the 

 most ordinary sheep and that a lamb of the fourth generation was to 

 be considered full-blooded, as sheep of the fourth generation propa- 

 gated in this way may be said to have fifteen-sixteenths of Merino blood, 

 and compared with full-blooded Merinos were superior both in their 

 size and quantity of wool. 



This table showed that at the end of eight years, from a single ram 

 and 100 common ewes, without increasing his stock, a farmer could 

 establish a full-blooded flock of 156 sheep, exclusive of 76 full-blooded 

 sheep disposed of, beside 100 common blood, 144 one-half blood, 135 

 three-fourths blood, and 129 seven eighths blood. 



A contributor to the Alexandria Gazette made a more elaborate cal- 

 culation, intending to show that if kept separate, allowing the number 



