SHEEP. 



SHEEP. 



JOOO sheep, jr more, are shorn with only the 

 delay of a day. 



"The shepherds employed in tending these 

 sheep amount to 50,000, which, supposing there 

 to be 10,000,000 of sheep, is at the rate of 

 200 to each shepherd. The number of dogs is 

 calculated at 30,000. These shepherds form a 

 peculiar class of men, strongly attached to 

 their pursuit, and living in a state of great sim- 

 plicity. Their food is chiefly black bread, oil, 

 and garlic. They eat the mutton of their sheep 

 when they die or meet with accidents. In tra- 

 velling they sleep on the ground, wrapping 

 themselves in their cloaks; and in winter they 

 construct rude huts to afford shelter. They 

 seldom, it is said, marry, or change their calling. 



"The whole of this extraordinary system is 

 regulated by a set of laws; and an especial 

 iriiiuual, termed the mesta, exists for the pro- 

 tection of the privileges of the parties having 

 the right of way and pasturage. These par- 

 ties claim the right of pasturage on all the open 

 and common land that lies in their way, a 

 path of 90 paces wide through the enclosed and 

 cultivated country, and various rights and im- 

 munities connected with the pasturage of the 

 The system is opposed to the true in- 

 of Spain. A change of pasture may be 

 required for the flocks in the drier countries at 

 (:rtain seasons, but the periodical migration 

 of so vast a body of sheep cannot be necessa- 

 ry to the extent to which it takes place. 

 rnoiis abuses are committed on the cultivated 

 country as they pass alon^. A fourth part of 

 the year consumed in travelling must be pre- 

 judicial to the health of the animals in a 

 greater degree than the benefits they derive 

 from a change of pasturage. A prodigious 

 mortality accordingly takes place among these 

 sheep ; and more than half the lambs are vo- 

 luntarily killed, in order that the others may be 

 brought to maturity. The sale of the lamb- 

 skins, which form a subject of export to other 

 countries, is indeed a source of profit, but no- 

 thing equal to what the rearing of the animals 

 to their state of maturity would produce. That 

 these extensive migrations are necessary to 

 preserve the fineness of the wool is conceived 

 to be an error. Attention to breeding and rear- 

 ing would more certainly produce this effect 

 than a violent change of place. In Spain 

 itself there are numerous flocks of stationary 

 Merinos, whose wool is of all the fineness re- 

 quired; and in other countries of Europe, 

 where the sheep are never moved off the farms 

 that produce them, wool is produced superior 

 to that of the migratory flocks of Spain. The 

 system is of great antiquity, and is so riveted 

 in the habits of this ignorant and intractable 

 people, that it is likely to be one of the last of 

 those ancient abuses which will yield to the de- 

 sire of change which at this moment agitates 

 the feelings of men in this distracted country. 

 The Spaniards long preserved the monopoly of 

 this race of sheep with jealous care; but other 

 countries at length were able to carry off the 

 Golden Fleece of Spain, and the Merino race 

 is now spread over a great part of Europe. 



" The Merino breed, which had extended to 

 so many countries, was at a period more recent 

 introduced into the British Islands. George 



m., a zealous and patriotic agriculturist, re- 

 solved to make a trial of this celebrated breed 

 on his own farms, and means were taken to 

 obtain a small Merino flock. This was done 

 clandestinely; the animals were selected from, 

 the flocks of different individuals where they 

 could best be got ; were driven through Portu 

 gal, and embarked at Lisbon. They were 

 safely landed at Portsmouth, and conducted to 

 the king's farm at Kew. The flock was bad; 

 the selection had been carelessly or ignorantly 

 made; and the animals being taken from dif- 

 ferent flocks, presented no uniformity of cha- 

 racters. It was then resolved to make direct 

 application to the Spanish government for per- 

 mission to export some sheep from the best 

 flocks. The request was at once complied 

 with ; a small and choice flock was presented 

 to his majesty, by the Marchioness del Campo 

 di Alange, of the Negretti flocks, esteemed to 

 be the most valuable in Spain; and in return 

 his majesty presented to the Marchioness eight 

 splendid coach horses. This flock arrived in 

 England in 1791, and was immediately trans- 

 ferred to the royal farms, while all those previ- 

 ously imported were disposed of or destroyed. 



"On the first change of these sheep to the 

 moist and luxuriant pastures of England, they 

 suffered greatly from diseases, and, above all, 

 the rot, which destroyed numbers of them ; and 

 from foot-rot, which affected them to a grievous 

 extent. By a little change of pastures these 

 evils were remedied; and, after the first season, 

 the survivors became reconciled to their new 

 situation, and their progeny seemed thoroughly 

 naturalized, and remained as free from diseases 

 as the sheep of the country. The wool was 

 from year to year carefully examined ; that of 

 the original stock remained unaffected by the 

 change of climate, while in that of their de- 

 scendants little degeneracy could be detected 

 either in its felting propensities or its fine- 

 ness. 



"The most distinguished breeders of Merinos 

 at this time in England are Lord Western and 

 Mr. Bennet, M. P. for Wiltshire. Lord West- 

 ern's stock is either Saxon, or has been crossed 

 by Saxon rams ; Mr. Bennet's is pure Spanish, 

 and has undergone progressive improvement 

 by selection of individuals of the same blood. 

 The number of his flock amounteu at one time 

 to 7000 ; it was subsequently reduced to 3500. 

 It was treated in the ordinary manner of sheep 

 in England. Lord Western's, it is believed, 

 is managed more in the Saxon manner, with 

 respect to protection from the weather. Mr. 

 Bennet's fine flock, notwithstanding it had been 

 thus acclimated, perished in great numbers in 

 a severe winter some years ago, proving that 

 the race had not yet lived sufficiently long in 

 England to be perfectly inured to its cold and 

 variable climate. Other gentlemen have im- 

 ported Merinos direct from Saxony, and thus 

 obtained at once the highest perfection of the 

 fleece; but there is little reason to believe that 

 their experiments will be more successful than 

 those previously made. Merinos have lately 

 been carried in some numbers to Ireland, and 

 may perhaps prove more advantageous than 

 some of the existing breeds ; but this will not 

 show the great value of the Merinos, but '.ha 

 4 o 2 939 



