•^8 AG III CULTURAL MUSEUM 



inrcrcncc fro-m these facts is, that it will be ven,' practica* 

 ble to have alioclc of ev»'es, who.ic fleeces sliall avcr;ige 

 at least 8 lb. — forif some g-ive 8H>. 12 oz. and scvprulSlK 

 -there can be no doubt that when i bc<;in to select my 

 ewes as I do my rams, and sell those that ha\c tlie 

 Jightest or coarsest fleeces, I may biing them to 8 Ib.- 

 whichis about the standard of the Rambouillet Hock— 

 and more than the double of the flocks of Spain, It \* 

 by this mode of proceedurc that tlie flock of Rambouil- 

 let is so very superior to the Spanish flocks, both in tl/c 

 quantity and the quality of the wool. — What will be th'n 

 state of our manufactures when your farmers, instead of 

 a few ragged sheep, keep flocks of 1000 Merinos, which 

 any farm of 1000 acres may conveniently do? And Icfc 

 me add, what will be the diirerence in the circumstances 

 of the farmer, who receives IGCOO Dollars a year for his 

 wool, with less expence thanit costs him to make lOOO 

 Dollars by bis tobacco ? 



Extract From Lord Somervllle's Essay on Sheep. 

 Conlinued from page G8. 



The Merino fleece is, in colour, unlike that of any En- 

 glish breed. There is a dark brown tinge on the surface 

 of the best fleeces, amounting almost to a black, which is 

 formed by dust adhering to the greasy, yolky properties 

 of its pile; and the contrast between it and the rich 

 white colour within, as well as that rosy hue of the skin, 

 peculiarly denoting high proof or aptitude to fatten, sur- 

 prise at first sight. The harder the fleece is, the more it 

 resists any outward pressure of the hand, with certain 

 exceptions, the more close and fine will be the wool. 



On their first importation, there was a great deficiency 

 of milk in the ewes, as well as a tendency to barrcnneFS, 

 which is now ascertained to have arisen from the severe 

 journeys to which this race of sheep is twice in the year 

 riubjecttid, when in Spain, and to which their valuable 

 properties have been blindly attributed They arc now 

 regular in their time of lambing; their adders are as full. 



