AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM 133 



per soil. Nevertheless, as these truths are still held in 

 doubt by some persons, and lest these doubts should have 

 a considerable influence on our agriculture and our com- 

 merce, I thought it my duty to publish these facts, which 

 must give a new degree of force and certainty. 1 here 

 present to view the actual state of Merino flocks, natural- 

 ized in Europe." 



He says, that a Alerino flock came into Sweden in 

 1723 ; that from the year 1740 to the year 1780, a bounty 

 of 75j)er Cent, was allowed to those who sold fine wool; 

 in 1780, these bounties were reduced to 15, and in 1786, to 

 12 per Cent. ; and in 1792, being no longer deemed neces- 

 sary to encourage this breed, they ceased. In 1764, Sweden 

 possessed 65,369 Merino Sheep, of the pure blood, and 

 23,384 of the mixed blood : since that period they have 

 constantly increased in number, in spite of the difficulty 

 occasioned by the length of winter and severity of the 

 climate. That the Merino sheep preserve, in Sweden, 

 their pristine form; that the fleeces have lost nothing of 

 their equality of length, their elasticity and fine quality of 

 pile ; that their weight continues as great as in Spain ; 

 thathe has seen Merino rams whose fleeces weighed thir- 

 teen pounds each ; and that, when seasoned to the cli- 

 mate, and properly fed, he has seen them larger and 

 finer sheep than in Spain. Upper Saxony, he says, is 

 the country next to Sweden, where the introduction of 

 the Merino breed is of the longest date ; and it is in Sax- 

 ony where this naturalization has met with the most 

 marked success, and produced eff'ects the most beneficial; 

 the native breeds have, b> a mixture of Merino blood, 

 profited in an equal degree. The first importation was 

 in 1765 ; the next in 1778. Mr. Lasteyrie says, he has 

 seen many different flocks, and has found the pure Me- 

 rino, as well as some mjxed breeds, producmg wool of 

 the first quahty; indeed, the sheep Avalks of Saxony are, 

 at this moment, more productive than any other species 

 of husbandry ; and that the wool sells at three times the 

 price of the wools of the countiy. Saxony rears about 



