184 AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM 



l,GOQ,000 slicep ; of wliich, 90,000 are Merinos, and the. 

 mixed breed. 



They were introduced into Prussia by Frederick the 

 Second, in the year 1786. Some of these, distributed over 

 ihe country, from mismanagement and gro«s neglect, 

 liave degenerated and died ; others he has seen, 'which 

 preserve theiji' pristine quahties- 



In Denmark^ and in various parts of Germany, Mr. 

 Lasteyrie has seen this race of sheep always prospering, 

 if well treated ; and in this and every other country, de- 

 generating from want of food and neglect ; always, 

 however, doing as well as the native breeds in the same 

 keep, and in some cases better ; that the more regular 

 and ample the supply of food is, whether of grass or 

 green vegetables, the heavier and finer will be tlie fleece, 

 the larger in size, and more perfect in shape, will the 

 sheep be. He strongly recommends housing ; but adds, 

 that foul, close sheep-cots are injurious ; that a free circu- 

 lation of air is always found beneficial ; and that this 

 breed of sheep suffers more from heat than from cold — 

 (this doctrine has been repeatedly confirmed by our 

 practice at home) ; that they will get fat as quick as any 

 indigenous breed, in any country, and have done so 

 wherever a comparison has been made. 



The details of the treatment of the Merino flock at 

 Rambouillet, a national farm near Paris, merit notice ; 

 they appear to result from much patient observation. An 

 experiment was there made, which denotes the peculiar 

 character of this breed, and its tendency to carry wool. 

 A ewe, eighteen months old, was left unshorn ; the next 

 season, her fleece, when shorn, weighed fourteen pounds 

 ten ounces ; and its pile, which was double the usual 

 length, lost nothing as to weight, because few ewes 

 would have given more wool, if clipped at the usual peri- 

 ods. Another ewe was shorn at thirty months old, and 

 gave a still greater quantity of wool, although she, at tha^ 

 season, suckled a lamb ; her fleece weighed twenty-ono 

 poiunds; and ihe pile was eight inches long. In the Jiinth 



