1 ACniCLLTURAL MlSEUM 



much n-s!i, :inil Unit tli;;ir mutton is of a very had qnalifj? 

 ill a purtiiil view, tliis objcctiui) nii^ht have the appear- 

 ance oi' sonic (h gvGQ of plausuhility ; it is however, com- 

 pletely (ionc away with, by facts. It is not to be denied, 

 tliat the niutton we eat in S[)ain is generally lean, 

 tough, and ill lasted ; but I have observed in my Trea- 

 tise on Spanish Shec'p, that the bud quality of the mutton 

 in that country, is owing to their sheep not being slauglv 

 tered until they are past breeding, or until they begin 

 to (h op oiV, from old age. Those who feed for the butch- 

 ers, pasture their sheep upon commons near towns, 

 already so cat down, that the sheep can with ditificulty 

 keep themselves alive. The Spaniards have very few 

 ivethers (moutons chufrcs) in their travelling flocks, at 

 the titmost, two out of seven; and, besides, their rams 

 are never castrated until they become old. 



•' Such raanagem^entmust produce bad mutton in any 

 breed of sheep. B^'s-ides, the coarse wooled sheep in 

 Spain are not better mutton than the JNlerinos; and I my- 

 self have eat, in th^s country, Merino mutton as delicious 

 as our own. What I liave advanced is conlirmed by 

 iacts, ascertained by Citizens Tessier and Hazard, 

 which we shall give as stated in their report to the 

 Institute, in the year eight. 



" The experiments we had formerly made in feeding: 

 Spanish Sheep, have not been fully detailed. It has 

 been undeniably proved, that all those animals were 

 fattened, and the tiesh was at least as delicate as that 

 of any other breed of sheep. 



Having a prejudice to overcome, which retarded 

 the propagation of iine-wooled sheep, it became neces- 

 sary to produce positive facts, and authentic experi- 

 ments made by order of government. For this purpose 

 on 18 Ventose, we took three sheep of the same age, 

 but of different weights, making a total of2131b. : there 

 >vas a difference of 13 lb between the weight of the hea- 

 viest and ligiitest. We began by feeding them on lu- 

 cerne and branj afterwards we gave them barley and 



