404 



FARJMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 7 



iii<^ — the several circumstances which determine 

 the comparative profitableness of the rival breeds. 

 Ot the coarser wool and heavier carcassed Eng- 

 lish varieties, I know nothino', and therefore shall 

 say nothing. My acquaintance has been exclu- 

 eively with the Merinos and Saxons, and whate- 

 ver weight my opinions ma}' be entiiled to, on 

 other accounts, the fact that I have among my 

 flocks about an equal number of" the two breeds, 

 or rather, the two varieties ot the same breed, 

 gives me the liberty of" laying claim to at least, as 

 much candor, as the mass of" the disputants who 

 have entered the lists in llivor of one or the other 

 of iheir respective fiivorites. 



The actual dilference between the Spanish and 

 German families, of this celebrated race of" sheep, 

 I am convinced has been greatly exaggerated. 

 When it is borne in mind that only about seventy 

 years have elapsed, since Merinos were imported 

 into Saxony, from the mother country, and that 

 from these, and subsequent importations of the 

 same stock, the whole Saxon family have descend- 

 ed, it must require a great stretch of credulity to 

 believe that dis))arities so great and radical, so 

 unaccounted for by any change of circumstances, 

 could be brought to exist during this period, in the 

 same breed, maintained pure. The only import- 

 tant causes which have operated to create a differ- 

 ence, if we except the circumstance of the Sax- 

 ons being descended fi'om picked sheep — (the o- 

 riginal importation being a gilt, to wliich even 

 national importance was attached, from one mon- 

 arch to another,) are change of climate, and the 

 neglect which the parent stock suffered in the 

 long and bloody wars of which Spain has been the 

 theatre. It is a well established fact, that sheep 

 changed from a moderately cold, to a warm cli- 

 mate, suffer a visible depreciation in the fineness 

 of their wool, and the converse of the proposition 

 is equally well established. This is doidotlets one 

 material reason of the superior fineness of the 

 German Merino, and if we may trust Chancellor 

 Livingston and Col. Humphreys,* the like effect 

 has been perceivable in the several countries of 

 northern Europe, (with the exception ofEngland, 

 where extraneous causes, necessary here to be 

 examined, have operated,) into which the Merino 

 has been introduced. In addition to the loss suf- 

 fered by the flocks of Spain, in the peninsular 

 war, by some of the choicest ones being driven 

 into France by the French generals, and by tens 

 of thousands being indiscriminately slaughtered 

 for the subsistence of the conflicting soldiery and 

 starving peasantry, it must be evident, that 

 in such a struggle, this as well as every other 

 branch of agriculture, would be utterly neglected. 

 Such was tlie case to a most unfortunate extent, 

 and the Spanish flocks have never recovered from 

 the shock. On the other hand the Merinos of 

 Saxony, with the utmost care bestowed on their 

 breeding and general management, at the Electo- 

 ral sheep farms of Lohm, Rennersdort", Hohen- 

 Ktein, and more especially at the celebrated estab- 

 lishment at Stolphen, (near Dresden) could not, of 

 course, fail ol' improving, unlei^s the Germans have 

 been deplorably deficient in even the "outside" 

 principles of sheep husbandry. 



* See preface to Chancellor Liviii!;ston's celebrated 

 "Essay on Sheep," and Col. Humphrey's " Letter to 

 the Agricultural Society of Massacnusetts." 



The popular exaggeration of the difl^erence be- 

 tween the Spanish and Saxon varieties, sprmgs, 

 I have no doubt in a great measure from unac- 

 quainfance with pure blooded and ivell bred ani- 

 mals of one or both kinds. The man whose ideas 

 of pure blooded Saxon sheep, for example, have 

 been formed on those "long-legged, thin-quarter- 

 ed, flat-sided, narrow-boned, not sufficiently deep- 

 chested, and long-necked" animals, which we 

 daily hear called " pure Saxon," if a decent half 

 bred Merino, or indeed n decent sheep of" any breed 

 comes under his inspection, and must of" course 

 prefer it. I will not saj' that none such are pure 

 blooded, but I will say, that it is the result of de- 

 fiiclive breedincr, and not characteristic of the 

 race — and I will further say, that in nine cases out 

 of ten, such animals have been produced by a 

 cross between Saxon tups, (deficient themselves, 

 because selected, as is commonly the mistake, ex- 

 clusively in reference to the fineness of the wool) 

 and native ewes, or at best, half blood Merinos. 

 The produce of the- fourth cross are paraded forth 

 to the world, and sold as "pure bloodsP'' There 

 are those who know, with myself, that the " pure 

 Saxons" of" a certain county m this state, which 

 shall now be nameless, were thus bred — that is, 

 one cross of Saxon with half" blooded Merino 

 ewes, of Mr. Livinizston's importation. Thus 

 one-tburth of native blood nu'no-led in their pedi- 

 gree, yet alas! their sins are all laid at the door of 

 the "pu'-e Saxons." 



There is another class of " pure Saxons," equal- 

 ly notorious, and equally of"ten quoted When 

 the " fever" for importing this race, first broke out, 

 and the sheep sold for such extrordinary prices, 

 how many vessels freighted to Europe, received 

 orders to take in cargoes, or partial carflroes of the 

 wonderful sheen, on their homeward bound pas- 

 sage ! Let us suppose Capt. Tarpauling acting 

 on tliese instructions. He sails Icir the nearest port 

 wiihin the prescribed limits ; presents his orders at 

 the commerci-d house with which he has done 

 business; and Messrs. Van Beest & Van Brug- 

 gins immediately institute the proper inquiries. 

 Every sheep breeder within fifty leagues, it is 

 found, has the "pure bloods,'''' just as they have 

 in this country, 1o the inquiry of" every one desir- 

 ing to purchase ! The most ludicrous scene of the 

 whole, and the next in order in the three, presents 

 us Capt. Tarpauling, and perchance Mynheer 

 Van Bruggins, (who acquired their knowledge of 

 the qualities of sheep, on the deck ol a vessel, 

 and behind the desk of a Dutch counting-house!) 

 superintending the selection of these sires and 

 dams of untold generations of bona fide " pure 

 bloods." In due course of time, they are landed 

 at New York or Boston, and sold. That they are 

 pure blooded Saxon, " every body knows, because 

 they were imported direct from ScixonyP'' Before 

 me lies a letter from a celebrated German sheep 

 breeder and wool grower, who says: — 



* * "From the Royal, and other cele- 

 brated pure flocks, (in Saxony,) bucks sell from 

 iS7o, to i^WO per head; and ewes from §50, to 

 ^100— and at these prices, they do hot give any 

 one his choice." 



Add to this the expense of importation, and let 

 every one Judge for himself", how niany of ihebest 

 quality oi^Sixxon sheep have been brought into our 

 country, to be hawked round at S15 or ^25 a 

 head ! The remark may seem somewhat pre- 



