336 



THE GENESEE FAR^^IER. 





GROUI" OF :tPANISH MEEINO RAMS. 



SPANISH MERINO SHEEP, 



The early Pwomaa writers ou agriculture describe 

 various breeds of sheep as existing in Spain. They 

 were of various colors — blacky red, and tawny. 

 The black sheep yielded a fine fleece — the finest 

 of that color w^hich was then known ; but the red 

 fleece of Btetica — Granada and Andalusia — was 

 of still superior quality, and " had no fellow." 



Strabo, who flourished under the reign of Tibe- 

 EIU3 Cj:3ar, says the wool from which the fine 

 cloth worn by the Romans was made, came from 

 Spain. Still later, Columella, uncle of the cele- 

 brated Roman writer of that name, immigrated 

 from Italy to Spain, and is said to have taken with 

 him some African rams, and did much toward im- 

 proving the native breeds. In the eighth century, 

 the Saracens established themselves in Spain, and 

 found it " fruitful in corn and pleasant in fruits, 

 and glutted with herds and flocks." Under the 

 Saracens, the wool manufacturers of Spain attained 

 great celebrity. After their expulsion, this branch 

 of productive industry was lost to Spain. Fekdi- 

 NAND V banished 100,000 industrious artisans be- 

 cause they were Moors. His successor, Philip III, 

 drove from Valentia 140,000 of the Mahomedan 

 inhabitants; and in the three following years, 600,- 

 000 were expelled from Murcia, Seville, and Grana- 

 da. The consequence was, that the 16,000 looms 

 of Seville dwindled down to 60, and the woolen 

 manufactures almost ceased to have existence 

 throughout Spain. 



It is somewhat remarkable that the Spanish 

 sheep seemed to have withstood the baneful influ- 

 ence of this almost total neglect. " Until a few 

 years ago," says Youatt, "the Peninsula continued 

 to possess the most valuable fine-wooled sheep; 

 and will always have to boast that, although the 

 Merino flocks and the Merino wool have improved 

 under the more careful management of other coun- 

 tries, Europe and the world are originally indebted 

 to Spain for the most valuable material in the mrai- 

 ufacture of cloth." 



The first importation of Spanish shecj) into the 

 United States took place in 1801. Four were 

 shipped by Mr. Delesseet, a banker of Paris, 

 three of which perished on the passage. In 1802, 

 a large importation was made by Col. Humpheeys, 

 and in 1809, '10, and '11, the Hon. Wm. Jarvis, 

 the American consul at Lisbon, sent home large 

 and valuable flocks to his farm in Weathersfield, 

 \L Since then, the br«eding of Spanish Merinos 

 has received great attention, and the influence of 

 these and other importations is seen iu all parts of 

 the Union. 



We annex a beautiful portrait of a group oi: 

 Spanish Merino rams, the property of George 

 Campbell, of "West Westminster, Vt., who has ob- 

 tained great celebrity as a successful breeder of 

 these sheep, as well as by his extensive importa- 

 tions of Silesian sheep, which are rapidly becoming 

 popular. The above group are of the old Spanish 

 stock imported by Messrs. HuMraiiaTS & .Jabvib, 



