170 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH, 



Spanish Merino. — " The history of this celebrated race of sheep, so far 

 as it is known, has so often been brought before the public that it is deemed 

 unnecessary here to recapitulate it. The first imjiortation of them into 

 the United States took place in 1801. Four were shipped by Mr. 

 Delessert, a banker of Paris, three of which perished on the passage.* 

 The fourth arrived in safety at Rosendale, a farm owned by that gentle- 

 man near Kingston, in this State. The same year Mr. Seth Adams, of 

 Massachusetts, imported a pair from France. In 1802, two pairs were 

 sent from France by Mr. Livingston, the American Minister, to his estate 

 on the Hudson ; and later ttie same year, Mr. Humphrys, our Sjianish 

 Minister, shipped two hundred, on his departure from that country, for the 

 United States." Hon. William Jarvis, of Weathersfield, Vermont, then 

 American Consul at Lisbon, sent home large and valuable flocks in 1809, 

 1810, and 1811. The particularly favorable circumstances for obtaining 

 the choicest sheep of Spain, under which these were procured, you will 

 find detailed in a letter tome from Mr. Jarvis, dated December, 1841, pub- 

 lished in the Transactions of the Nev/-York State Agricultural Society of 

 that year. Various subsequent importations took place, which it is not 

 important to particularize. 



The Merinos "attracted little notice, until our difficulties with England led 

 to a cessation of commercial intercourse with that power, in 1808 and 1809. 

 The attention of the covmtry being then directed toward manufacturing 

 and wool-growing, the Merino rose into importance. So great, indeed, 

 was the interest excited, that from a thousand to fourteen hundred dollars a 

 head was paid for them.". Unfortunately some of the later importations *' ar- 

 rived in the worst condition, bringing with them those scourges of the 

 ovine race, the scab and foot-rot. These evils and the increased supply, 

 soon brought them down to less than a twentieth 2:)art of their former 

 price ; they could now be bought for $20 a head. When, however, it was 

 established, by actual experiment, that their wool did not deteriorate, as 

 bad been feared by many, in this country, and that they became readily 

 acclimated, they again rose into favor. But the prostration of our manu- 

 factories, which soon after ensued, rendered the Merino comparatively of 

 little value, and brought ruin to numbers who had purchased them at their 

 previous high prices. The rise which has since taken place in the value 

 of fine wool, as well as the causes which led to it, are too recent and well 

 understood to require particular notice. With the rise of wool, the valua- 

 tion of the sheep which bear it, has of course kept pace. 



" The Merino has been variously described. This arises from the fact 

 that it is but the general appellation of a breed, comprising several varie- 

 ties, presenting essential points of difference in size, form, quality and 

 quantity of wool." And writers of high authority differ even in their 

 descriptions of these families or varieties. M. Lasteyrie, so celebrated as 

 a wi'iter on sheep, and particularly on the Merino, and Mr. Jarvis directly 

 contradict each other on several points.t It is scarcely necessary now 

 to quote their conflicting statements, or inquire which is right — as the ques- 

 tions involved possess no practical importance. These families have, gen- 

 erally, been merged, by intei'bi-eeding, in the United States and other 

 countries which have received the race from Spain. Purity of Merino 

 blood, and actual excellence in the individual and its ancestors, has long 

 since been the only standard which has guided sensible men in selecting 

 sheep of this breed. Families have indeed sprung up, in this country, ex- 



* Archives of Useful Knowledce.— Cultivator, vol. i.'p. 183. 



t See Lasteyrie on Sheep— or, If not accesr-ible— his statements quoted by Mr. Youatt. p. 156. For Mr. 

 Jarvis's statements, see his Letter to L. D. Gregory, ouolcd in Amicrican Sheplicrd, pp. 73, 74. 

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