SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 175 



Sherwood's three-year-old bock, sheared S.j, lbs. of wool. No. 9 do. finest Saxon wool m 

 mai-ket. 



pig. 5._j\Io. 10, fine Ohio wool. No. 12, do. Saxoa _ .,'^' , 



of the late Mr. Grove's excellent flock. No. 13, do. 

 original imported Spanish wool by Seth Adams. No. 

 14,°^^-. L. A. Mon-ell's Saxon. ]/ I ? 



The following cut, copied from Youatt, 

 exhibits a fibre of Merino wool viewed 10 JZ IS 14- 

 both as an opaque and transparent object, with a microscope manufac- 

 tured by Mr. Powell, of London. 



The serrations or " beards," which constitute ^??= 

 the felting property of wool, are beautifully ^ 

 distinct and sharp. It was a picklock from a 

 Negretti fleece, and Mr. Youatt says it is " very 

 fine, being only the y^Tjth part of an inch in 

 diameter." .By consulting Doct. Emmons's 

 preceding statements, it will be seen that the wool of my prize ram " Pre- 

 mium" is only about y^^Vo^^^ ^^ ^'^ '\\\c}ci in diameter ! This forcibly shows 

 the improvement which has been made on the ^Merino wool of Spain in the 

 United States. 



" The Merino, thougli the native of a warm climate, becomes readily in- 

 ured to the greatest extremes of cold, flourishing as far north as Sweden, 

 without degenerating in fleece or form. It is a patient, docile animal, bear- 

 ing much confinement without injury to health, and possesses none of that 

 peculiar ' voraciousness of appetite,' ascribed to it by English writers.* — 

 Accurately conducted experiments have shown that it consumes " a little 

 over " two pounds of hay per diem, in winter ; the Leicester consumes from 

 three and a half to four ; and the common wooled American sheep would 

 not probably fall short of three. The mutton of the Merino, in spite of the 

 prejudice which exists on the subject, is short grained and of good flavor, 

 when killed at a proper age," and weighs from ten to fourteen pounds to 

 to the quarter. " It is remarkable for its longevity, retaining its teeth and 

 continuing to breed two or three years longer than the common sheep," 

 and at least half a dozen years longer than the improved English Breeds ; 

 " but it shoidd be remarked in connection with this fact, that it is corres^ 

 pondingly slow in arriving at maturity. It does not attain its full growth 

 before three years old, and the ewes in the best managed flocks, are rarely 

 permitted to breed before they reach that age." 



The Merino is a far better breeder than any other fine-wooled sheep, 

 and my expei'ience goes to show that its lambs, when newly dropped, are 

 hardier than the Bakewell, and equally so with the high bred South- 

 Down. The ewe is not so good a nurse, however, as the latter, and will not 

 usually do full justice to more than one lamb. Eighty or ninety per 

 cent, is about the ordinary number of lambs usually reared, though it 

 often reaches one hundred per cent, in carefully managed or small 

 flocks. 



" We have already adverted to the cross between the Merino and the 

 native sheep. On the introduction of the Saxon family of the Merinos, they 

 were universally engrafted on the parent stock, and the cross was contin- 

 ued until the Spanish blood was nearly bred out." When the admixture 

 took place with judiciously selected Saxons, it resulted not unfavor- 

 ably for certain purposes. But unfortunately these instances of judicious 

 crossing were rare. Our country was flooded by eager speculators, with 

 the feeblest and least hardy ^Merinos of Germany. Fineness of ^vool during 



* Youatt. p. 119. 

 (367) 



