490 SHEEP 



travels towards the kingdom of Leon. Some halt on the Sierra (ridge of the 

 mountains) which separates Old from New Castile, but others pursue their route 

 to the pastures of Cervera, near Aquilar del Campo. Here they graze until the 

 end of September, when they commence their return to Estremadura. The 

 Sorian sheep, having passed the winter on the confines of Estremadura, Anda- 

 lusia, and New Castile, begin their route about the same time. They pass the 

 Tagus at Talavera and approach Madrid ; thence they proceed to Soria, where 

 a portion of them are distributed over the neighboring mountains, while the 

 others cross the Ebro in order to proceed to Navarre and the Pyrenees. 



It is said that these periodical journeys can be traced back to 

 the middle of the fourteenth century, when a tribunal was estab- 

 lished for their regulation. The number of these migratory sheep 

 seventy-five years ago was placed at ten millions, and they were 

 divided into flocks, each in care of a Mayoral, or chief shepherd. 



The important provincial flocks of Spain, from which the best 

 Merino blood was exported, were represented on about a half-dozen 

 estates, there being mainly, according to Livingston, about thirty 

 thousand on each estate. These flocks have been described by 

 various early writers, notably Consul William Jarvis, who, at the 

 opening of the eighteenth century, was familiar with the flocks in 

 Spain, he being United States consul at Lisbon, Portugal, from 

 which port thousands of Merinos were shipped. Jarvis not only 

 exported Merinos to America but later became one of our great 

 constructive breeders. The information concerning the early 

 Spanish flocks is more or less obscure, often indefinite, and some- 

 times conflicting. The following is such evidence as can be pre- 

 sented of the groups or classes from which American importations 

 were mainly drawn. In Spain these classes were more or less 

 interbred, and the same applies to American flocks. 



Paular Merinos. This family, which produced the largest and 

 best fleeces, was originally owned by the Carthusian friars of Paular, 

 on the borders of Andalusia, an agricultural class of monks who 

 paid great attention to horses and sheep. This was probably one 

 of the handsomest flocks of Spain, having close, compact, soft, 

 and silky wool, with less surface yolk than most types. The 

 Paulars were credited with enlargement behind the ears, with con- 

 siderable throatiness, and their lambs had a coarse, hairy appear- 

 ance at birth. William Jarvis imported many Paular sheep in 

 1 8 10 and made a specialty of breeding this family. 



