THE AMERICAN MERINO 



341 



at Almares, and direct their course towards Trecasas, Alfaro, and L'Epinar, 

 where they are shorn. This operation having been performed, they recom- 

 mence their 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, Andalusia, 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 distrib- 

 uted 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 

 30,000 on each estate. These flocks have been described by 

 various early writers, notably Consul William Jarvis, who was 

 familiar with the flocks in Spain a century ago, he being United 

 States consul at Lisbon, Portugal, from which port thousands of 

 Merinos were shipped. The information concerning the early 

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

 sometimes conflicting. The following is such evidence as can be 

 presented of the groups or classes from which American importa- 

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

 less interbred, and the same applies to American flocks. 



Paular Merinos. This type 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 that 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 considerable throatiness, and their lambs had a coarse 

 hairy appearance at birth. 



