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French Merino Sheep. — The sheep represented in the accompanying engraving were selected in 

 France for me by John A. Taixtor, Esq., of Hartford, Conn. They are pure blood Merino.a and 

 were bred by Messrs. Gilbert and Cugxot, who undoubtedly have, for size, constitution, and weight 

 of fleece, the best flocks in France. I obtained my first imported French sheep in 1848, and have 

 increased my flock by importations from that countrj^ every year since. Thev are unusually lar^e 

 for fine wool sheep, the ewes, when of full age and in good condition, weighing from 120 lbs. to 

 over 200 lbs. each, and some of the bucks over 300 lbs. each, though these would be unusually 

 large even for tliis class of sheep. Their wool is of good quality, though not equal to Saxon for 

 fineness ; but it is as fine ais the Spanish Merino will average. They are not all alike, however:, for 

 there is with them, as with all other fine wool sheep, a great difference in the quality as well as in 

 the evenness of their fleeces. Their wool is veri/ thick and compact, more so than I ever saw it on 

 any other breed of sheep, covering their entire bodies — is thick and long on their bellies and le<^s and 

 their heads and faces are sometimes so completely covertd with wool as to blind them, and unless 

 sheared away it frequently injures their sight. My imported ewes have sheared over 15 lbs. each 

 on the average, of one year's growth in a perfectly natural condition, or unwaslied ; and some of my 

 bucks have sheared more than those represented in the engraving at one year's growth. 



But on the weight of fleece, much depends on the care and condition of the sheep. I never knew 

 a very heavy fleece sheared from a sheep in a very poor and thin condition. As it regards my own 

 flock, it has .always been my aim to take as good care of them as I knew how. I do not mean by 

 this that they have been highly fed with grain, for too much of that would prove an injury rather 

 than a benefit : but I have at all times given tliem an abundance of good nutritious food — have seen 

 that they had access to pure water, particularly in Avinter — that they had salt by them at all times 

 — tliat they were kept clean and well littered in winter, and provided with good comfortable sheds, 

 well ventilated, to protect them from the storms. These, and many other little cares, are indispensable 

 to their health and growth. For nine years past I have kept from 250 to over 1000 sheep, and my 

 losses from sheep dying during the winter have not been, on an average, one per cent. Tliis 

 is certainly strong evidence that the sheep possess hardy, robust constitutions, but with that they 

 have had good care, which should also be taken into account. 



I have sometimes washed my French sheep, but do not generally do so, as they have cost me very 

 high prices and the washing is attended with some risk. Sheep will never go into water unless 

 compelled to do so, and these being large and strong they would struggle violently, and dragging 

 them into the water to wash might prove injurious; besides there is not sufficient advantage in it 

 to pay for the rislt, as the wool will net me about as much in one condition as it will in the other, 

 for what is lost in price is gained in quantity. It is in as good demand, and will sell as readily 

 unwashed, by discounting one-third of the weight to make it equal to common brook washing. This 

 is all that has ever been required of me when I have offered mine for sale, and it will probably 

 shrink in about that proportion, though some fleeces would undoubted!}' cleanse away more, and 

 others less, than that. As a whole, the wool of the French sheep is more inclined to be dry, and 

 they have less oily and gummy matter in their fleeces, than the Spanish Merinos. 



The French sheep are remarkably prolific. A good proportion of the ewes have twins, and as 

 they are excellent nurses, there is no difficulty in raising their lambs. I have never failed of raising 

 more lambs than I have had ewes, and it is not uncommon to raise fifty per cent. more. 



Some contend that the French Merino sheep are of a "hot house growth" — that they have 

 attained their present large size by a system of high feeding — that they are not hardy, and when 

 put on ordinary keeping would pine away and become a degenerate race ; but this has not been my 

 experience with them. That the French Merinos have been brought to their present high state of 

 perfection without generous keeping and a judicious and thorough system of breeding, is not to be 

 supposed. What treatment has produced the Durham, the Hereford, and the Devon cattle ? — the 

 Clyde, the Norman, and the various other impi-OA-ed breeds of horses? — tlie Leicester, the Bakewell, 

 and the South Down sheep? — the Byfield, the Essex, and the Suffolk swine? Has it not been 

 accomplished by good and skillful breeding ? 



My principal flock was originally pure Spanish Merinos, and I still keep some of the Spanish pure, 

 but the most of my present flock are crosses of Spanish and French Merino, being half and three- 

 fourths French blood, and I find the larger the infusion of French blood, the larger the sheep and the 

 greater the increase in the weight of fleece. I formerly kept the different varieties of sheep, the 

 Merinos, the Saxons, the South Dov/ns, the Cotswolds, &c., more, however, for the purpose of experi- 





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