The She phercW Guide* 15 



anxiously enquired for more, because the mutton 

 was so much approved of by their best customers. 



Although the rams are remarkable for courage 

 and vigour, yet as flocks. Merinos are timid and 

 quiet, and hence are less disposed to jump over 

 fences or break out of enclosures. They probably 

 owe this trait in their character to long habit, and 

 to having been constantly kept under the care of 

 shepherds and dogs : and it should suggest a cau- 

 tion to breeders not to suffer them to change this 

 admirable habit by running with unruly sheep, 

 and by good fences to confine them as much as 

 possible to their own pastures. The ewes, ac- 

 cording to an observation of Lord Somerville, 

 and which we have likewise experienced, are oc- 

 casionally barren, and more frequently bad nurses ; 

 from inattention to their lambs, as well as from 

 deficiency of milk. Better pastures, however, and 

 better treatment soon conquer these defects. In 

 the mean time, a new milch cow, or a foster mo- 

 ther must supply the deficiency of milk, and a few 

 days confinement in a small pen with the lamb, 

 frequently holding the ewe so as to let it suck, will 

 soon make her fond of it. 



They are remarkably long-lived ; and agreea- 

 bly to this fact, Mr. Pictet of Geneva informs 

 us, that Merino sheep are longer in coming to ma- 

 turity than most other breeds, that they do not 

 acquire their full growth until they are three 

 years old j and that they shed and renew their 



