Essai/ 071 Sheep. 69 



tention perhaps, and by keeping both the rams 

 and the ewes very high, a similar breed might 

 be made among us, if the original Dorset- 

 shire stock could not be procured; though in 

 time of peace there is very little difficulty in 

 obtaining them from England by means of the 

 smugglers that trade from Dunkirk, notwith- 

 standing the high penalty which the govern- 

 ment has very ungenerously annexed to their 

 exportation. 



If the farm on which sheep are to be reared 

 consists of wet or marshy ground, with rich 

 and luxuriant grass, I would recommend that 

 the large sheep, bearing combing wool, should 

 be preferred, since the largeness of the carcase 

 and the quantity of the wool might, in such 

 ground, more than compensate for a diminution 

 in the price of the wool, if the scarcity of such 

 wool in our country should not (as might be 

 expected) enhance its value: in fact, we have 

 hitherto made very little distinction, and we 

 sell alike wool that in England would bring but 

 twelve cents, and that which in that manufactur- 

 ing country would be valued at thirty-six cents. 

 Hence, where the pastures are adapted to large, 

 long-woolled sheep, they would for the present 

 be highly valuable, and particularly in the vi- 

 cinity of the sea; for I have observed, that the 



