Essay 07i Sheep, 7 1 



by those who have the means of selecting and 

 will not spare expense, a larger breed, with 

 heavier fleeces and better forms, and with 

 equally fine wool. I have now in France a few 

 that have been so chosen in Spain, for which 

 a double price was paid, and which are of 

 uncommon size and beauty: with these, and a 

 number more from the first flocks of France, 

 I hope to enrich our country when means 

 shall be afforded for bringing them out. 



From France the best stock may more easily 

 be obtained,* and being already acclimated to 

 that country, which is more similar to our own, 

 and used to be fed on hay, and not to migrate, 

 there will be less risk in the importation and 

 in the adapting of them to our climate and 

 manner of keeping. Of these I have already 

 treated. I proceed to state my ideas on the 

 best and cheapest mode of obtaining a Merino 

 flock, or such a portion of Merino blood as 

 shall instantly double the value of a flock of 

 sheep. The high price of Merino rams, and 

 the diflSculty of procuring those of the best 

 sort, will deter many farmers from entering at 



* Colonel Humphreys, who has probably seen both those of France and 

 Spain, agrees with me in this sentiment. In his letter to the Agincultural 

 Society of Massachusetts, he states, that the improved stock of France yield 

 twice as much wool as those of Spain, without any change in the quality of 

 the flcecp. 



