Essay on Sheep. 137 



common wool will fall much more rapidly; be- 

 cause, when habituated to fine soft clotli, few 

 will wear the harsh, hard, heavy clothing we 

 » are now content with, p irticularly if fine wool 

 IS reduced in price. The relative difierence 

 between the Merino and common sheep will 

 not change; if the Merino wool brings less, tlie 

 common wool will not bring enough to pay for 

 the keeping of the sheep. 



So much respect is due to the opinion of Mr. 

 Custis, who has laboured with great zeal and 

 success in the improvement of sheep, that it 

 cannot but be proper here to state and consider 

 his reflections on the Merino breed of sheep, 

 contained in his very valuable publication. He 

 thinks that the Merino breed will not be gene- 

 rally extended, because of the high price at 

 which the rams are held; one hundred dollars 

 being, as he supposes, the price of a ram, which 

 was that at which they were sold when he 

 wrote, but they have since risen to one hundred 

 and fifty dollars. The reverse I conceive to be 

 the ca e; the high value at which they are rated 

 will continue in two ways to extend the breed. 

 First, by yielding a great profit to the breeder; 

 and, next, by introducing more from abroad. 

 If a farmer believes he can sell his half-blood 

 rams or ewes at twelve dollars, their present price. 



