70 EUROPEAN SHEEP. 



" Their defects, partly attributable to the breed, but more 

 to the improper mode of treatment to which they are 

 occasionally subjected, are, their unthrifty and unprofitable 

 form ; a voraciousness of appetite* which yields no adequate 

 return of condition ; a tendency to abortion and to barren- 

 ness ; a difficulty in yeaning ; a paucity of milk, and a too 

 frequent neglect of their young.f They are likewise said, 

 notwithstanding the fineness of their wool and the beautiful 

 red color of the skin when the fleece is parted, to be more 

 subject to cutaneous affections than most other breeds. 

 Man, however, has more to do with this than Nature." 



HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF MERINOS INTO THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



The first individual of the breed introduced into this coun- 

 try, was by Mr. Delessert, a French banker. He purchased 

 two pairs, in 1801, selected from the celebrated Rambouillet 

 flock, near Paris, which were shipped early of the same 

 year to the United States, but three of them perished on the 

 passage, and the survivor, a ram, was placed on his farm 

 near Kingston, New York. 



It had become a matter of history, that the next importation 

 of Merinos was by Gen. David Humphreys, of Connecticut; 

 but very recently a competitor for that honor has appeared. 

 It is now of little moment, further than as a chronological 

 fact, although the individual in question, Mr. Seth Adams, 

 of Zanesville, Ohio, is worthy of praise as one of the pio- 

 neers to improve the fleece of his native country. Mr. 

 Adams' statement! was addressed to the editor of the Alba- 



* This is unmerited, because it is not true. A fat sheep is the glory 

 of an Englishman, and in forming an estimate of the Merino, he is apt to 

 lose sight of a great physiological point, namely, no sheep can be the 

 bearer both of a superior fine fleece and much fat, because the assimila- 

 tion of food cannot act for both objects in an equal degree. We must bo 

 content with one great excellence, and not expect more from one animal. 

 — Compiler. 



t Not so, after arriving at maturity, and properly provided for. — Com- 

 piler. 



t " I imported in the brig Reward, Capt. Hooper, which left Diepe in 

 August, 1801, and arrived in Boston in October following, a Merino ram 

 and ewe. These, I believe, were the first pair of Merinos imported to the 

 United States. The Agricultural Society of Massachusetts having of- 

 fered a premium of .S^O for the importation of a pair of sheep of supe- 

 rior breed, General D. Humphreys imported a flock of Merinos, and sent 

 some of them to Massachusetts, and lie, or some one for him, applied to 



