MerinO'Hyeland Breed df Sheep. 455 



all due allowance of ihis kind, the value of the wool, comparatively with the pre- 

 sent price of Spanish, mu«t be more than that which I have stated. 



In the mean while, I am endeavouring to bring the wool of my whole flock as 

 nearly as possible to one standard. To this point I am every year rapidly ad- 

 vancing ; and when I shall have elFccled it, which I trust will be in three 

 or four years, have litde doubt that I shall readily obtain the full value for all the 

 wool of which I may wish to dispose, whether in form of die raw material, or of 

 cloth. 



The account which I Iiave hitherto given of Merino-Ryeland wool applies only 

 to that of the ultimate degree of fineness; or, at least, of that degree whicli is equal 

 to Spanish wool of commerce. Having always directed my attention to diat point, 

 I have either not registered, or have mislaid and forgotten, many of the observations 

 formerly made during the course of the experiment ; for which reason, I cannot 

 detail the consequences of crossing in the intermediate degrees. I have, however, 

 observed, that the first mixture of the Merino with the Ryeland adds about -}, or 

 somewhat less, to th^ fleece of the latter breed ; without appearing to have much 

 influenced the fineness of the filament. In after-crosses, some curious circum< 

 stances occur. It is well known that the wool of the Merino and the Ryeland are 

 both short, and the latter the shortest; neither of them usually exceeding, in the 

 ewes, 2^ inches in length. But the second or third mixture of these breeds carries- 

 the wool of the ewe to the length of four, and sometimes six inches, with great 

 increase of weight, but still considerable coarseness in the filament. The fourth 

 cross brings- the wool to the Spanish standard, in point of fineness, and greatly 

 reduces the length, leaving it still somewhat greater than that of the pure Merino. 

 Jn every stage of the experiment, the wool is profitable, either in quality or weight. 

 A more particular account of the increase of wool value in the early crosses may 

 be seen in the publications of Lord Somerville and Mr. Toilet. 



I have endeavoured to prove above that, in every known climate, and under all 

 kinds of regimen, which are consistent with the health of the Merino breed of 

 sheep and its crosses the wool maintains an equal degree of fineness. Though this 

 position be on the whok true, it is probably not so in extreme cases. Temperature 

 and extent of nutrition may have some influence on the size, firmness, and length 

 ©f the filament. Some writers have attempted to prove the power of heat in en- 

 larging the filament by shewing, what is certainly true, that the first spring of wool. 



