54 



then cleansed with 'water and soap and sorted in the escpiilo, 

 and is ready for sale." 



" The first impression made by the Merino sheep on one 

 unacquainted with its value would be unfavorable. The wool 

 lying thicker and closer over the body than in most other 

 breeds of sheep, and being abundant in yolk, is covered with a 

 dirty crust, often full of crocks. The legs are rather long, yet 

 small in the bone ; the breast and the back are narrow, and the 

 sides somewhat flat ; the shoulders and bosoms are heavy, and 

 too much of their weight is carried on the coarser parts. The 

 horns of the male are comparatively large, curved, and with 

 more or less of the spiral form ; the head is large, but the fore- 

 head rather low. A few of the females are horned, but generally 

 speaking they are without horns. Both male and female have 

 a peculiar coarse and unsightly growth of hair on the forehead 

 and cheeks, which the careful sheep-master cuts away before 

 the shearing time : the other part of the face has a pleasing and 

 characteristic velvet appearance. Under the throat there is a 

 singular looseness of skin, which gives them a remarkable ap- 

 pearance of throatiness, or hoUowness in the neck. The pile, 

 when pressed upon, is hard and unyielding ; it is so from the 

 thickness with which it grows on the pelt, and the abundance 

 of yolk, detaining all the dirt and gravel which falls upon it ,• 

 but when examined, the fibre exceeds in fineness, and in the 

 number of serrations and curves, that which any other sheej) 

 in the world produces. The average weight of the fleece (un- 

 washed) in Spain is eight pounds from the ram, and five from 

 the ewe. The staple difiers in length in different provinces. 

 When fatted, these sheep will weigh from 12 to 16 pounds per 

 quarter. 



" The excellency of the Merinos consists in the unexampled 

 fineness and felting property of their wool, and in the weight 

 of it yielded by each individual sheep : the closeness of that 

 wool, and the luxuriance of the yolk, which enables them to 

 support extremes of cold and wet as well as any other breed ; 

 the easiness with which they adapt themselves to every change 



