344 



SHEEP 



near Halle, who introduced some Saxon Merinos. Ten years 

 later he secured pure Merinos from Spain and crossed them on 

 the sheep in that section of Germany. In 1776 Frederick the 

 Great became interested and imported 300 pure Merinos from 

 Spain, but through disease and mismanagement these came to 

 an unfortunate end. Later von Vinke purchased a thousand pure 

 Merinos under government commission, agricultural schools were 

 established for the instruction of shepherds, and sheep husbandry 

 was specially promoted. This resulted in establishing the Ger- 

 man or Silesian family. 



French Merinos or Rambouillets. These were imported from 

 Spain to France in 1786 by government commission. This type 

 is discussed by itself further on. 



English Merinos. About 1787, during the reign of George III, 

 the " farmer king," a small flock of mixed Merinos was smuggled 

 from Spain through Portugal and taken to England. These were 

 inferior, so in 1791, at the request of the king, a select lot of 

 Negrette sheep, consisting of four rams and thirty-six ewes, were 

 collected by one of the Spanish nobility and presented to the 

 king. These arrived in England in good shape, but did poorly 

 at first. Not being suited to the moist climate and rich pastures 

 they suffered much from disease and especially foot rot. They 

 gradually became acclimated and thrived fairly well. A society 

 was organized in 181 1 to promote them, but the small size of 

 this sheep and its inferior mutton quality caused British farmers 

 to gradually give them up. To-day Merinos are almost unknown 

 in England. 



The Australian Merino. Late in the eighteenth century a few 

 Merinos had been taken to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, 

 from England. Later, in 1797, these were taken to Sydney, 

 New South Wales. Since that period Australia has become the 

 greatest Merino sheep country in the world. There these sheep 

 thrive and produce a very superior grade of wool. 



The introduction of the Merino to the United States probably 

 occurred in 1793. Mr. William Foster of Boston, Massachu- 

 setts, smuggled from Spain one ram and two ewes. These he 

 presented to a friend, who, not realizing their value, used them 

 for meat, though he later purchased a ram for $1000 at auction. 



