390 ilPPENDIX. 



leam out of what flock these sheep were obtained, but they un- 

 questionably were pure blood Transhumantes, which is the only 

 fact of importance worth knowing. Still, I thought it worth while 

 to go into the. above detail, as some late writer has undertaken to 

 give an account of Genl. Humphreys' marriage and the manner of 

 obtaining some of these sheep, very different from the above.* 

 In 1831 end 1832, I made inquiries of some Connecticut gentle- 

 men about Genl. Humphreys' flock, and they told me that, at h^ 

 death, they had been sold in small parcels, and distributed about. 

 Many now make a parade of having Paular sheep, and those who 

 have the bump of credulity largely developed on the cranium, 

 may believe it, but I am persuaded that no one in the United 

 States can trace back any Merinos they may have had for the 

 last twenty years to that cabanna or flock. As I have mentioned 

 elsewhere, I bred my Paulars, Aiguerras, Negrettis, Escurials, 

 and Montarcos separately, that is, each kind by itself, from 1811 

 to 1816, but in that year I began by mixing all together, and have 

 ever since bred so without discrimination. Althougji at that early 

 day I had a very extensive intercourse with our breeders, I did 

 not know of another breeder who purchased Merinos of the difier- 

 ent flocks imported, that ever took any pains to separate the dif- 

 ferent kmds. So far from it, there was a geheral opinion perva- 

 ding the country that crossing the difierent kinds would improve 

 the wool. Doubtless the reason why we have latterly heard so 

 much puffiing about Paulars is owing to its having been under- 

 stood that the Paulars carried rather the heaviest fleeces. 



From 1811 to 1826, when I began to cross with the Saxonies, 

 tny average weight of wool was 3 lbs. 14 oz. to 4 lbs. 2 oz., vary- 

 ing according to "the keep. The weight of the bucks was from 5i 

 lbs. to 6^ lbs. in good stock case, all washed on the sheeps' backs. 

 My flock now consists of 160 pure blood Merino ewes, bucks, and 

 lambs, 100 pure blood Saxonies, and about 750 crossed between 

 pure blood Merinos and pure Mood Saxonies. My flock has al- 

 ways been composed of the descendants of the Merinos I exported 

 in 1809 and '10, and the Saxonies imported in 1826, and the crosses 

 between the two, never having bred from any other kind. The 

 present average weight of my flock as above is about 3 lbs. 4 oz. 

 per head, but the pure blood Merino part of it wiU not vary ma- 

 terially from the original weight. 



In reply to your question, whether I consider the Escurial, 

 Montarco, Negretti, Paular, or Gaudaloupe most profitable to the 

 American wool-grower, I reply, that as none of these varieties 

 are now distinct in our country, we cannot have a choice ; but 

 when I had a control of the five flocks, namely, the Paular, the 



* The author of this treatise is personally acquainted with the wool-grower who 

 put forth the statement Mr. Jarvis alludes to, and he hay not a doubt but that it 

 was innocently done. It should serve as a caution, however, to others, to beware 

 of going before the public with statements of which they have not proper testi- 

 mony to sustain. The public is indebted to Mr. Jarvis for the exposure of several 

 errors relative to Merinos. 



