EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVEE. 269 



During the coupliDg season oats were given to the rams to invigorate 

 them, under the conviction that the invigoration had a powerful iniiu- 

 ence upon the size and constitution of the lambs, and the quality of 

 the wool. One month before lambing some bran and oats were given 

 to the ewes. Bourgeois, once director of the flock, said that a ewe of 

 medium size should eat 2J pounds of grain every day; and again, that 

 the ewes every day in lambing time should have a half-pound mixture 

 of bran and oats, with a half pound of lucern or kidney beans and 2 

 pounds of one or the other of these two feedings when the flock did not 

 go to the flelds. Independent of this, 2 pounds of barley straw should 

 be given. With this food the sheep were kept in good condition. The 

 flock was treated in this manner for a long time, and the sheep never 

 attained a corpulence that was excessive or prejudicial to health. They 

 were vigorous and robust. In 1802 the average measurement of the 

 ewes in height was 24^ inches, in 1834 146 ewes measured an average 

 of 25^ inches. About the latter date there was a change in the man- 

 agement. The advanced size and fleece were respected, but the new 

 management wanted a change in the direction of mutton. Several 

 English breeds had been imported into France exclusively for mutton, 

 and their cross on the Merinos, then distributed widely in some of the 

 districts, attracted attention, and outside pressure, if we may so term 

 it, was felt at the Eambouillet directory. They sought to have the 

 Merinos approximate the type of those races characterized by large- 

 ness of body, beauty of form, and regularity of proportions, and to 

 attain this object as the result of selection and high feeding. There 

 was no question about the importance of the fleece, but they sought 

 after good form and large weight of carcass. 



In 1802 the finest ewes weighed, shorn, 90 pounds ; since they suffered from the 

 natural influence of their new habitation the average weight was 80 pounds. Their 

 descendants in 1847 averaged 120 pounds. In this space of forty-five years the flecco 

 had not increased materially, having only advanced from 7 pounds 9 ounces to 7 

 pounds 10 ounces. It is proven that these conditions depended upon the regimen 

 of the sheep, successively fed upon substantial pasture and abundantly supplied 

 with grain. This was a regimen for early maturity. It is probable that this tend- 

 ency to produce a sheep more for mutton than for wool was not satisfactory. It is 

 shown by attested data in 1881 that the food of the sheep had been continuously 

 moderatedij.and their weight gradually resumed the limits natural to them before 

 their importation, while some exceptionally fine sheep attained notable propor- 

 ions. It must be understood that as there are precocious races which demand 

 and must be supplied with rich food, and require to live in abundance, there are 

 other races that are alow to develop, and are satisfied with very little, and can 

 endure much privation. Of sheep, the Merino is of the latter type; and to develop 

 them to the type sought, their natural environment must be changed. In a word, 

 the Merino is a cosmopolitan race, and prospers wherever it is found. Other races 

 will not do this ; consequently, the Merino is more susceptible to advancement than 

 other sheep." 



In January, 1880, William G. Markhammade some inquiries of Mon- 

 sieur Bernardine, director of the Eambouillet flock at that time, and 



* History of Eambouillet sheep. American Eambouillet Eecord. 



