EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI EIVEE. 273 



Those who opposed the introduction of the Merino asserted in the 

 beginning that the wool would degenerate; facts disproved the asser- 

 tion and then they sought to depreciate the breed by as roundly as- 

 serting that the poor foreigners were not of a nature to take on much 

 fat, and that for mutton they were very inferior, tough, stringy, and 

 tasteless, or if of any taste, a very offensive one. This assertion was 

 contradicted by facts. It was admitted to be true that the mutton 

 eaten in Spain was generally lean and tough, with a disagreeable taste, 

 but it was shown that this was due to the fact that they were only 

 killed and served as food when they were no longer useful for repro- 

 duction, or when they had grown old. The contractors for butchering 

 them conducted them to commons situated in the neighborhood of 

 towns, and so divested of grass that the sheep found difficulty to get 

 enough to keep them alive. The Spaniards kept very few castrated 

 sheep in their traveling flocks, at mostin the proportion of two-sevenths, 

 and those which were castrated were of an advanced age. All breeds 

 and varieties submitted to such bad treatment would naturally give 

 poor mutton in return. Besides, the coarse-wooled breeds in Spain 

 had not more delicate flesh than the Merinos, and those were found who 

 testified that they had eaten in Spain Merino mutton as savory as 

 that of the best mutton of France. 



Tessier and Huzard reported some experiments made with much 

 care. To completely refute the prejudice existing against the meat of 

 the Merinos, they selected several yoimg Eambouillet wethers. They 

 fed them only two months, in the stable, with oats and hay, and they 

 were fat. The meat, not so dark as the native French wethers, was 

 tender and sweeter. Another experiment followed. On the 8th of 

 March, 1800, 3 wether lambs were set apart to be fattened. They 

 were of the same age but of unequal weight, aggregating 243 pounds. 

 There was more or less a difference of 13 pounds. At first they were 

 fed on lucerne and bran, then the bran was discontinued and barley 

 and oats substituted for it. The animals were weighed nearly every 

 fortnight, as was the food destined for them for the same period of 

 time. They were permitted to eat as much as they wanted. They were 

 weighed on June 3, at the end of eighty-six days, and their total weight 

 was 326 pounds, a gain of 83 pounds. The smallest of the 3 was killed 

 for mutton, and weighed 99^ pounds. 



Pounds. 



Flesh and bone 51 



Fleece 7J 



Tallow H 



Liver and lungs 4 



Head, feet, skin, and intestines 28J- 



Blood 3i 



Total 991 



In the eighty-six days the 3 sheep consumed 498 pounds of lucerne, 

 76 pounds of bran, 270 pounds of barley, and 195 pounds of oats, an 

 22990 18 



