SPANISH FLEECES. 



15 



American Merinos made of Sheep in no wise extraordinary 

 ia their forms.* 



These weights and measures, except those of the American 

 sheep, are Austrian. The Austrian pound is equal to 1.037 

 pounds avoirdupois; the Austrian foot to 1.234 English feet. 



The fleece of the Spanish Merino was level on the surface 

 and so dense that, like that of its American descendant, it 

 opposed a firm resistance when grasped by the hand, instead 

 of yielding under th? fingers like fur, .hair, or the thin wool of 

 other races of sheep. The wool was shorter than that of the 

 improved American Merino and particularly so on the beUy, 

 legs and head. It was very even in quality, both as between 

 different sheep and on different parts of the same sheep. The 

 most celebrated flocks, with the exception of the Escurial, 

 were dark colored externally — about as dark as the present 

 Merino sheep in our own ]M&ddle and Western States, which 

 are not housed in summer. The wool was rendered moist to 



* Tlicy were taken from my flock, and the measurements, &o., made in December, 

 1861. The ewes were a little over average size, bnt the ram was quite small. His 

 usual weight immediately after shearing is but 100 pounds. I selected him more 

 particularly to exhibit another contrast, with the Spanish Sheep. His unwashed 

 fleece of a single year's growth has reached 21 lbs. and averages about 20 lbs. " 21 

 per cent.," as lie is called, was bred by Edwin Hammond, Esq., of Middlebury, Vt. 



per 



