CHAPTER IV. 



LATEE IMPOETATIONS OP FDTE-WOOLED SHEEP INTO 

 THE UNITED STATES. 



FKENCH AND SILBSIAU MEKINOS INTBODUCED. 



French Meeinos Intkoducbd. — The first importation of 

 French Merinos , into the tJnited States, since they have 

 assumed those characteristics which constitute them a separate 

 variety, was made in 1840, by D. C. Collins, of Hartford, 

 Conn. He purchased fourteen ewes and two rams from the 

 royal flock at Rambouillet, which were esteemed of such choice 

 quality that one of the rams (" Grandee") and several of the 

 ewes " could only be procured after they had been used in the 

 national flock as far as it could be done with advantage." 

 Grandee, says A. B. Allen, then Editor of the American Agri- 

 culturist, who attended Mr. Collins' sheep-shearing in 1843, 

 was 3 feet 8i inches long from the setting on of the horns to 

 the end of the rump ; his height over the rump and shoulders 

 was 2 feet 5 inches, and his weight in good fair condition 

 about 150 lbs. The ewes were proportionably large. At 

 three years old, in France, Grandee produced a fleece of 14 lbs. 

 of unwashed wool, His fleece was sufiered to grow from 

 1839 to 1841, two years, and weighed 26 lbs. 3 oz. clean 

 unwashed wool. One year's fleece in 1842 weighed 12 J 

 lbs. In 1843 the ewes yielded an average of 6 lbs. 9 oz. of 

 unwashed wool. Mr. AUen commended their constitutions 

 and longevity ; stated that they had large loose skins full of 

 folds, especially about the neck and below it on the shoulders, 

 and not unfrequently over the whole body; and that they 

 were well covered with wool on every part down to the hoofs. 

 Their fleeces opened of a brilliant creamy color, on a skin of 

 rich pink, and was soft, glossy, wavy, and very even over the 

 whole body. It was' exceedingly close and compact, and had 

 a yolk free from gum and easily liberated by washing.* 



* See Am. Agricaltnrist, vol. 2, p. 98. I mostly nae Mr. Allen's language. 



