124 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



One at least of the reasons why merinos are 

 unsuited to British farmers is their slowness in 

 reaching maturity and their incapacity for fattening 

 — an incapacity which cannot be remedied by feed- 

 ing with corn and oil-cake. As a matter of fact, 

 merinos are essentially adapted for producing wool, 

 which grows not only on their bodies, but likewise 

 on their limbs right down to the hoofs as well as on 

 their faces. Moreover, they thrive well on grass of 

 poor quality, and flourish but little better in the 

 richest pastures. Consequently, while admirably 

 adapted for countries like Australia, South Africa, 

 and Argentina, where wool is the main object of 

 production, they are not fitted for the requirements 

 of the English breeder. 



From very early days Spanish merinos were 

 divided in their native country into two groups, 

 according as to whether they were kept on the same 

 pastures permanently, when they were known as 

 estantes (stationary), or whether they were driven 

 every spring to graze in the mountains during 

 summer, wherein they returned in autumn to their 

 proper homesteads. These travelling flocks, which 

 are known as transhumantes (migratory), would 

 appear to be the typical representatives of the 

 breed, as the name merino itself, according to Pro- 

 fessor David Low,^ is derived from an adjective 



' Domesticated Animals of the British Islands, 2nd ed., p. 133, 

 London, 1843. 



