CHAPTER XLVI 



THE RAMBOUILLET 



The native home of the Rambouillet is in France, in the north- 

 ern part, not far from Paris. The country is gently rolling, the 

 soil is generally of a calcareous nature, and the climate is quite 

 temperate, being warm in summer and not severe in winter. 

 Grasses, wheat and oats, and a variety of crops grow in this region. 



The ancestry of the Rambouillet is Spanish, this being a mem- 

 ber of the great Merino family. The people of Spain in early 

 days produced more wool than their factories could consume, so 

 the surplus was exported, France buying heavily. The French 

 government anticipated an increase of factories in Spain and con- 

 sequent restriction on exports of wool from that country. This 

 led the French to try to improve their fiocks and produce enough 

 fine wool at home to meet domestic demands. In 1783 Louis XVI 

 bought a large estate at the village of Rambouillet, some forty 

 miles west of Paris, and here he established a farm. In 1786 

 M. Gilbert was sent to Spain and selected a flock of Spanish 

 Merinos representing several different families ; he landed 366 at 

 Rambouillet, 3 1 8 being ewes. In 1 799 Gilbert again went to Spain, 

 where, after much difficulty, another importation was secured, of 

 which 237 reached Rambouillet in May, 1801. According to 

 Gilbert, who collected these sheep and died in Spain while doing 

 the work, the second lot was not the equal of the first. 



The improvement of the Rambouillet in the hands of the French 

 government dates back over a century and resulted in a smooth- 

 bodied sheep of large size. Much of this development of over a 

 hundred years has undoubtedly been accomplished by selection. 

 During the time France has bred these sheep many careful rec- 

 ords have been made of weights of the sheep and fleece, of 

 length and diameter of wool, of fecundity, mutton development, 

 etc. Probably no other such long-continued records regarding a 

 breed are extant. The results of the work were a gradual increase 



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