12 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
our own Merinos had been bred closely to the original 
model, show that the Merino of Spain was decidedly 
a narrow-chested animal.* But what he thus lost in 
symmetry, was made up, so far as room for the lungs 
and other viscera was concerned, by his great depth 
of carcass. In these respects he was to the English 
mutton breeds what the Spanish barb was to the 
thick-winded English dray horse; and he exhibited a 
corresponding superiority in locomotion and energy.T 
Mr. Livingston unquestionably wrote from a vague 
recollection, or at least without making actual admea- 
surements, when he stated the length of the un- 
stretched Spanish wool at three inches. The Spanish 
breeders intentionally kept the staple short enough to 
meet the demands of the broadcloth manufacturers of 
that day, and two inches, unstretched, would have 
been regarded as a long staple then, and is so still. 
All old Merino breeders concur in the statement that 
the Spanish wool has increased in length im this coun- 
try, yet it may be doubted whether a thorough bred 
sheep of this variety can be found in the United 
States, the wool of which, at one year’s growth, aver- 
* And it appears to me that the same fact is deducible from Petri’s 
table. With the length, and belly circumference which he gives to 
them, they would far exceed the weights he gives, if they were as 
broad-chested as their descendants, 
+ The Merino would travel almost twice as fast, and more than four 
times as long as a mutton sheep, particularly in hot weather. Think 
of a great drove of ewes and lambs, of any of the mutton varieties, 
sweeping along eight or ten miles a day, for 400 miles twice each year, 
and kept on the most meagre pasturage during every tmp! The 
Spanish ram would readily vanquish in battle, an English ram of 
twice his size. In “bottom,” ‘pluck,” and hardmess, there is no com- 
parison between the breeds. 
