156 FINE WOOL SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 
was at least as delicate as that of any other breed of 
sheep.” Various French writers confirm these views. 
It is to be remembered that in England the Merino 
mutton had to encounter long-established and obsti- 
nate prejudices. Its people were accustomed to 
carcasses of a particular form, fat laid on in a particu- 
lar way, and more of it in proportion to the lean meat 
than the Merino readily takes on. 
On the other hand, the great body of Americans 
are neither accustomed to, nor do they choose, exces- 
sively fat fresh meats of any kind, and particularly 
mutton. Most of them, after attempting to eat well- 
cooked New Leicester or Dishley mutton, with two and 
a half or three inches of outside fat, turn away from 
it with loathing, or eat only the leaner parts. Yet 
the English factory operative or farm laborer finds 
just what he wants in that mutton, because its fat 
will, in soups, &c., convert a large amount of vegeta- 
bles into more palatable and nutritious food, and thus 
it will go further in imparting the effects of animal 
food than any other meat. 
The meat of the Merino, when well fattened and 
properly treated,* is juicy, short-grained, high-colored, 
and well flavored. In all these particulars American 
taste adjudges it superior to the meat of the English 
long-wooled sheep. Though the scarcity and value 
of full-blood Merinos have prevented many of them 
from appearing in our markets, the grades have always 
becn favorites with the butcher and consumer. The 
former finds that they weigh well for their apparent 
size, and get to market in excellent condition. There 
* A portion of our population cook and eat mutton as soon as it is 
killed! 
