266 
IMPORTATION OF PURE BRED MERINO SHEEP. 
IMPORTATION OF PURE BRED MERINO 
SHEEP, 
It will be recollected we mentioned in the Agri¬ 
culturist of last year, that Mr. John A. Taintor, of 
Hartford, Ct., had sailed for England in the month 
of May, with a view of making a general tour in 
Europe; and that a paramount object with him 
during his absence, would be the inspection of the 
best fine-woolled flocks of France, Germany, and 
Spain, for the purpose of selecting some choice ani¬ 
mals from them for an importation into the United 
States. We know no man in America so well 
qualified to make these selections as Mr. Taintor ; 
for his father was largely interested in the early 
importations of the Spanish Merinos, and their 
subsequent breeding ; and the son was with him in 
the same occupation from boyhood, followed up by 
extensive dealings in wool from that time to the 
present. In this way he had the best opportunity 
of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the animals, 
and the best system of rearing and breeding them, 
together with an intimate acquaintance with the 
wants of the manufacturers, and that quality and 
style of wool most suitable for their general pur¬ 
poses. Thus qualified to make selections, Mr. 
Taintor has spent about fifteen months in looking 
over the government and private flocks in the north 
and south of France, and among the Pyrenees ; in 
the mountains and plains of Spain ; and in Saxony, 
Prussia, and Austria, including Bohemia and Mo¬ 
ravia. All this was done under peculiarly favor¬ 
able circumstances, and such as are not soon likely 
to occur to any one again. The result is, from 
these flocks, he has been permitted to choose such 
sheep as he wanted. Four Saxon bucks and four 
ewes of his selection, from the Electoral and the 
equally celebrated Baron de Spreek’s flocks, came out 
m the ship Atlantic, from Bremen, for Mr. Scoville, 
of Connecticut, a notice of which we gave at pages 
198 and 203 of our current volume; and three 
Merino bucks and twenty-three ewes arrived with 
him in the ship Patrick Henry, Capt. Delano, from 
Liverpool, on the 1st of August last. 
Although we had a good opportunity of seeing 
these sheep on board ship after their arrival, and 
again when transferred to the steamboat for Hart¬ 
ford, yet this was not sufficient to satisfy us; ac¬ 
cordingly, after they had been at home about a 
fortnight, we went on there to examine them more 
particularly, and see them shorn, they having come 
out with their fleeces on. The rams being young, 
we will dismiss them by saying, that they are the 
most promising animals of their breed we ever saw, 
and when full grown, will weigh at least from 225 
to 250 lbs. each. The sire of one was sold the 
past season for $500. He sheared 23 lbs. of un¬ 
washed wool. 
To give an idea of the ewes, we measured them 
after they were shorn, and found they varied from 
25 k to 29 inches in height over the withers; 
and lest it may be thought this superior height is 
attained by extra long legs, we will add, that the 
height of the under side of their bodies from the 
ground, was from 9k to 12 inches; which, ac¬ 
cording to our observation, is no greater in propor¬ 
tion to their size, than that of good American Meri¬ 
no sheep. Their weights we took after being shorn. 
They varied from 124 to 153 lbs. Some of them 
were quite thin in flesh, the largest especially* 
which, if in fine condition and her fleece on, would 
weigh at least 200 lbs. 
The following is the weight of their fleecesun- 
washed. We took them ourselves in the presence 
of several witnesses, and as fast as shorn from the 
ewes’ backs. The scales we used did not mark less 
than one quarter of a pound, which will account 
for the absence of odd ounces. 
No. 17... 
...13 lbs. 
No. 100- 
...•12 1-4 lbs. 
“ 37-.. 
•••15 “ 
“ 
109- • 
....17 
“ 64-.. 
...16 3-4 “ 
U 
no-.. 
...•17 “ 
“ 71... 
...14 1-2 “ 
cc 
117... 
...-16 3-4 “ 
“ 84-.. 
...16 1-2 “ 
u 
118... 
....15 3-4 “ 
“ 87-.. 
cc 
133... 
...14 3-4 “ 
“ 94-.. 
u 
195... 
...13 1-2 “ 
109 
107 
The fleeces were about fourteen months old, but 
they had lost some on their voyage out, and on ac¬ 
count of the lateness of the season, were not shorn 
near as close as it is customary; besides, on seve¬ 
ral of them, from half to one pound of the -wool was 
left on the heads and legs, for the purpose of giv¬ 
ing an idea of their fleeces to those who may call 
hereafter to look at them. Taking all these things 
into consideration, it was the unanimous opinion 
of several sheep-masters present, that the wool 
clipped from these ewes was not more than would 
have been equivalent to one year’s growth. 
We shall not compare the weight of these fleeces 
with what is generally termed clean washed wool, as 
it is the most uncertain and unsatisfactory comparison 
which can be made, for when it comes to be cleansed 
by the manufacturer, it will vary in loss from. 20 to 
50 per cent, just as the case may happen. It was 
the unbiassed opinion of several wool dealers pre¬ 
sent, and our own, that the shearing above would 
yield at least 35 lbs. of cleansed wool, fitted for 
manufacturing without further loss, out of every 
100 lbs. shorn. The fourteen ewes yielded 216 lbs. 
unwashed, which would be equivalent to 75 lbs. 10 
oz. thoroughly cleansed, or an average of 5 lbs. 6 oz. 
per head. If any of our readers are desirous to 
know what this wouLd come up to, clean washed., 
they may safely add one third. This would bring 
the average as wool growers usually dispose of 
their fleeces, to 7 lbs. 3 oz. per head—a yield totally 
unprecedented in this country. The usual average 
weight of good Merino ewes is about half this. 
The average of the flocks in Europe from which 
these sheep were chosen, is, for rams from 15 to 17 
lbs. per head; for ewes 11 to 13 lbs., unwashed. 
The average price of such wool in its unwashed 
state, is 26 cents per lb. of our money. 
These sheep show great vigor of constitution, 
and are remarkably well formed, with enormous 
dewlaps and folds all over the carcass. Their 
fleeces are very close, thickly covering the head 
and legs as well as the body, and are uncommonly 
even, the wool being nearly as good on the flanks 
as on the shoulders, while its felting properties are 
unsurpassed. In fineness of quality it is equal to 
the best American Merino. To those who have 
good pastures and are desirous of breeding a large, 
strong, hardy flock, yielding wool fine enough for 
