t 90 ] 
breed of sheep will enable every man to have that 
quality of cloth, that he likes best, without any 
additional expense, except that which arises from 
the spinning finer, which, being a domestic operas 
tion in most farm houses, will not be much regard¬ 
ed. In order to give some idea of the fineness and 
ductility of this wool, I cannot help mentioning, 
that Sir Joseph Banks, in a letter to Arthur Young, 
informs him, that the fleece of his Spanish sheep 
was spun into yarn 156,800 yards (about 90 miles) 
to the pound. Cotton, in machines, could only 
be spun into thread of 92,400 yards,, and in jen¬ 
nies 144,000 ; which is much finer than can be 
spun by hand in England, though it is somewhat 
exceeded in France. 
Though the climate of England, from its to^ 
great moisture, is not calculated for these sheep, 
yet St appears from this circumstance, that they do, 
not soon degenerate even there ; and I should sup-? 
pose, from what I am going to mention, that they 
are turning their attention to the improvement of 
their sheep, by a mixture with the merinos. A- 
bout 20 rams, from the King of England’s flock, 
(for he is himself a considerable farmer) were sold 
last year at auction ; they fetched from thirty to 
forty guineas a piece. It would then be unpar¬ 
donable in us, in our country, where they thrive 
so well, to neglect the propagation of them. I 
have hitherto viewed this question, with an eye 
to the domestic manufactures that we now carry 
