240 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
purchased by John Muir, Sem\, & Co., of East Hamil¬ 
ton, Madison Co., and is truly a fine horse. Those who 
are accessible to him, will one day regret it, if they do 
not avail themselves of his services. I have seen many 
of his colts that promise to be first class market horses, 
having a look of speed, and plenty of size and style. I 
wish our state was filled with such horses. Respectful¬ 
ly, B. Syracuse , May 12, 1852. 
Foundation of the French Merinos. 
[Translated from, the French for the Cultivator .] 
My father was born a farmer, and busied himself in his 
youth in breeding sheep. 
In 1786 the Queen of Spain made a present to the 
King of France, of a flock of Merino ewes and rams, 
selected from the best blood in that country. This flock 
were equally divided, and one half were placed at Ram- 
bouillet, where they have always remained; the other half 
were presented by the King to a proprietor, M. de Chau- 
orier, who placed them on his farm at Croissy, four 
leagues from Paris. My father was 27 years of age at 
this date; he visited the flock soon after its arrival, and 
each succeeding year, to satisfy himself in regard to the 
acclimation of the flock, and to compare the produce 
of wool and flesh with the native breeds. After satisfy¬ 
ing himself that our climate agreed with this fine wooled 
race, and that they offered a greater inducement and ad¬ 
vantage from the extra product of wool, as well as their 
flesh, compared with the then existing flocks of France, 
he purchased a buck and eight ewes at Croissy, in 1800, 
at the first sale. The ram was four years old, weighed 
124 pounds,* and carried twelve pounds of wool; the 
ewes averaged nine pounds in its pure, unwashed state. 
He bought yearly from two to four sheep, until 1810. In 
1811, 50 ewes and five ram lambs. In 1818 the whole 
flock at Croissy were sold, 55 of the ewes to my father, 
who paid on average from 120 to 800 francs. At Croissy 
the pasturage and hay was of a better quality, and more 
suitable for sheep than at Rambouillet. The sheep were 
superior, and for this reason, my father made all of his 
purchases at Croissy. 
In 1821, he bought one ram at Rambouillet. Not¬ 
withstanding these two flocks were of the same family, 
he obtained a great advantage in alliance of blood, as 
there had been a complete separation for 35 years; up to 
1827 he bought five rams from this branch; at this date, 
ceded to me his flock, which numbered 209 ewes of 
three years and upwards, and 176 ewes one and two years 
old, and 90 yearling rams. In 1832 I bought 55 ewes at 
the public sale at Rambouillet, and since then have 
bought a few ewes and two rams to mix the blood with 
my flock, always choosing my reproductors among those 
which carried the greatest quantity of wool of the best 
quality. By this means I have increased the fleece upon 
my whole flock. The ewes, many of them, yielding 18 
pounds,! and the rams 24 pounds. Our common prac¬ 
tice has been to use no ram till well matured, say two 
years old, and not allow the ewes to drop any lambs till 
three years old. We have thus improved the form and 
size of our flock, which inherit a stronger constitution. 
* 138 pounds English. 
t 20 and 27 pounds English. 
July* 
No American gentleman visited us previous to the 11th 
May, 1846. We then had the pleasure of seeing Mr. J. 
A. Taintor, of Conn., to whom I sold two rams and 
seven ewes. Since then I have yearly made shipment]* 
of a few bucks and ewes to Mr. Taintor, who has made 
my sheep prosper in the States as they do in France. I 
have also had the satisfaction of receiving a visit from 
Mr. Isaac de Forrest of New-York, Mr. Sanford of Or- 
wall, and Mr. S. W. Jewett of Middlebury, Yermont. 
The latter purchased of me, in 1851, 82 ewes and 18 
bucks. In 1852, I sold him 94 ewes, and to deliver in 
1853, I have sold him 90 ewes. I have also had a visit 
from Mr. Howard and Mr. Parker of Ohio, to whom I 
was not able to sell any sheep this year or next, to their 
great regret. 
From the various essays made by my father to ame¬ 
liorate the Merino race, and those which I have continued 
to effect on the same principles, we arrived at this con¬ 
clusion, that in order to improve the breed it was neces¬ 
sary to let them graze on good land, preferring dry to 
wet, and.renew the blood of his flock every five or six 
years. If a longer time expires before you renew the 
blood, you can mantain the flock in the same quality, 
but you cannot improve it. 
Before the ewes are fleeced, I assort and separate into 
as many lots as I have rams, and avoid using rams with 
any defect, to ewes of the same defect. It is with these 
means, put in good practice for many generations, that 
we have obtained the amelioration of our flock. 
It was only in 1844 that I decided upon letting my 
flock compete with others for the prize. Upon this oc¬ 
casion, the Agricultural Assembly of Paris, appointed a 
commission to visit the best flocks of the country. After 
the commissioners made their report, the Minister of 
Agriculture awarded me the great medal of gold. 
The agricultural exhibition for 1845 took place at Grig- 
non. I sent there 350 ewes and four bucks. The first 
prize was given me and my father, then 86 years old, who 
received it at the hands of the Duke of Nemours, con¬ 
ducted there by his two sons. 
The great general exhibition which took place at Ver¬ 
sailles in 1851, I and my colleague, Monsieur Cugnot, 
sent there, each of us, three rams; the first prize was 
granted to us. Victor Gilbert. Wideville, Commune 
de Crespieres Seine et Oire , April 7, 1852. 
Fancy and Common Poultry. 
Messrs. Editors —You state in the last Cultivator, 
that you cannot at present answer inquiries concerning 
fancy poultry. 
The subject is one in which I feel a deep a deep inte¬ 
rest. As objects of fancy or utility, this neglected class 
of our domestic animals, taken in the aggregate, has a 
just claim to the attention of every agriculturist who is 
either a man of science, or a gentleman of taste. 
I have had at different times, on my farm, several va¬ 
rieties, both of native and imported fowls; have intro¬ 
duced others into my neighborhood, and by reading, cor¬ 
respondence, and travelling, believe I am acquainted with 
all the best fowls in our state. My success in their culti¬ 
vation has been beyond my expectations. With proper 
care, they multiply with wonderful rapidity. Besides 
