The National Intelligencer And Washington Advertiser

MERINO SHEEP.

The following History of Merino Sheep is taken from Lord Somerville's Memoir, addressed to the Bath Society in 1802; containing also some important observations on the use of salt for Cattle and the preservation of Hay.

I received from Mr. L. Somerville, together with a most polite letter, his history of the introduction of Merino Sheep into different parts of Europe, lately published. His exertions in tracing the different properties of sheep in Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Saxony, Prussia, &c. &c. are unexampled; his knowledge has obviously been obtained in the sheep fold, and the fluency and correctness with which he details the various diseases of sheep and their remedies, declare him to possess a Shepherd's knowledge of a flock. In his commencement of the subject, he expresses himself thus:-

"The different governments of Europe had long acknowledged the advantages that would be derived in agriculture and commerce from the introduction of fine wools into their respective states; but their views meeting opposition in the ignorance and prejudice of the times, a considerable number of years elapsed before they set about realising an idea, which at first seemed chimerical; at length there appeared men, equally commendable for their patriotism and knowledge, who have labored with zeal and perseverance, to enlighten their fellow citizens, by producing facts to prove, that nature, far from opposing itself to the preservation of fine wool sheep in certain climates, seemed, on the contrary, to lend itself complacently to the exertions of industry. I believe I have demonstrated in my treatise on sheep, that the fine wools of Spain depend neither on the soil, nor on the climate, nor the pasture, but that they depend on other causes, and that it is possible to have in France and elsewhere, wool of the same quality as that of Spain. My travels in the north of Europe have offered facts and observations, which have afresh demonstrated this truth. I have found, in the far greater number of the flocks I have examined, wool, which, judging from the eye or the touch, equals in beauty and fineness that of Segovia and Leon; so much so, that in my opinion no doubt can remain, that we can obtain superfine fleeces in every part of Europe, where pastures are to be found, and where we can depend on winter food, on which sheep can be supported. Those wools make cloths as fine, as silky, and supple, as those manufactured of Spanish wool, as attempts made in France and other countries prove. But were it true that the soil, climate, and other local circumstances had a certain influence on the intrinsic qualities of wool, such as the elasticity, the strength, the softness, &c. &c. it would not be the less proved, that, at all events, cloths, fine and beautiful enough to satisfy persons the most difficult on this point, can be obtained; and that a nation can easily do without the fine wools of Spain, and feed its richest manufactures with those drawn from its own proper soil. Nevertheless, as these truths are still held in doubt by some persons, and lest these doubts should have a considerable influence on our agriculture and our commerce. I thought it my duty to publish these facts, which must give a new degree of force and certainty. I have presented to view the actual state of Merino flocks, naturalized in Europe."

He says that a Merino Sort came into Sweden, in 1723; that from the year 1740, to the year 1780, a bounty of seventy-five per cent. was allowed to those, who sold fine wool; in 1780, these bounties were reduced to 15 & in 1789, to three per cent. -and in 1760, being no longer deemed necessary to encourage this breed, they abated. In 1764, Sweden possessed 61,000 Merino sheep of the pure blood, and 25,384 of the mixed blood: through that period they have constantly increased in number, in spite of the difficulties occasioned by the length of winter, and severity of the climate.

That the Merino sheep deserve, in Sweden, their pristine form; that the fleeces have lost nothing of their equality of length, their elasticity, and their fine quality of pile; that their weight continues as great as in Spain; that he has seen Merino rams, whose fleeces weighed 13 pounds each: and that, when seasoned to the climate, and properly fed, he has seen them larger and not afraid than in Spain.

Upper Saxony, he says, is the country next to Sweden, where the introduction of the Merino is of the longest date; and it is in Saxony where this naturalization has met with the most decided success, and produced effects the most beneficial: the native breeds have by a mixture of Merino blood, profited in an equal degree.

The first importation was in 1765; another in 1778. Mr. Lasteyrie says, he has seen many different flocks, and has found the pure Merino, as well as some mixed breeds, producing wool of the first quality; indeed, the sheep-walks of Saxony are at this moment more productive than any other species of husbandry; and the wool sells at three times the price of the wools of the country.

Saxony rears about 160,000 sheep, of which 90,000 are Merinos and the mixed breed. They were introduced into Prussia by Frederick II. in the year 1786. Some of those distributed over the country, from mismanagement and gross neglect, have degenerated and died: others he has seen which preserve their pristine qualities.

In Denmark, and in various parts of Germany, Mr. Lasteyrie has seen this race of sheep always prospering, if well treated; and in this, and every other country, degenerating from want of food and neglect; always, however, doing as well as the native breeds in the same keep, and in some cases better; that the more regular and ample the supply of food is, whether of grass or green vegetables, the heavier and finer will be the fleece—the larger in size and the more perfect in shape will the sheep be. He strongly recommends housing; but cold, close sheepcots are injurious; that a free circulation of air is always good and beneficial, and that this breed of sheep suffers more from heat than from cold—(his doctrine has been repeatedly confirmed by our practice at home;) that they will get fat as quick as any indigenous breed, in any country, and have done so wherever a comparison has been made.

An experiment was made on the Merino sheep at Rambouillet, which denotes the peculiar character of this breed and its tendency to carry wool. A ewe, eighteen months old, was left unshorn; the next season, her fleece, when shorn, weighed fourteen pounds ten ounces; and its pile, which was double the usual length, lost nothing as to weight, because few ewes would have given more wool, if clipped at the usual period. Another ewe was shorn at thirty months old, and gave a still greater quantity of wool, although sheep at that season suckled a lamb; her fleece weighed twenty-one pounds, and the pile was eight inches long. In the ninth year (1800) eight ewes, whose fleeces were of two years growth, gave from sixteen to twenty pounds each. It appeared from these different experiments, that Merino wool of two years growth will double its length, & will preserve all its fine quality. It was not observed, that the sheep, subjected to this experiment suffered particularly from heat, or that their health was in any degree injured. It is possible, that this property in the Merino fleece to grow beyond the period usual in our breed of sheep, may be productive of some new manufacture, where great length and fine quality of pile is requisite; but the hazard of the blow-fly, and the chance of losing in hedges and brakes any part of a fleece before it is once fit for manufacture, will not allow of this practice becoming general, admitting even that the sheep suffer nothing in the proof during the summer months from the weight of the fleece, which in a large scale of practice is improbable, and that the wool should be found to pay as well for growing to this length, as it would when shorn in common course; but we have taken the liberty of noticing a circumstance so novel to us, because our English breeds are all supposed to cast their fleeces at a certain season of the year, if not shorn, with exception to lambs which hold their fleeces; (this is quoted by many as an argument against shearing lambs:) because the fact has also been doubted by some of the best informed and liberal among us, not supposing the reports of Rambouillet meant to deceive, but that some mistake must