Star.
London, England, 1816-07-25 00:00:00

SHEEP.SIMARiNG.

TIIIRD DAY (WEDNESDAY) CONCLUDED.
islr. Cots; having toasted thu " Fair of Britain's
Isle," rose to propose the health of a worthy friend
near hitn, a great advocate for the Merino breed of
sheep (Mr. Tollett). For his own part, he had
long washed his hands of them, believing them to
be A most worthless, breed t and he believed Mr.
Tollett wished to get rid of them too, bet that he
found great difficulty in so doing, because they were
now principally in the bawds of a few Qentlemen,
and the circulation was in consequence greatly con-
fined. Nu Fanners, he was persuaded, would keep
them. When he (.fir. Coke) WAS in the Merino
blood, his worthy friend, Mr. Tollett, at his requtst,
selected for him one of his best rams, to which he
had given a very pretty name—he called him EA.
ntella, but he had long ago disposed of him. In his
opinion there were two sorts of sheep the most to be
attended to—the one produced long, the other fine
wool, viz. the Leicester' and the Southdowns. He
strongly disapproved of crossing the different breeds.
He certainly preferred the Southdowns. Mr. Coke
said, he was happy to find Mr. Tollett had shortened
his stock. and that he had at this time only two
rams by him, and these he thought he had better
get rid of.' Mr. Tollett was, however, at this time
engaged in the improvement of a kind of stock from
which he hoped to reap more credit and advantage
than from his former favourites, and the extension
of which might be of essential service to his coon-
try. He alluded to the breed of horses usually
known >Ly the name of she Cleveland bays. He
would therefore give, •4•Mr.Tollett, and success to
the Cleveland bays."
Mr. Tot.Lerv+6l It cannot but begratifying to
me to have zny name coupled with a breed of horses
which ( consider so valuable its the Cleveland bays,
•and which are now so rarely to be met with.. Our
worthy host has made so vigorous an attack on me
as a partisan of the poor friendless Merinos, that I
ulna it is with some degree of timidity that I now

pin myself tin the defensive. Connected, as my
Honpurable Friend is, with such a host of enemies
to these despised animals, and standing as I do
alone anrnsupported in the midst of these enemies,
I can hard, suppose any situation can be mere for-
midablei The Noble Duke is in alliance 'with liim
against the Merino breeders; the Noble Earl, too,
seeme inclined to follow his example ; and even Sir
Watkin looks as if he meant to join them against ns;l
and if lie is against us, the odds are, that the whole
Principality are against us too.—(A lerigh).l—But if
we h ere a host of enemies, we likewise have a host+
of f. ends. I woold call, Sir John Sebright in sup-
pe3 of my assertion ; I -would call Mr. Western,
the patrintic• and enlightened Member for Essex ; I
weal! quote Another authority, a host in himself,
Me. Vane; and, had I needed their assistimee, I
'mold call the whole of the Bath and West of
England Agricultural Society. We ought to bear
in mind the peculiar time and cietintstances tinier
viioh, the Merinos were first isr4dur,i-cr:r..l this
Vrafilltift The Fetinch were then masters of the whole
Peninsula, and it followed, as a natural consequtrnce
of the war, that superfine wools would be withheld
from this country. Of course they snon rose enor-
mously in value, and the Merinos A wrislied. But
no man could 'foresee events. The. valour of our sot_
diers prevailedi peace followed; and by it more in-
jar? has been done to the Merioo cause than by ell
the events of. war. As soon as peace vas established,
a vast importation followed of any thing and every
thing that bore the name of a Spanish :beep ; and
such was the avidity with which these wretched ani-
mals were sought after, that immense sums were
forthwith expended, and every Cockney who had a
patch of grass before his house turned Merino breeder.
My friend has told us that he get rid of his Merinos,
and I will tell you how, Gentlemen :—lte sold them
all at five guineas a•piece! Five guineas I For what?
—why for breeding ewes—sheep which he has been
pleased to call worthless and unprofitable ! I won-
der he could have the conscience to pocket the money.
I must own, I think it was no bad way of gelling rid
of them. Now, let us look at the money my friend
made by the woe/ of these wortileas animals. When
Collage& was in fashion, 1 used to bring Mr. Wooley,
who frequently bought his Merino wool at 41. 6.t.
per pound, and in one year paid him 4:830 for the
coats of these very worthless and unprofitable sheep !
But the Merinos are not so isolated a breed as my
Honourable Friend would lead you to imagine. in
the West of England, where they are hest known,
they are gaining ground ; and no longer ago than
last year, the Bath and West of England Agricul-
tural Society awarded their premium for the best and
most profitable breed of sheep to the Merinos. I
know Honourable Friend thinks me obstinate;
nee i4e peemice of entne-eelig;ous fanat:cs to
put vast weights upon cettain heretics to squeeze
out the devil, so he would fain thr,w the whole
weight of his name and experience upon me tn
squeeze out the devil, which is in me in the shape
of a Merinn..—(4 laugh).—But I must tell my
friend seriously, that the Merinos are not yet at an
end, and it is in vain to assert they are sn, becahse
they are not yet a perfect animal. Any improvemeee
in cattle must be the result of a long series of exer-
tions. What- were the Southdowns originally ?--
What are they now ? Really, 1 cannot but think,
if so much has been dine with them, a great deal
may be done with Merinos ; and their hoeing been
eoademned as an ugly breed does not milit tte
against my opinion, for they can hardly be expected
to be so good in tcn as the Southdowns in thirty
years. As to the value of Merino wool, there is an
ad valorem duty upon the exportation, which raises a
very considerable revenue to Spain. It is, therefore,
impossible that it should depreciate like the coarser
sorts of our own growth ; yet such is the demand
for fine wool in England, that our ports are thrown
open to the whole of the Continent, and all the dregs
of the Levant, of Spain, and Portugal, are cent into
our markets to meet the sale of -our own wool. A
Igreat deal shas been said on the depressed state of
our manufactures. I consider the Corn Bill not
having passed when it was first proposed to be a
main cause of that depression. Mr. Frankland Lewis
has stated the ems. amount of our woollen menta-
-1 factures to be 28 millions. Now, out of these 28
millions, not more than five millions go abroad ; the
iremaiding 23 millions are consumed at come, or go
to our own Colonies. Our export woollen trade,
Ithe4, instead of being a benefit, is a positive loss to
this country. It must be confessed, that our manu-
factures are in a fallen state, and the pride of wool,
particularly the coarser kinds, will fall with them ;
bat Merino wool will not depreciate, because it is
protected by a duty in Spainh"
Mr. Tot.Lrer concluded, by recommending a cross
with the Merinos, for mountain sheep in particular ;
and hoped that this country would soon grow its
own hue wool, instead of paying two millions and a
half annually in Spain.
Mr. COKE then proposed the health of Mr. Towers,
another friend to the Metinus, which WAS drank with
three times three.

Mr. Towaas, in returning thanks, said, the advr..
sates of the Merinos (one of whorls he processed
himself) had done injury to their C4USC, by over-
praising their good qualities. They had their de.
fects as well as other sheep, but it could not be said
their mutton was bad. Were it no better than car-
rion, as Mr. Coke had said, he for one never would
encourage them. For his own part, he approved,
highly of Merino mutma, and had even known it
pasted in London for Welsh mutton, and what can I
be a stronger recommendation than this ? Mr. Coke,
he hoped, would excuse him; but he could not
help thinking he was prejudiced against the breed.—
He ?rusted Mr. Coke would attend the meeting of
the Merino Society another year, and he had little
doubt but that he would again become a patron of
the Merinos.

Mr. Cott, in proposing the heifiths. of Messrs.
Fordbass, observed, WEL Metal& F. 'Ltd fcrnrsty

" The cause arises from wages given in agri..
culture being inadequate to the price of provisions."
In this he agrees, and he proves the fact by giving
an account of the price of bread, average money
wages of ltusbandry, and bread wages, in the before.
mentioned periods ; and in confirmation, he also
thews that the rates in agricultural counties have
been the greatest. For this evil be points out al spe-
cific remedy.
" 311 y, The cause arises from a corruption of morals,
and the consequent loss of that spirit of independence
which formerly possessed the hearts of the labouring
poor." This he spews to b.e the case, by giving an
Account of the increased number of criminals, the
desire and facility of obtaining parish relief, in most
instances, without work, wl;ich in former times was
.considered degrading. For this great evil he points
out a rerhedy.
4alay, ‘, Whether the cause is owing to bad laws
or bad management of the laws
He takes a review of the mn.t prominent present
•laws,. and the admiiiiitration of them, and stews a
defect in both ; to reinedy which, :.e propf.ses to
equalize the rates, and make the natiol Vi:at it really
is, me .lar.7e family. To compel all pet suns to pay ac•
cording to the real value of property, to establish
workliootes in district i, to give no reli.:l without work,
excrpt to the aged, infirm and very youug, to establish
sepatate houses for tim nbandoned ;Ind vile, whose
labour and treatmmt flould he iu conlormil to their
deseats. By this he calculates a saving of re 3.50,000
a.year, which is now paid for lawsuits, removals, Sec.
besides% a farther considerable sum fru:n the prodna
of work and labour, and a ,Amintrion u: applicants
for relief, who would be deetted, knowing that all
would be compelled to work, besides what would
be lived by congrega:ing a number in one house,
on a well digested, organized plan, for diet, work,
and clothing. The whole saving would be very
considerable, in addition to the equity of all per.
sons contributing in equal proportiuns to a fund in
which all are equally benefited. Mr. Cf,
the practicability and efficacy of the plat
what has been done in some well reps
houses which he enumerates. He then
give rules anJ regulations for manage
clothing, diet, &c. with appointment of
guardians; and also establishments for ti
able to deposit the stviPgs of their ins.:u:

la: Icson proves
An by showing
elated Work.
'n
proceeds to
;enient, work.
directors :4111
w4O are
Jstry.