The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-04-02

perments OF Columela laid the founda.
tion for general improvement in the
Spanish sheep-an improvement which
was not lost, nor even materially i'm
paired, during the darker ages that sue
ceeded."t
Ii may be remarked, in passing, that
there have always been coarse-wooled as
well as fne-wooled sheep in Spain the
former being principally called Chunahs.
The Spanish government, at an early
day, became so convinced of the great
value of the Merinos, that special e.
dict was passed, prohibiting their expor-
tation without royal license. This pres
vented a general spread Of the race till
after the overthrow of the Spanish dy-
nasty by the French, under Napoleon.
For several years, the most valuable
Merinos in Spain were in possession of
the Crown and its dependents. The
principal nocks were the Escurial, Qua
deloupe, Paular, Infantado, Negretti,
Montareo, and Aguerre. These varied
in quality, according TO the skill and
care which had been bestowed in breed
ing and management. The Escurial
were deemed superior to all the others
in fineness of wuol.4
ORIGIN OF THE SAXON MsRINos.-
The first introduction of Merino sheep
into Saxony, was made in l765. They
were obtained by grant from the King
of Spain TO the Elector of Saxonv.
" One hundred and nineteen ewes and
one hundred and ten rams were selected
principally from the Escurial hocks, then
the Kings private property, under the
care and man agement Of the monks be-
longing to the monastery of that name,
and which were considered the finest
sheep in the kngdom."* Spanish shep
herds went with the sheep, and remain
ed till the Saxon shepherds could be in
structed in the de tails of management.
These sheep were bred with great
care, under the direction Of commission.
ers appointed by the Elector to superin>
tend the management of his flock, and
after the expiration of twelve years, or
in l777, another importation was made
from Spain, consisting Of one hundred
and ten rams and ewes. According to
Mr.. Grove, these were selected from the
best hocks of Leon, Escurial, Negretti,
Montareo, &c, and were of very supe>
rior quality.
From these stocks, the pure Merino
breed rapidly increased in Saxony, and
was finally extended into the neighbor-
ing German states. Its progress was al
first strongly opposed by the prejudces
of the people; but by the perseverance
of the Elector and other influential in
dividuals it became perfectly natural
lied, and after the lapse of several years
the fleece of the Saxon was brought 10
\ a degree of fneness excelling the besi
Spanish.
1t is thus seen that the Saxon is iden
tical in blood with the Spanish Merinc
that the former were, in fact, derived
from a selection of the finer specimens
of the latter, and that the superior fine
ness Of the wool of the Saxons is attrlb
utable TO the system pursued in thei
breeding and management. And here
the question arises-Could not such al
= improvement be made in this country a
well as in Saxony? We answer. yes
there is no reason why the application
of the same skill and care TO the sam
materials, should not produce the sam
results in America as in Germany
: There is nothing in our climate or sol
which naturally tends to the deteriora
> ton Of the fleece and in the hands c
some of our wool-growers, the fines
stocks that have been introduced fror
Spain and Saxony, have maintained thei
n standard for many generations. w
j. had the Escurial and other SPANS
: stocks, from which the finest Saxon shee
= were derived and where iueness ofsti
d pie has been the object, their America
d descendants have possessed the qualit.
J. in degree always propor;ionate to ii
of SIX i'll to which they have been subjected
= 1t does not, therefore, necessarily 70
y. low, that because sheep produce wo
IN that is finer than ordinary Merino, The
e are Sexcns, or that any of their ance
~ tors came from Saxony. We might r
y, fer, by way of illustration, to example
I'd in our OWN country, such as the flock
ne the late w. r. Dickinson, of Sleubel
n vile, Ohio, and other hocks in Obi
ne Virginia and Pennsylvania, which we
b derived from this.& The great fact
lie be kept in view is, that the properti
Of animals. (ncludng wool, are mod
fed by the influences which are broug
l. to bear on them-as food, climate, she
Al