The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-09-13
: va oiCon well.
SPAIN.
Eta..:E;G;t;if2t EerinOs.

VIC extract from the Albany CNltjrdt0T
the article published below on the Cram
bOu;llct Mcrin0s.' If this account be
faithful! description Of these sheep, they
must be very admirable breed. at one Of
the State Agricultural Fairs held near this
city before the war there was on exhibi
ton Rambouillct buck, which was remark
able for his size, and Which gave very great
offence to the venerable PETER 4. Browse,
Of Philadelphia. That gentleman addressed
the Agricultural Society upon his theory of
ascertaining distinct races by their hair or
wool. He had numerous specimens Of hair
and wool OF both men and beasts. His the
Dry was remarkably ingenious and well pro-
pounded. lie denounced all animals whose
covering was a mixture Of two distinct kinds
as hybrids, and he contcnded that they
could never form distinct species, but would
die out or work their way back to one side or
the other of their progenitors. Incident
ally, he alluded contemptuously to the large
Rambouillct buck, pronouncing him hy-
Bird neither goat nor sheep. The breed
alluded to in the following article must be
entirely different from our abused friend
the Rambouillet buck:
RAMBOUu.LET MERlEoS.
The Director of the celebrated Imperial
Flocks of Rambouilet, in France, has pre-
pared an interesting statement as TO the
origin and breeding Of these sheep, which
we DO not remember 10 have seen before,
although it bears the date of December %,
1861. \ translation OF it reaches US i'll
recent foreign exchanges. The purpose for
which it was designed appears to have been
to defend the Rambouillet nocks from the
charge Of having been produced by cross
breeding. 1t is stated that they have been
kept absolutely free from the atInixturc of
any other blood, of either foreign or native
races, )" since the first importation in lISG
OF 383 Spanish Merinos by Louis WI,
selected from ten Of the leading tlocks OF
Spain. Of the number, IS were Pauler, Il
Negrctti, IL Escurial, and the others OF
names less widely known. \ second I'M
pcyta;ion, from what flocks is not stated
took place during the consulship Of Bona
parte in the ninth year OF the French Re-
public.
These sheep, when they first came, were
like the Spanish and German Mcrinos OF
the present day-Small, with fine but scanty
wool:
Thanks 70 abundant and substantial
feed, to a well understood sanitary system,
and 10 wise and judicious selection Of the
best animals from each sex for reproduction,
taken always from the same flock, and bred
in-and-in, the original Merinos of Ram
bouillet have been completely modified
their weights are nearly doubled; THEN
forms, which we're angular, have gradually
become round and ample the bones, which
were thick, are thinner the fleece IS more
abundant, more compact and thick, and has
considerably increased in weight. In re-
atty, it is q new and perfectly pure species
of the Merino race, originated in the
establishment of Rambouillet, and its fun
damental characteristic is that it gives, a
tie same time, heavy fleece and much
meat.
More than eight thousand animals hay,
been bred at Rambouillet, which have gone
out into al parts Of France; and Us q con
sequence OF their being crossed upon TIL
common sheep that country "has beer
freed from the annual tribute of 81, 900, 0Ot
francs previously paid for Spanish wool
In more recent years all parts OF Europ'
have gone thither for sheep, and many have
beeD carried to other continents Where WOO