At the end o f July each ihepherd diftributes the rams
amongft the ewes,, five or fix rams being fuflicient for an
hundred ewes. Thefe are taken out o f flocks where
they are kept apart, and after- a proper time are again
feparated from the ewes..
The rams give a; greater quantity of wool, though not
fo fine as the ewes, for the fleeces o f the rams will weigh,
twenty-five pounds, and it requires five fleeces of the
ewes to give the like weight. The difproportion in
their age is known by their teeth, thofe of the rams not
falling before the eighth year, while the ewes, from
their delicacy of frame or other caufes, lofe theirs after
five years.
About the middle of September, they are marked,
which is done by rubbing their loins with ocre diluted
in water ; fome fay this earth incorporates with the
greafe o f the wool, and forms a kind pf varniih, which
prote&s them from the inclemencies o f the weather;
others pretend that the preflure of. the. ocre keeps the
ceeded from their grazing in cornfields, on which oceafiorr the-illiterate ihepherd feemed to
relate the 6 f t though ignorant of the canfe, which was, according to Mr., Bowles, “ from the
fait all limy matter abounds with, and partaken o f by cattle, either in licking the ftones, or
communicated by vegetation to grafs ; for which reafon, their appetite is n'of fo keen for
any fait that is offered them:” however we cannot admit this to be the true canfe, as che-
miils are now well affured that lime does not. contain any fait whatever.
wool
wool ihort, and prevents it from becoming o f an ordinary
quality; others again imagine, that the ocre afts in
the nature o f an abforbent, and fucks up the excefs o f
tranfpiration, which would render the wool ordinary
and coarfe. -
Towards the end o f September thefe Merino flocks begin
their march to a warmer climate; the whole o f their
route has been regulated by the laws and cuftoms, time-
immemorial. They have a free pafiage through paftures,.
and commons belonging to villages, but as they muft go-
over fuch cultivated lands as lie in their way, the inhabitants
are obliged to leave them an opening ninety paces
wide, through which thefe flocks, are obliged to pafs
rapidly, going fometimes fix or feven leagues a day, in?
order to reach open fpots lefs inconvenient, where they
may find good pafture, and enjoy fome repofe.. In fuch
open places they feldom exceed two leagues a day, fo llowing
the ihepherd and grazing as they move on. Their
whole journey from the Montana, to; the interior parts
of Eftremadura may be about one hundred and fifty
leagues, which they perform, in about forty days.
The firft care of the ihepherd is to lead them to the
fame pafture where they have been the winter before,,
and where the greateft part of them were eaned ; this is
no difficult talk, for if they were not led there, they will
G. 2. difcover.