ABSTRACT
THE breed of sheep, and the production of the finest wool at this time, excited the attention of agriculturists in all parts of Europe. Spanish wool was considered the finest in the world, and the exportation of sheep from Spain was made capital felony: all foreign wools, on account of the character of Spanish wool, went under that denomination; but the ground work was already laid to make other countries rival Spain in this valuable raw material. In 1780 some Spanish sheep had, by the greatest possible interest, been obtained by the King of France, and the Elector of Saxony; the flocks of those countries were acquiring celebrity, and the merino sheep, from the very few obtained from Spain, were increasing rapidly. It has been already stated, that the King of England had, in 1786, succeeded in getting a few Spanish sheep.
