Volume 71: Macarthur family papers relating to wool and sheep, 1820-1936: No. 126
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[Page 126]
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than with any I have yet seen. The proprietor is a candid well informed man, of gentlemanly manners. His Sheep, he told me, were originally of the Leonesa Race. He afterwards introduced the Escurial blood, which he prefers, as possessing greater silkiness, & more of the high Merino character, altho' seldom quite so close in the staple, nor, consequently, so heavy in their fleece, as the Leonesa. For some years, he made great mistakes, by crossing backwards & forwards, with the two races - but, during the last five years, he has selected his Rams, entirely from the Escurial breed, and his "pepiniere" or "elite" nursery flock, consists entirely of that breed.
There is a remarkable family resemblance, in this flock, to our choice Merinos, nor are they much inferior to ours in size. I was particularly