The late Henry D. Grove, of Hoosic, New York, a native of Germany, and a highly intelligent and thoroughly bred shepherd, accompanied some of the best early importations to this country. He selected 105 choice animals for his own breeding, which he imported in 1827, and 70 more equally good, in 1828, and with these he formed the flock from which he bred to the time of his decease, in 1844. The average weight of fleece from the entire flock of Mr. Grove, nearly all of which were ewes and lambs, as stated by him to the writer, in 1842, was 2 lbs. 14 ounces, thoroughly washed on the sheep's back. This was realized after a short summer and winter's keep, when the quantity of hay or its equivalent fed to the sheep did not exceed by actual weight 1½ lbs. per day, except to the ewes, which received an additional quantity just before and after lambing. This treatment was attended with no disease or loss by death, and with an increase of lambs, equalling one for every ewe. In a flock of pure Saxony sheep owned by Mr. Smith of Connecticut, as stated in a letter from the owner, published in the American Shepherd, 104 ewes raised 101 lambs, and yielded 341 lbs. of wool, which sold at 70 cents per lb. For the 18 months preceding, he lost but three animals out of 300, from ordinary casualties. But some flocks of pure Saxony do not, in good condition, average 2 lbs. per head. A recent importation, (May, 1846,) made by Mr. Taintor of Connecticut, consisting of four bucks and four ewes, from the celebrated Saxon flock of Baron de Spreck, show a size and apparent vigor of constitution, equalling any of their Merino progenitors. [Illustration: Fig. 22. Rambouillet Buck.] The Rambouillet Flock. This flock was founded in 1786, by Louis XVI., from a selection of 400 of the best Spanish sheep, which were placed on the royal farm at Rambouillet. These, like the Saxon, received all the attention which intelligence and wealth could bestow, and the consequence was soon manifest in their larger size, and the increased weight and uniformity in the fineness of their fleece; the last improvement being particularly evident, from the absence of the coarse wool, which in many cases infested the quarters; and the jarr or hair, which frequently abounds on the flanks, legs, and thighs of the original Merino.