Merino Sheep

Australia owes much of its prosperity to sheep. But slogans like: “Australia: we do sheep well!” Or “Australia is for 🐑!” were overlooked in favor of “Australia: riding on the sheep’s back” (1950’s).

The Merino breed of sheep found particular favor in Australia. Merinos originated in Spain, where their breeding was tightly controlled. Unpermitted Merino possession was a capital offense against the Spanish Crown. But by the 1770’s pairs of Merinos were gifted to European royalty. In 1797 the first Merinos arrived in Australia from South Africa, after enduring a perilous voyage.

Meanwhile, in the USA, Jefferson was trying his hand at sheep farming. See https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/sheep/

A Merino craze was gripping our new nation: here might be a crop that’s easy to manage, needing only sheepdogs and twice yearly labor, at the lambing and the wool. Wool was greatly in demand as a wonder fiber for the newly constructed English textile mills and the price of Merinos skyrocketed. Jefferson got caught up in sheep speculation, hoping to profit but instead he got fleeced. What he thought was Merino wool was really just common Churro wool, though he spent a fortune putting his rams to good ewes.

Back in Australia, the imported Merinos flourished. They were hardy, adaptable to a drier or wetter climate, and selectively bred for good wool yields. They browsed on local grasses and faced few predators. Australia had a waiting market for fine wool in Great Britain before it developed its own woolen mills.

John MacArthur (1767 — 1834) is considered the father of the Merino wool industry.  He crossbred his flocks for genetic sturdiness and figured out how best to farm sheep without defined pastures.  Here, Skip! He also irritated the Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, by not complying with Bligh’s orders during the Rum Rebellion of 1808, the only successful coup against the Crown. He also advocated anti-democratically in favor of an aristocratic well-capitalized ruling class while he made a fortune in sheep. His wife ran the farm while he stayed away from New South Wales while there was a warrant for his arrest there. After ten years the warrant was negated and he was allowed to return to NSW. In 1832 MacArhur was declared insane and he finished his life at home in Camden Park. (Note: Naomi Novik mentions MacArthur in her books.)

By 1815 Merinos were no longer trendy and pricey in the USA. One reason is that cloth made of Merino wool was deemed too fine a fabric for slaves to be wearing. Also, the Yankees in the North preferred rougher wool. So Merinos never caught on in the USA. 

Today the Australian trade association Woolmark is devoted to maintaining the purity and sustainability of virgin wool. I recommend buying clothes made of wool, when the sheep are well-treated. Just don’t put these wool garments in the dryer.