LEICESTER EWES AND LAMBS. 143 



proper care is observed — if those animals only are allowed to 

 breed tliat possess good forms and healthy constitutions — then un- 

 doubtedly the stock will be preserved pure, disease will be warded 

 oft', and proper form and qualifications will be established. 



Many farmers in selecting a tup confine themselves to one as 

 distant as possible from their own sheep. Neglecting the due 

 consideration of many important points, they imagine that by 

 avoiding the practice of "in and in " breeding, they guard against 

 almost all the diseases which sheep are heir to. In this they 

 err, for it is the abuse and not the use that is to be reprobated, 

 and in many cases it is the surest method of arriving at the 

 greatest degree of perfection. Hence it is a practice which most 

 of the eminent improvers of sheep, as Mr. Bakewell and the 

 Messrs. Culley, have pursued with the greatest success. 



Should a farmer find that a tup just suits his requirements 

 and yet is a relation of his own sheep, he should not hesitate to 

 employ it if previously his flock have not suffered from the 

 effects of breeding from animals closely connected. Let us 

 suppose that a farmer has 18 score of Leicester ewes and 16 

 score of half-bred or three-parts bred ewes. For the " bred " 

 ewes he will require 7 tups, and for the half-bred 5. 



The shepherd's aim should now be to match his sheep as well 

 as possible, that is, he should draw his ewes into lots to suit the 

 style and shape of the tups. For instance, if one ram has a good 

 neck and rough fleece, all those ewes which have inferior necks 

 and fleeces should be placed in his lot, so that their offspring 

 will be better than the ewe, if not so good as the tup. This 

 should be carried out with all the ewes, care being taken to 

 match properly the faces as well as the fleece and frame. 



The ears and necks are, in Leicester sheep, often deficient, the 

 former being badly placed, and the necks having a tendency to 

 be " scraggy ;" where this is the case the ew^es should be placed 

 with that ram which excels in those special features. It is. 

 liowever, unnecessary to say more upon this subject, for almost 

 the whole art of sheep-breeding lies in the selection of a breed- 

 ing stock, and farmers, and those shepherds who are worthy of 

 the name, are, as a rule, good judges of the sheep most suitable 

 to match. 



This careful matching is followed out with half-bred, three- 

 parts bred, and Leicester ewes alike, the only difference being in 

 the number placed with each ram. When all the lots have been 

 drawn each is taken to a different j)asture, where the ewes are 

 turned loose with the s(;lccted tup, his breast having been pre- 

 viously "keiled" red by the shei)herd. This is done to enable 

 the herd to know which ewes will first lamb, and for this pur- 

 l)Ose he marks every ewe which has taken the ram during the 

 first week with a red spot on the ahoulder. During the second 



