212 



THE BLACKFACED BREED OF SHEEP. 



number of sheep displaced has been raised to 481,550. The 

 number of forests in 1872-73 was said to be between 60 or 70, 

 and now, including those only partially cleared, the number is 

 96. Of these 96 forests there are 5 in Aberdeenshire, 6 in 

 Argyllshire, 1 in Banffshire, 1 in Caithness, 5 in Forfarshire, 

 So in Inverness-shire, 5 in Perthshire, 37 in Eoss and 

 Cromarty, and 3 in Sutherlandshire. The total number of 

 sheep in these counties at present is about 3,363,414. 



Many experiments have been tried during the history of the 

 Highland breed of sheep with a view to the improvement of its 

 wool. These were conducted in various parts of the south and 

 north of Scotland, by way of crossing blackfaced ewes with 

 tups of other breeds, bat the results have invariably been dis- 

 appointing. The experiments tended rather to degenerate 

 instead of improve the Highland breed. " Some time is 

 required," says a sheep- farmer, " before the blackfaced stock 

 can be restored to its natural purity after being crossed with 

 tups of other breeds. " Crossing blackfaced ewes with Leicester 

 rams is a common practice among flockowners who fatten their 

 young stock for the market. In these circumstances, such a 

 course is justifiable and commendable, as it produces heavier 

 and earlier-maturing lambs. 



The depreciation of the finer varieties of wool in the wool 

 market arises from the fact that the demand is being supplied 

 from other countries. The Cheviot and Leicester breeders are 

 thus being undersold by their foreign competitors, and the 

 breeders of Highland sheep would share the same fate, if the 

 wool of the blackfaced sheep had not a speciality which adapts 

 it for peculiar purposes. Its coarse, shaggy fibre is found to be 

 more durable and serviceable in the manufacture of carpets and 

 other rough textures than any other variety of wool. 



The following is a comparative statement of the average 

 prices of white wool of both Cheviot and blackfaced sheep since 

 I860:— 



