I'8o3» On the Nature a7id Manag-tmetit of 5hcrl Shaep, ^ifc. "^(/^ 



and fuch as teiicls only to wafte and debilitate the fpirits. The 

 co!]ffquenctj is, thnt inilcad of regaining ilr(Mii^rh, fliC becomes 

 <iaily weaker and weaker, and often falls a victim ac the lanibing 

 fcafon * 



But the propriety of rearimij tlie Foreft breed in preference to 

 the Cheviot kind, upon Hijj^hland farms, will ftill more appear, 

 if we take into account the diiTerent degrees of danger to which 

 the new dropt lambs are cxpofed. In tills refpe6l, the moft 

 ftrenuous advocates for the Cheviot breed, leem difpofed to ac- 

 knowledge their iriferiority. In.leed, it is not to^ be expelled, 

 that a weak, enfeebled, and difeafed e^-e, can produce a ilrong 

 and healthy lamb, and when thefe puny produclions liappen to 

 be ulhered into light, during Itormy weather, they muii ine- 

 vitably perifli, as they are for the mofl part deltitute of wool, 

 efpecially on the back and fjioulders, to defend them from the 

 pitilefs rains and fleets which generally pre\'ail about that period. 

 No doubt, the lambs of the other breed, are lequally expofed to 

 the inclemency of the weather ; but then, being the offspring of 

 healthy and hardy parents, and being well clotlicd with wool, 

 even in the Oiortell places, from ^ to 4- inch in length, they are 

 better able to refill the fury of the (torm. Befides, being na- 

 turally lively, and endued with much animation, they foon get 

 upon their legs ; while the Cheviot lambs, weak and enfeebled, 

 continue to lye upon the cold earth, where numbers of them 

 perifli in lefs than twenty minutes from their biith. 1 he very 

 form and make of the latter kind, operate powerfully againft 

 them at this critical time. The legs being ^long, the body heavy, 

 fupple and unmanageable, it is with mucli difRculty, and after 

 many fruitlefs attempts, that they at laO: get upon their feet. 

 "When the day happens to be mild, lambs of both kinds may Ao 

 well ; but a continuation of fuch days is not to be reckoned 

 upon. The alternation of froft and freih, is extremely rapid, 

 about the lambing feafon, in fuch climates as I am fpeaking of ^ 



N n n 3 and 



* We may here notice the difference betwten Ihcep that mend their 

 conftitutlon upon the high parts of the paduic, and thofe who do it 

 upon the low grounds only. As foon as tht; hills are clear of fnow, the 

 former begin to advance ; but the latter make no prpgrefs before the new 

 grafs comes, which is generally late. In the mean time, the ewts be- 

 come more feeble and weak, as they advance in a pregnant ftate ; an,d, 

 if grafs becomes plentiful all of a fudden, they are apt to be attacked by 

 a diarrhea. They are not indeed liable to this difoafe, to the extent 

 that eild flieep are : yet it may, and often does afltft them, fo much, as 

 to caufe the wool fall gradually from the flcin, whereby the anim:il io 

 prematurely expofed to \i\cxt cold, arxd the mdioiatinj^ of its €cuditipe 

 much retarded. 



