362 Mountain Breeds of Sheep, 



those farmers Avho breed lialf-breds and yet have no pure Cheviot 

 flock from which their ewe cast can be replaced. 



Lime is the pioneer of the half-bred, which is gradually re- 

 placing the Cheviots on the Lowland hill-pastures up to a 600 

 or 700 feet elevation. There are sound economic reasons for 

 this gradual revolution, of which good feeding in the winter 

 months is the mainspring. A two-shear Cheviot wether, which 

 knows very little about the hill and has been " sent along " on 

 the lower ranges and turnips, will only kill at 18 lbs. per quarter, 

 and the two fleeces may be taken at a guinea. On the other 

 hand, the half-bred shearling, which has a little corn and cake 

 with its turnips, kills at the same weight and leaves one fleece 

 worth 14^., "be the same more or less."* Hence, as it is the 

 interest of the flock-master to " breed as near the butcher as 

 possible," the half-bred system is making rapid strides on the 

 lower ranges in Roxburghshire and all through Teviotdale, and 

 creeps higher up the hill every year with the increased breadth 

 of turnip husbandry. The ewes must always have seven or 

 eight weeks of turnips before lambing. This plan serves the 

 triple purpose of improving the quality and number of the 

 lambs, securing a heavier ewe-fleece, and leaving the ewes when 

 the lambs are weaned much riper for the butcher. In some of 

 the best arable districts the half-bred ewes are put to the Lei- 

 cester, but, beyond reaching the same weight six weeks sooner, 

 the produce differs very little from the half-bred. 



Except when a flock is crossed from Blackface into Cheviot, 

 which has been done upon the hills at the head of Clyde, the 

 union of the two breeds is rare. Practice has shown that the 

 Cheviot tup should always be used, and that if the cross is taken 

 the other way the lambs are inferior both in shape and bone. 

 The third cross of the Cheviot generally obliterates every trace 

 of Blackface, except, perhaps, in the grey shade of the legs and 

 the kemp, which rancorously persists in lingering among the 

 wool. The severity of the winter of 1859-60 induced some 

 flock-masters on the highest ranges to revert to Blackfaces. 

 Their powers of bearing cold are very superior, and they can 

 thrive where no Cheviot can live. They also eat coarse, wild 

 herbage, which their tenderer rival would disdain, while thei? 

 superior action and higher spirit enables them to search for 

 it better in the snow. A less amount of food will also suffice 

 them, and some of those who have had both consider that on 

 coarse land five Blackfaces can be kept for four Cheviots, 

 though on good land this proportion would not be maintained. 



* These calculations are based on the prices of 1865. 



