Mountain Breeds of Sheep. 375 



dam before you can look round." In point of nursing, they 

 have every advantage, and it has been noticed that the coarsest 

 ewes milk best. By the end of September, the lambs are 

 always taken off the Moor or " new takes," and when the ear- 

 marking, ruddling, and signing are over, they generally run upon 

 seeds. Some farmers send them to grass and turnips in Cornwall 

 for six months, at 15/. to IG/. per score. Fewer go to Cornwall 

 than formerly, as its farmers have begun to breed their own in 

 preference to wintering other people's, and keep is dear and 

 difficult to get. About Launceston, Callington, Holsworthy, and 

 Taunton there is no great market for Dartmoor tups, as the 

 Leicesters are much used ; but Cornwall takes some (which are 

 sold in rare instances as high as 15/.) for the sake of giving lean 

 flesh to the Leicester ; and about Barnstaple and Bideford they 

 have been crossed with the Exmoor. They are also to be found 

 near Ivy Bridge and Brent, and over a great part of South 

 Devon. 



Horns are thought to indicate hardiness, but flock-masters do 

 Slot make any especial point either of them or black noses. The 

 legs should be straight in the hock and strong in the bone, and 

 follow suit, as regards colour, with the face. A top-knot is 

 liked, but not too much whisker, and a good strong scrag, 

 " high withers," and a thick tail are essentials. There is no breed 

 in which the handling of the tail has so much to do with the 

 general estimate of the sheep ; and there is also a common saying, 

 that "a good tup never dirts his tail," or rather never scours on 

 strong pasture. A tendency to fall off at the rump and a certain 

 flatness of rib are not thought defects, but rather conservative than 

 otherwise of that lean flesh, which is, with wool, the especial 

 glory of the breed. All flock-masters like to have their sheep 

 v/ell-woolled and curly below. They have naturally worked very 

 much of late years for wool, but still they do not care to have too 

 much of it for fear of injuring the Aveight of meat. 



The draft ewes are generally sold before Tavistock Goose Fair 

 at all prices from 3Qs. to 45^., and go into the neighbourhood of 

 Liskeard and elsewhere, to be put to the Leicester. The wether 

 lambs are hardly ever sold, and several of the wethers are wintered 

 •on a couple of thousand acres of old grass round Tavistock be- 

 longing to his Grace the Duke of Bedford. Some are bought 

 at Michaelmas by farmers in the neighbourhood of Taunton, 

 Exeter, and Tiverton, where they are wintered on turnips and 

 sent off to the London market in the spring, while a few of the 

 oldest are put on turnips, clover eddish, and seeds in Cornwall. 

 They are occasionally sold as twos and threes, but four is the age 

 at which they feed best. With corn, cake, and peas in aid they 

 will make up to 30 lbs. a quarter, but 25 lbs. is nearer the mark. 



