110 THE BREEDING OF ANIMALS 



described was of " the black polled breed " and her 

 record of births follows : 



YEAR NUMBER OP CALVES AT BIRTH 



1842 . 1 This the cow's first calf 



1843 

 1843 

 1844 

 1845 

 1846 

 1847 

 1848 



3 All lived to adult age 



4 One died. (Seven calves in one year) 



2 Lived to maturity 



3 Lived to maturity 



6 All died prematurely 



2 Came to maturity 

 4 



Total. . . 25 Mean number per birth '3.125 



107. Unusual fertility among sheep. Sheep normally 

 produce a larger proportion of twins than cattle or horses. 

 This may be due in a measure to the fact that the sheep 

 has a much shorter period of gestation. It is true in 

 general that those mammals having the shortest periods 

 of gestation are most prolific. Some remarkable cases 

 of great fertility among sheep are matters of record. 

 A three-year-old grade Cotswold ewe gave birth to five 

 fully developed lambs. Two died at birth, the others in 

 a few hours. 1 A Horned Dorset ewe four years old 

 dropped five lambs at two births within a ten months' 

 period. 2 A Radnor ewe dropped six lambs at one birth, 

 of which five lived and thrived. 3 An Oxford-down ewe 

 gave birth to four strong, vigorous lambs which grew 

 rapidly and weighed one hundred and sixty-two pounds 

 at eight weeks old. 4 A prolific ewe at one birth dropped 

 five lambs, all of which were perfectly developed and grew 

 rapidly. 5 A Leicester ewe gave birth to six strong, healthy 



1 Country Gentleman, 1893, p. 171. 



2 Breeder's Gazette, 1894, p. 327. 



3 Country Gentleman, 1892, p. 331. 



4 Breeder's Gazette, 1893, p. 388. 



5 Country Gentleman, 1878, p. 329. 



