THE SWALEDALE BREED 65i 



that they are better milkers and produce better and fatter 

 lambs when crossed with the Wensleydale Long-wool ram. 

 But the lambs are lighter in the face and not so clear in the 

 complexion as the Wensleydale Scotch cross, and the wool is 

 fluffier and not so long and nicely stapled. The ewe lambs 

 of the Scotch cross have a preference in Yorkshire over the 

 Swaledale cross for breeding second crosses, which are fuller 

 of quality about the head and fleece, and not so light in the 

 face as Swaledale crosses are liable to be. Many thousands 

 of ewe hoggs and draft ewes from Scotland are taken to 

 Yorkshire annually the ewes to cross with the Wensleydale 

 and the hoggs to breed pure Blackfaces, generally for three 

 seasons, and afterwards cross with the Wensleydale. Many 

 of the Blackface and dale-bred wether lambs are grazed 

 on the Derbyshire moors. The so-called " Scotch bred " 

 flocks are principally found in Wensleydale, Bishopdale, 

 Coverdale, Nidderdale, and the moors above Kettlewell and 

 Buckden. The Scotch Blackface and Swaledale breeds have 

 recently been successfully blended in an experimental way 

 by John Blakely, at Dalwyne Farm, Barr, Ayrshire, who 

 introduced ten ewes and a ram. Crosses both ways were 

 longer in their necks and tails, and leggier than pure Black- 

 faces, but they were generally heavier sheep. Although the 

 wool was closer and appeared to be finer, an expert woolstapler 

 valued it id. per Ib. less than Blackface wool, owing to the 

 presence of kemps and greys. The fleeces of the ewes weighed 

 only 4 Ibs. against 5 Ibs. given by the Blackfaces on the same 

 ground. The resulting presumption is that on bare, hard 

 grass land in the southern Highlands of Scotland, Swale ewes 

 and their Blackface crosses would nearly hold their own with 

 pure Blackfaces, although their long neck and legs would be 

 against their finding purchasers, especially in a bad market ; 

 but on deep land, growing spret, Juncus articulatus, or heather, 

 Calluna vulgaris, and drawmoss, Eriophorum vaginatum, the 

 Scotch sheep is decidedly the more suitable. 



Swaledale rams are sought after to breed with the com- 

 moner sheep more nearly allied to the Blackface mountain 

 type, to improve both bone and quality. The overfeeding of 

 rams has been known to ruin a good hardy flock. Stock 

 rams pasture on the hills with the ewes in summer. The 

 running stock does not as a rule receive any food in winter 



