552 SHEEP MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND 



but hay, and that sparingly, till the latter part of February 

 and March, except during a snowstorm. From half to the 

 whole of the ewe hoggs are wintered away in the lower parts 

 of Yorkshire at about 6s. each. Lambing begins about the 

 middle of April. 



The Silverdale are somewhat of a lowland type of Dale 

 sheep, belonging to a district bordering Morecambe Bay and 

 the Lakes. 



The Derbyshire Gritstone sheep were known as the 

 " Dale-o'-Goyt " breed till i5th October 1906, when at a meet- 

 ing at Bakewell the " Derbyshire Gritstone Sheep Breeders' 

 Society" was formed, and the name adopted as the more 

 appropriate and distinctive title, distinguishing them from 

 the old Limestones, and indicating the geological formation 

 on which they have been bred pure for more than 100 

 years in the bleak hills and dales of the Peak of Derbyshire. 

 The breed is extremely hardy, hornless, and dark or mottled 

 on the face and legs, and does not include the horned Grit- 

 stones of Woodland and Yorkshire moors. In size and 

 general appearance it resembles the Herdwick more than 

 any other mountain breed, but it is declared on the most 

 reliable authority to be quite distinct. The wool is among 

 the shortest, closest, and finest varieties of mountain wools. 

 It fetched as high as 345. per tod of 28 Ibs. in 1905-6, in spite 

 of its being liable to the occurrence of black patches, especially 

 that grown on the belly, thighs, and rump. The ewes are the 

 best of mothers, and the lambs feed quickly, and they produce 

 mutton of the finest flavour, not over fat. Indebtedness is 

 acknowledged to W. J. Clark, Secretary of the Derbyshire 

 Gritstone Sheep Breeders' Society, and of the Farmers' Club, 

 Bakewell, Derbyshire, for much of the foregoing information, 

 and for the photograph originals of Plate CLX. 



The Limestone breed has only recently attracted 

 general notice, although it has existed for many years as 

 an important local variety. 1 The home of the breed 



1 The father and grandfather of R. Parker, Moss End, Burton, 

 Westmorland (who has been good enough to supply valuable informa- 

 tion regarding the breed), bred Limestone sheep on the same farm for 

 nearly one hundred years. 



