MANAGEMENT OF HERDWICKS 557 



on the forehead. A little one indicates wool, too much 

 implies softness. The neck, carrying the head gaily, should 

 rise well up from the shoulders, which are usually sharp at 

 the withers, although a broad shoulder is preferable; the 

 top or back straight and wide, and the ribs well sprung from 

 the back bone ; the figure compact ; the fore legs short, with 

 plenty of bone and good big joints, but fine between, and 

 big white feet ; the hind legs in proportion ; flat, clean shanks, 

 with plenty of white bristles inclining upwards ; the loins 

 deep; and thighs muttoned well down to the hocks. The 

 fleece should be genuine wool, not hair, the staple strong, 

 with a mane like a lion's, standing well up round the shoulders 

 and down the breast ; the wool a good length on other parts, 

 and knit together with a lash on the top. The first essential 

 in a well-bred Herdwick is a good coat, and the next good 

 bone. A few kemps in the wool when a sheep gets to six 

 years old indicate the true Herdwick character. The animal 

 should walk freely, and be square on his limbs in travelling 

 to and from an observer, and have a good thick tail. 



When turned up for examination to rest on his rump, he 

 should have a wide breast keeping the fore legs well apart, 

 and be well covered underneath with soft wool. The best 

 sheep are grey below, and they are none the worse for being 

 grey all over the body, showing a grey " pelt " after shearing. 

 The hind legs should lie flat on the ground and well apart. 



The points of the female, making allowance for sex, are 

 with few exceptions those of the male ; but strength is the 

 predominating feature in the ram, and quality in the ewe. 



Management. The ewes begin to lamb in the lower 

 valleys about the middle of April, and as late as the beginning 

 of May on higher farms. A ram hired at from i to 2 for 

 the season, or bought at 3 to 4, is put to seventy ewes, and 

 all the live produce is kept till three years old. The districts 

 of Keswick, Borrowdale, and Ennerdale are noted ram-breed- 

 ing centres. Ewes clip round about 3 Ibs. of wool, hoggs and 

 wethers 4 Ibs. or more, and rams 7 or 8 Ibs. The larger, 

 softer, and more woolly varieties are found in the lowlands, 

 and the hardiest and healthiest specimens, often very small, 

 on the fells, where the pasture is of the scantiest and poorest 

 description, growing much fern, which, in spring, is eaten to 

 some extent in the early, tender, rolled-up stage, and " savin " 



