588 BREEDS OF LOWLAND LONG-WOOL SHEEP 



sale of woollen cloth. From this it may be inferred that 

 considerable care was devoted by our ancestors, even at this 

 remote time, to the breeding of sheep, which there is no 

 reason to doubt were the progenitors of the Cotswolds of the 

 present time ; so that the breed is one of the oldest, if not the 

 oldest, in Britain. The trade in both sheep and wool was 

 maintained throughout both Saxon and Norman times, and 

 at the present day considerable numbers of Cotswold sheep 

 are annually exported to Germany, to the United States of 

 America, and other foreign parts, where they are appreciated 

 for their large size and for the power they possess of stamping 

 their distinctive characteristics when crossed with other breeds. 



They, too, have been improved by introduction of Leicester 

 blood. They are extremely hardy, and well suited for feeding 

 on stiff land, even when it is pretty wet. The flesh becomes 

 coarse when sheep grow aged. At twelve to fifteen months 

 old, tegs ought to weigh 25 Ibs. to 28 Ibs. per quarter. Those 

 more moderately fed, and " run over " till two years old, get 

 up to 35 Ibs. or more per quarter. 



Points. Faces strong, usually white, sometimes grey, 

 with legs to match. Dark colouring on these parts gives 

 the Cotswold more the look of a Down cress, and helps to 

 sell the mutton at a higher price. A large tuft of wool 

 covers the forehead, and when full grown ought to hang down 

 almost to the nostrils. The ewes are fairly good milkers ; 

 and they are also prolific when not too fat or with too large 

 a rump. The fleece of wool averages from 8 to 10 Ibs. 

 for ewes. The fibre is long, neither close nor too open, 

 and rather coarse in quality. The belly, and particularly 

 the scrotum or " purse," should be well covered with wool. 



Through being an old breed of good size, it is well suited 

 to crossing with ewes of short-woolled, smaller boned, and 

 finer varieties, provided the head of the ram is not too large, 

 with the object of avoiding the difficulty the ewe might 

 experience in giving birth to the lamb. 



The Roscommon Long-wool is now the only remaining 

 distinct Irish breed of sheep, believed to be centuries old. It 

 is noted for being " a hardy and active forager," and " a big 

 upstanding sheep, taller than either the Cotswold or Lincoln, 

 of great substance and quality, which thrives well on bleak, 



