504- THE HOMK, FARM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPAEDIA. 



The} r have no horns, white faces and legs, forward loose shoulders, a 

 heavy head, with a large neck and sinking dewlap; the bones large, and 

 the carcass long and coarse ; the back long and hollow, with ilat ribs, but 

 good loins and a deep belly; the hindquarter broad and the i 

 standing wide apart. The pelt was particularly thick, and the fleece con- 

 M>ted of very long combing wool, of a rather coarse quality, weigl 

 generally from 12 to 14 Ibs. on the wethers and from 8 to 10 Ibs. on the 

 ewes. The flesh was coarse-grained and inferior to the mutton of the 

 New Leicester, and particularly so to that of the small short- wool breeds ; 

 but it frequently reached the weight of 35 Ibs. per quarter; and fat 

 wethers generally averaged 25 Ibs. 



THE COTSWOLD. Another variety of long-woolled sheep used to be 

 found on the Cotswold Hills. They had lived there from time immemo- 

 rial, and from the earliest periods of_English history had been celebrated 

 for the length and fineness of their fleece, for their hardiness of constitu- 

 tion, for their breeding qualities, and the ewes as being excellent nurses. 

 They, too, have latterly been crossed with the Leicesters, the Lincoln?, 

 and others ; the value of the cross, however, greatly depends on the situ- 

 ation of the farm, the selection of the individuals, and whether it will be 

 most advantageous for the farmer to cultivate the carcass or the fleece, 

 The cross with a Southdown and Cotswold is now in such high estimation, 

 that there is every chance of its soon being established as a separate 

 breed. 



THE LEICESTERS. There are two types of these : the English Leicester 

 and Border Leicester. The former has been cultivated for more than 100 

 years, the name of Bakewell being very famous in connection with this 

 breed in the last century. Bakewell did something in the improvement 

 of horses, and not a little among cattle, but his fame will always stand 

 highest on having given England her great mutton producer. 



Mr. Bakewell regarded symmetry and aptitude to fatten as first-rate 

 qualities ; he found these to be inherent in small, not in large, heavy- 

 boned sheep, which latter consumed an extravagant abundance of food 

 without returning an adequate profit; whereas the smaller sheep he found 

 to increase more rapidly in weight, proportionately, even upon a less con- 

 sumption of diet. His experience had also taught him another point, viz., 

 that sheep carrying a heavy fleece had always less aptitude to fatten, and 

 were far slower in ripening, than those whose fleece was moderate ; and 

 he considered symmetry and early ripening to be of more importance than 

 the loss of a few pounds in the fleece. In short, he considered that the 

 value of the carcass was the first object to be attended to in breeding of 



