SHEEP 



379 



Fig. 3. Leicester Ram. 



black-faced. Cheviots, however, rather excel the 

 black-faced both in size and in the value of the 

 fleece, but require a richer pasture. Ewes are 

 hornless, and the rams almost so. The general 

 figure is longer than that of the black-faced sheep. 

 They are narrow in shape, with slender forequarters 

 and long pricked ears. The colour is white, the 

 face and legs occasionally mottled with gray, but 

 generally quite white. The fleece weighs from 3 to 

 5 or 6 Ib. Great attention has for many years 

 been devoted to the improvement of this breed. 

 The Leicester Sheep is another of the most valuable 

 breeds. This breed, as it now exists, is a result of 

 the skill and care of 

 Mr Bakewell (q.v.), 

 who, soon after the 

 middle of the 18th 

 century, began to make 

 experiment* for the 

 improvement of the 

 ola Leicester sheep 

 a large, coarse-boned 

 sheep, not easily fat- 

 tened, and with coarse 

 long wool, of which, 

 however, the fleece 

 weighed from 8 to 10 

 Ib. The new Leicester 

 sheep has wool moderately long, of better quality, 

 the average weight of the fleece being about 7 or 8 

 Ib., and is easily rendered very fat. It is naturally 

 very broad on the back, with finely-arched rilis. 

 The colour is white. Both sexes are horniest*. 

 The Leicester sheep is now common in all but the 

 mountainous parts of Britain ; and other breeds 

 have been improved by crossing with it, particu- 

 larly various breeds of long-woolled sheep, which 



have long existed in 

 different parte of 

 England, as those of 

 Lincolnshire, Romney 

 Marsh, &c. The 

 Leicester, indeed, was 

 the first to be sub- 

 mitted to improve- 

 ment by a systematic 

 system of breeding, 

 and in the general 

 improvement of the 

 sheep stock of the 

 British Isles it has 

 played a larger part 

 than any other breed. One of the most valuable 

 crossed breeds is the Border Leicester. A famous 

 long-woolled breed is that called the Cotswold or 

 Gloucester, the wool of which was in great esteem 

 in the 14th and 15th centuries, bearing a higher 

 price than any other wool. In 1464 Edward IV. 

 sent a present of Cotswcid rams to Henry of 

 Castile ; and in 1468 a similar present was sent 

 to John of Aragon. 

 The Cotswold breed, 

 however, as it now 

 exists, has been modi- 

 fied by crossing with 

 the Leicester, and pro- 

 duces shorter wool and 

 better mutton than in 

 former times. The 

 South Down Sheep has 

 recently been improved 

 with the utmost care. 

 The colour is generally 

 white, and the face and 

 legs are generally brown 

 or fawn. Black and spotted faces and legs were 

 once common, but these are discounted now. Both 

 exes are hornless. The wool is short, very close, 



Kg. 4. Border Leicester Ram. 



Fig. 5. South Down Ram. 



and curled. The South Down derives its origin and 

 name from the chalky downs of the south of Eng- 

 land, but is now met with throughout England 

 and the south of Scot- 

 land. The Shropshire 

 sheep are large, with 

 thick wool something 

 like the South Down. 

 They are hornless, and 

 black or dun in the face 

 and legs, The^ come 

 early to maturity, but 

 are suited only for finer 

 climates and good keep. 

 The Hampshire, also 

 hornless, is a valuable 

 breed of sheep for fat- Fig. 6. Shropshire Ram. 

 tening, matures early, 



and grows to a large size. It originated in a cross 

 between the Old Wiltshire horned sheep and the 

 Old Berkshire Knot with the South Down. The 

 Oxford Down, a successful blend of the Hampshire 

 and Cotswold breeds, is a heavy, somewhat soft 

 sheep, without horns, and capable of rapid and 

 great development under good treatment. It is 

 not suited to very cold and exposed situations. 

 The Lincoln, across between the improved Leicester 

 and the native sheep of the county, is one of the 

 best long-woolled 

 varieties in Eng- 

 land. The fleece of 

 the Lincoln Sheep 

 is long and lustrous 

 in the staple, and 

 often exceeds 20 Ib. 

 in weight. Other 

 English varieties of 

 good standing are 

 the Suffolk Down, 

 Devon Long- wools, 

 Komney Marsh 

 Sheep, the Lark 

 and Wensleydale 

 Sheep. The Roscommon is the principal native 

 breed in Ireland. They are large hornless sheep, 

 improved from the native sheep by a cross of the 

 Leicester. 



The first sheep were taken to what is now the 

 United States in 1609, merinos not till 1801 ; but 

 now 95 per cent, of American sheep are mainly of 

 merino origin, though the breeds have not been 

 kept pure. The principal breeds are native, 

 Spanish, and Saxon Merinos ; the New Leicesters 

 or Bakewells ; Southdowns, Cotswolds, Cheviots, 

 and Lincolns. The Texas sheep are largely crossed 

 with a Mexican breed, originally from the Basque 

 provinces of Spain. Two races, originating in 

 America, have been allowed to die out the 

 Smith's Island and the Otter breeds the latter 

 with a long body and short legs. Sheep-raising is 

 carried on more or less extensively in Texas, New 

 Mexico, in the Rocky Mountain states, in the up- 

 lands of the south-west, in Ohio, and in the northern 

 New England states. 



The merino is an important breed of sheep, 

 originally Spanish, but now widely diffused through- 

 out Europe and North America, and constituting 

 a great part of the wealth of Australia. The 

 merino has large limbs, and the male has large 

 spiral horns, which do not rise alxive the head ; the 

 skin of the neck is loose and pendulous ; the cheeks 

 and forehead bear wool ; the fleece, which is very 

 heavy, often in choice animals exceeding 20 Ib., 

 sometimes even over 30 Ib., is fine, long, soft, and 

 twisted in silky spiral ringlets, abounding in oil, 

 which attracts dust, so that it has generally a 

 dingy appearance. The fleece is sometimes black, 

 ana black spots are apt to appear even in the 



Fig. 7. Lincoln Ram. 



