CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



of grasses, this breed deserves the preference over 

 any other known to us for a mountainous country. 

 The next breed deserving of cultivation is the 

 South-down. This breed is suited to the chalky 

 and sandy downs of the south of England. It is 

 in this respect a very valuable breed, but it is 

 unsuited to the more rough and elevated pastures 

 to which the Black-faced and Cheviot are naturally 

 adapted. 



The Moorland and Down breeds appear to be 

 the most deserving of cultivation in this country. 

 Of the larger breeds of the plains, the New 

 Leicester is the best adapted to general cultivation, 

 and wherever an improved system of tillage is 

 established, this admirable breed may be intro- 

 duced. The Leicester, the Cheviot, and the Black- 

 faced have long been regarded as the breeds best 

 adapted for the different districts of Scotland. 

 That these three breeds have nearly stood in the 

 same numerical ratio to one another for some 

 years, is a good proof that each has been placed 

 in the locality best fitted by nature for promoting 

 its health and productiveness. The Leicester is 

 admirably adapted to the rich alluvial soils of our 

 cultivated plains ; the Cheviot breed is peculiarly 

 fitted for the grassy mountains chiefly formed of 

 the transition series of rocks ; then our most ele- 

 vated mountain -ranges are formed mainly of 

 primitive rocks, and covered with coarse herbage 

 and heath, on which none but the Black-faced, the 

 most active and hardy of our breeds, could survive. 

 The above arrangements have generally been 

 acquiesced in as the best possible by the farmers 

 of Scotland. But the claims of South-downs for 

 the middle range of the Highland pastures in 

 Scotland have been urged in the following terms, 

 by an agriculturist of long experience and high 

 standing in his profession namely, Mr Watson 

 of Keillor : ' Having, during the last twenty-five 

 years, been in the management or possession of a 

 considerable breeding-flock of South-down ewes, 

 varying at different times from 500 to 1000 in 

 number, and during that period having had good 

 opportunities of drawing close comparisons betwixt 

 that and the other breeds of mountain sheep 

 namely, the Cheviot and Black-faced I have come 

 to the conclusion and am acting upon it in my 

 own practice that from a pasture ranging from 

 500 to 1 200 feet above the level of the sea, having 

 a moderate portion of green-sward, the rest whin 

 and heather, there can be no more profitable stock 

 of sheep kept than a flock of South-downs of the 

 best sort. My chief reasons for having preferred 

 this breed are that the South-down sheep, 

 although naturally spirited and active, are easily 

 controlled by a good shepherd ; can go over more 

 ground for their food than any other kind of sheep, 

 without stopping their growth ; and when tried by 

 severe storms in winter, will brave it better than 

 even the Black-faced Highland sheep ; and although 

 reduced very low in spring, sooner pick up con- 

 dition than the other short-woolled sheep. As a 

 proof of the South-downs' tendency to fatten, when 

 put to good keep, I may mention a fact, that while 

 I have seldom been able to produce a fat Cheviot 

 ewe the same season that she has reared a lamb, 

 I never fail to make good fat of the cast South- 

 downs off grass. Their wool is so closely matted 

 on their backs, and about the head and neck, as 

 to be almost impervious to rain or snow ; hence, so 

 soon as the storm ceases, they appear dry and 



614 



comfortable, their coat not the least disordered, 

 and altogether free from that drouked Anglice, 

 drenched appearance which longer-woolled sheep 

 exhibit even for days after a winter storm. 



'In all my experience, the South-down sheep 

 have kept remarkably healthy. I have never seen 

 an instance of rot in my flock ; while during the 

 last twenty years, I have been forced to clear off a 

 lot of Cheviot and also of Black-faced ewes from 

 that incurable disease. This, however, may have 

 been owing more to the unsoundness of the pas- 

 ture from which I got them, than from any peculi- 

 arity of the animals themselves. My average loss 

 in the South-down lot has invariably been much 

 under that of any other sheep I have bred. They 

 are hardy, and easily managed at lambing-time ; 

 affectionate mothers, and, on moderate keep, give 

 a great quantity of milk ; and if there is any in- 

 ducement for early lambs, they will go with the 

 ram almost as soon as the lamb is weaned. When 

 crossed with a well-bred Leicester ram, and 

 brought into good keep, they produce perhaps the 

 most profitable lamb that is bred, taking wool and 

 carcase into account. I have for the last ten years 

 put all the ewes I could spare from pure breeding 

 to this sort of crossing, lambing the ewes on 

 turnips in spring, then turning them, as soon as 

 the season would permit, to the hill-pasture the 

 Sidlaws till weaning-time, when the lambs are 

 brought to the in-field pastures, and put to turnips 

 for the winter, on which food they are kept for 

 about 2d. per week each, and kept on the earliest 

 grass in spring ; so that in a month or six weeks 

 after they are clipped, they are fit for the butcher, 

 who values this cross almost as high as the pure 

 bred South-down. The wool is of the finest quality 

 for combing, and fetches the highest price of any 

 British-grown wool generally from 23. to 2s. 2d. 

 per pound ; and the clip in a good season will 

 average about six pounds. At sixteen months old 

 I have never realised less than 403. each, wool and 

 mutton. In Smithfield, this cross is much sought 

 after. 



' On lands where folding is found necessary, the 

 South-down submits to this treatment better than 

 any other breed of sheep ; such, indeed, in all 

 cases where I have put them to the test, is their 

 spirit and hardiness, that nothing short of ill-treat- 

 ment seems to injure them. Combining these 

 facts, I can have no hesitation in recommending a 

 South-down flock of sheep in preference to every 

 other, on such situations as I have now described 

 namely, too high to be occupied during the 

 whole season by a flock of Leicesters, and under 

 that level above which only the native Black-faced 

 breed can be expected to thrive.' 



Notwithstanding Mr Watson's experience, the 

 breeding of South-downs in Scotland has not in- 

 creased, and the attempts which have been made 

 to supplant either Black-faced or Cheviots have 

 not been successful. At present, there are very 

 few extensive flocks of South-downs in Scotland, 

 though there are numerous small flocks in the 

 parks of gentlemen who are particular about their 

 mutton. As Professor Low has remarked, 'the 

 South-down breed is best suited to the chalky and 

 sandy downs of the south of England. It is in 

 this respect a very valuable breed ; but it is 

 unsuited to the more rough and elevated pastures 

 to which the Black-faced and Cheviot are adapted.' 

 It may be added, that an ample space of dry 



