THE SHEEP. 



ground, with a somewhat scanty herbage, are the 

 situations in which they thrive best 



IMPROVEMENT OF BREEDS. 



The first point of essential importance to be 

 attended to by the sheep-farmer is the selection of 

 a breed whose size and constitutional qualities 

 best accord with the climate and the pastures on 

 which they are to feed. An error of any magni- 

 tude in these respects would be attended with 

 fatal effects both to the health and productiveness 

 of the flock. 



It is true that sheep can exist in almost every 

 country, and may be said to reach nearly from the 

 equator to the poles. They are found approach- 

 ing the eternal snows and icy barriers of the arctic 

 regions ; they are found at great elevations in 

 the Cordilleras of South America, and in the still 

 more elevated Himalaya Mountains of Asia. Yet 

 though sheep can be reared within an immense 

 range of .latitude and temperature, it is equally 

 true that the climate and soil fix the limits within 

 which our domestic breeds can be cultivated with 

 advantage. Nature has perhaps forbidden that 

 the sheep should, in any circumstances, yield 

 the greatest weight of the best mutton and a fleece 

 of the greatest value. The farmer will be able 

 easily to determine, from the country, climate, 

 and various other considerations, to which of these 

 he should direct his chief attention. In England, 

 the farmer finds it more profitable to promote the 

 weight and quality of the mutton than the wool ; 

 while the farmer in Spain, Germany, and Australia, 

 finds it his interest to attend more to the wool 

 than the mutton. 



We have now to consider the sheep as to 

 its most important characters when brought to 

 market. 



1. The size of the sheep is determined by the 

 climate, the pasture, and the steepness or levelness 

 of the lands on which it is fed. 



2. The form of the sheep depends on its 

 anatomical structure. That eminent surgeon, 

 Mr Cline, in his communications to the Board 

 of Agriculture, states, 'that the lungs of an 

 animal are the first objects to be attended to, 

 for on their size and soundness the health and 

 strength of an animal principally depend ; that 

 the external indications of the size of the lungs 

 are the form and size of the chest, and its 

 breadth in particular ; that the head should 

 be small, as by this the birth is facilitated, and 

 affords other advantages in feeding, and as it 

 generally indicates that the animal is of a good 

 breed ; that the length of the neck should be in 

 proportion to the size of the animal, that it may 

 collect its food with ease ; and that the muscles 

 and tendons should be large, by which the animal 

 is enabled to travel with greater facility ; and the 

 bones should be small and clean.' 



We may here add a description of the best pro- 

 portions of a Cheviot ram, by the late Mr Culley 

 of Northumberland : ' His head should be fine and 

 small ; his nostrils wide and expanded ; his eyes 

 prominent, and rather bold and daring ; ears thin ; 

 his collar full from the breast and shoulders, but 

 tapering gradually all the way to where the neck 

 and head join, which should be very fine and 

 graceful, being perfectly free from any coarse 

 leather hanging down ; the shoulders broad and 



full, which must at the same time join so easy to 

 the collar forward t and chine backward, as to leave 

 not the least hollow in either place ; the mutton 

 upon his arm or fore-thigh must come quite to the 

 knee; his legs upright, with a clean fine bone, 

 being equally clear from superfluous skin and coarse 

 hairy wool, from the knee and hough downwards ; 

 the breast broad and well forward, which will keep 

 his fore-legs at a proper wideness ; his girth or 

 chest full and deep, and instead of a hollow behind 

 the shoulders, that part, by some called the fore- 

 flank, should be quite full ; the back and loins 

 broad, flat, and straight, from which the ribs must 

 rise with a fine circular arch ; his belly straight, 

 the quarters long and full, with the mutton quite 

 down to the hough, which should neither stand in 

 nor out ; his twist or junction of the inside of the 

 thighs deep, wide, and full, which, with the broad 

 breast, will keep his four legs open and upright ; 

 the whole body covered with a thin pelt ; and that 

 with fine bright soft wool. The nearer any breed 

 of sheep comes up to the above description, the 

 nearer they approach towards excellence of form ; 

 and there is little doubt but if the same attention 

 and pains were taken to improve any particular 

 breed that has been taken with a certain variety of 

 the Lincolnshire, the same advantages would be 

 obtained.' 



3. Early maturity is a property of great import- 

 ance to the farmer who breeds and feeds all his 

 own sheep for the shambles ; they not only make 

 a quicker return for their food, but yield a higher 

 profit to the breeder than slow-feeding animals. 

 This valuable property of early maturity can be 

 induced by breeding, food, and treatment The 

 New Leicester variety possesses this property in 

 a higher degree than any other of our domestic 

 breeds, and they also yield a greater quantity of 

 mutton on the same quantity of food. 



4. Constitutional hardiness, in a rigorous 

 climate, and in bleak and elevated mountains, 

 in which artificial food cannot be obtained, is an 

 indispensable quality. But a farmer will seldom 

 make a wrong selection in circumstances so 

 obvious. 



5. Productiveness is a property which charac- 

 terises some varieties of sheep and other animals ; 

 it may be increased by careful selection in breed- 

 ing, and by food and treatment Pets have 

 almost invariably twin lambs. The draft ewes 

 from the mountains of Scotland have generally 

 twins when taken to a milder climate, and kept 

 on superior food. 



6. Disposition to fatten is a property of very 

 great importance to feeders, as their sheep can be 

 made fit for the market both in a shorter period 

 and with a less quantity of food. None of our 

 domestic breeds possess this quality in greater 

 perfection than the New or Border Leicester ; but 

 these are chiefly reared for males to cross with the 

 ewes of the native mountain breeds, and such half- 

 bred stock are found to combine early maturity 

 with superior mutton. For the taste of most 

 people, the flesh of the pure-bred Leicester is too 

 fat, and it generally sells at from a penny to two- 

 pence per pound less money than can be obtained 

 for crosses, or pure-bred mountain or Down sheep. 



7. Lightness of offal. It is obvious that to 

 whatever extent the weight of the offal, or uneat- 

 able portion of the carcase, can be diminished, the 

 value of the animal is increased. The perfection 



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