BREEDS OF SHEEP AND GOATS 



349 



appear long of leg. They fatten rapidly, and the rams at 

 maturity weigh around 250 pounds, and the ewes 175 pounds 

 or more. As mutton producers, they are not popular, be- 

 cause they lay on too much fat. They require good pas- 

 tures, and are not the hardiest sheep in the world. 



The Leicester is the smallest of the long-wool breeds, and 

 has a curly fleece of low quarter-blood or braid grade that 

 does not shear very heavily, 7 to 9 pounds being about a 

 year's growth. These unfavorable criticisms account for 

 there being so few of them to-day either in America or 



elsewhere. Once 

 a popular breed, 

 this is now the 

 least known in 

 America of all 

 the so-called 

 common breeds 

 of sheep. In 

 northern Eng- 

 land, in the 

 border country, 

 is an improved 

 form or family 

 known as the 

 BorderLeicester, 

 which is the more common type to-day. This differs from 

 the English Leicester in having a more vigorous constitution, 

 an especially lively carriage of head, and a clear white face, 

 while the old breed has a bluish tinge to the skin of the face. 

 The Cotswold sheep gets its name from the fact that in 

 early times in England these sheep were sheltered in what 

 were called "Cots," and were pastured on the treeless hills 

 known as "Wolds." That was in southwest England, where 

 this breed has been kept for centuries. It is written that 

 in 1464 King Edward IV gave permission to transport some 



Figure 150. Cotswold ewe, champion, 1916, Ohio State 

 Fair. Photograph by the author. 



