194 PRINCIPLES OF STOCK-BREEDING. 



clearly exhibited in its external qualities. Tins in- 

 duced them to throw aside the best of the lambs and 

 select those to breed from which had apparently most 

 of the Cheviot figure. This was an additional dis- 

 advantage ; for, as it prevailed wherever the experi- 

 ment was tried, the mountain-flocks in general were 

 smaller and feebler than ever they were known to 

 have been ; and were, consequently, more vulnerable 

 to bad seasons, a course of which happened to accom- 

 pany the change." * 



The stability of the characteristics of the old 

 mountain - breed was shown in the readiness with 

 which the cross-bred animals were " bred back " to 

 the original type, and the frequent appearance of the 

 old characters by atavic descent after an effort for 

 twenty-five years to establish the peculiarities of the 

 Cheviot. 



"The black-faced sheep," says Youatt, "seemed 

 obstinately to resist the influence of foreign crosses. 

 The Leicester, and even the Cheviot blood, added 

 little to the value either of the fleece or the carcass, 

 while they materially lessened the hardihood of the 

 sheep." a 



Sir John Sinclair also observes that " the Dishley 

 breed is perhaps the best ever reared for a rich, arable 

 district ; but the least tincture of this blood is destruc- 

 tive to the mountain-sheep, as it makes them incapable 

 of withstanding the least scarcity of food." s 



The Cheviots, although a mountain-breed adapted 



1 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, vol. i., p. 178. 



2 Youatt on "Sheep," p. 325. 



3 As quoted by Youatt, loc. cit., p. 325. 



