258 THE STUDY OF BREEDS. 



V. Leading qualities sought by Bakewell. 



. (i) Greater symmetry of form. 



(2) Improved qualities of food assimilation and fattening. 



(3) An earlier maturity. 



(4) A reduction in the proportion of bone and offal, and 

 - (5) Greater development in the parts most valuable on 



the block. 



VI. Weaknesses resulting from Bakewell's 

 methods. 



(1) Too great a delicacy of constitution. 



(2) A less degree of prolificacy. 



(3) Impaired milking qualities, and 



(4) An insufficient wool product. 



VII. System of ram letting. 



(1) This system seems to have been first introduced by 

 Bakewell. 



(2) At first he could only realize 175. and 6d. per ram 

 for the season, but ere long he readily secured 100 guineas 

 for the best animals. 



(3) In 1789 he was paid 6,200 guineas for the hire of 

 his rams. 



VIII. Distribution of the breed. 



(1) Within fifty years from the establishment of the New 

 Leicester breed it had superseded nearly all the long wooled 

 breeds in England, or had been so mingled with them as to 

 obliterate their former distinctions. 



(2) Years ago they were more widely distributed in 

 other countries than any of the British breeds. 



(3) They were introduced into Virginia and New Jersey 

 prior to the War of Independence, and later into other states, 

 particularly New York, where for a time they became th,e pre- 

 vailing breed, but they have not obtained an extensive foothold 

 in the west. 



(4) They were first imported into Canada about 1800 by 

 Rev. Mr. Toofy of Quebec, and in all the Dominion they -have 

 been used in grading to a greater extent than all the other 

 breeds combined. 



IX. The two types of Leicesters, viz., the Bake- 

 well and the Border. 



(i) The latter are of the same general style as the Bake- 

 well Leicester, but they are larger, though not quite so 

 compact. 



