The Farm Livestock of the Period. 277 



In that county a small sort of hornless variety with mottled 

 face, originally from Wales, was most in fashion. The Ross 

 sheep, from Herefordshire, lately introduced, was said to yield 

 the finest wool in the kingdom, though this may have been 

 mainly owing to the practice in the latter county of sorting 

 the wool, which was so carefully followed in Spain. 



But the wool 'par excellence^ which had procured for English 

 agriculturists in Tudor times a world-wide fame, and which 

 insured for the Spaniard his present supremacy in the world's 

 market, had been the Cotswold, In the old days this light- 

 carcased and polled animal had produced a fleece averaging 

 3 lbs. of the finest wool possible. Every care had been bestowed 

 on its welfare, and though admirably adapted to the bleak 

 climate of a hill country, it had been driven under shelter 

 whenever bad weather threatened, with that caution lately 

 shown to be the attribute of the Spanish shepherd. Then the 

 enclosure of the wastes, combined with attempts to produce an 

 increased carcase by cross-breeding, had brought about a 

 larger animal but a coarser wool, and the requirements of the 

 butcher had been allowed to supplant those of the clothier. 

 Wether sheep were now fatted off from two to three years old, 

 and averaged 26 lbs. the quarter ; but though the weight of a 

 fleece had more than doubled itself, the quality of the wool was 

 depreciated. 



On the greensward of the Cheviots was a typical form of 

 mountain sheep. Though hornless, and, in general, with white 

 faces and legs, they were admirably adapted for a semi-wild 

 existence. The ewes were kept as much as possible on the 

 lower ground, but the gimmers and wethers braved the fierce 

 blast high up amidst the heaths which clothe with verdure 

 the mountain sides. Their wool was not fine enough of itself 

 to repay the flockmaster, but they were quick feeders, and 

 yielded the sweetest of mountain mutton. They were fast 

 being mixed with the Dishley and Lincolnshire breeds ; and 

 though the progeny of this cross could not vie in value with 

 the long-fleeced variety as regards wool, and with the pure- 

 bred Leicester as regards meat, it possessed in moderate pro- 

 portions those combined attributes of hardiness, early maturity, 



