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THE RYELAND OR HEREFORDSHIRE SHEEP 



Are of small size, hornless, and have a white face, 

 and white legs ; and very fine short wool. Their 

 carcasses are tolerably well formed, and weigh from 

 ten to eighteen pounds per quarter. This breed 

 have the name of Ryeland Sheep, from the land on 

 which they were chiefly fed, being formerly thought 

 capable of producing no better grain than rye. It 

 was considered a tract of very poor land, but it is 

 now found capable of producing almost any kind 

 of grain. 



The fleece of the Ryeland Sheep, which seldom 

 exceeds the weight of a pound and a half, or two 

 pounds, is so short, soft, and fine, that whilst the 

 breed continued unmixed, they were considered to 

 bear the finest wool of any British Sheep. The 

 filaments of the wool are as fine as those of the 

 Spanish breeds; but they are more irregular as to 

 size and furface, and consequently rougher; neither 

 does this wool felt well. It is, however, supposed 

 to make the finest cloth of any English wool. This 

 superiority has been long acknowledged. Old 

 Drayton, who wrote about two centuries ago, cele- 

 brates it under the appellation of " Leominster 

 Ore." 



" Where 



