388 THE HEATH SHEEP. 



weighing generally from three to four pounds per 

 fleece. The carcass is short and firm, and weighs, 

 on an average, from twelve to sixteen pounds per 

 quarter. 



The range of country in which the Heath Sheep 

 are chiefly found, is the mountainous tract adjoin- 

 ing upon the Irish Sea, from the county of Lan- 

 caster, to Fort William in Scotland. They are a 

 wild, active, and hardy race; run with amazing 

 agility; and are excellently adapted to subsist in 

 heathy and mountainous districts. They are not 

 often fed, till they are from three to five years old ; 

 and at this age they feed well, and their mutton is 

 accounted peculiarly excellent. 



Although considerable improvements have, of 

 late years, taken place is this breed of Sheep, there 

 is yet room for much to be done with respect 

 to the quality of the wool. By judicious cross- 

 ings with the best of the fine-woolled breeds, the 

 Heath Sheep may eventually become an highly 

 estimable kind. The three principal fairs for 

 these Sheep are, Stagshaw-bank, in Northumber- 

 land ; Brough, in Westmoreland ; and Linton, in 

 Scotland: at all which places they are every year 

 sold in astonishing numbers. 



THE 



