THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODIJCTORY. 



HEEP occupy a prominent place in the history of 

 British Agriculture. To the products of these 

 valuable animals, and especially to their wool, were 

 our progenitors indebted for much of their national 

 prosperity. Youatt, in the admirable preface to his work en 

 Sheep, makes allusion to our woollen products, which became 

 eminent soon after the subjugation of this island by tlie 

 Romans. Dionysius Alexandrinus tells us that " The wool of 

 G-reat Britain is often spun so fine that it is in a manner com- 

 parable to the spider's web." In later times the wool trade was 

 by far the most important industry of our country ; and wool 

 frequently took the place of money. The Lord Chancellor of 

 England sits on the woolsack ; and maidens of all degrees were 

 taught to spin — hence the name spinster, now so hateful. As 

 population increased, the food supply became a question of 

 importance, and eventually, as the carcase became more valuable 

 than the fleece, the latter was to a certain extent sacrificed. It 

 has been reserved to our own generation to bring both the yield 

 of wool and the weight of flesh to perfection in the same 

 animal ; but this is undoubtedly done at some sacrifice of 

 quality. We do not grow such fine wool as formerly, and for 

 our own better class of goods have recourse to the German and 

 Australian merinos. An extraordinary impetus was given to 

 sheep culture by the introduction of root crops, which, with 

 artificial grasses, secure winter food. The revolution effected 

 by Bakewell and others would have been impossible but for the 



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