CHAPTER YII. 



LEICESTER SHEEP 



HE Native Breeds of Sheep may be classified under 

 three groups, according to the length and character 

 of their wool. Thus we have under one head Long 

 Wools, of which we maj name the Leicester, Lincoln, 

 and Cotswold as types ; the Intermediate^ as seen in the Cheviot, 

 Dorset, and Oxfordshire sheep ; and Short Wools, embracing 

 the Downs and Welsh. It is difficult to say whether long or 

 short woolled sheep predominate at the present day ; a few 

 years since we should have had no difficulty in awarding the 

 first place numerically to the long wools, but of late years the 

 Shropshire sheep have made great strides in pubhc favour. 

 Looking, however, at the large number of long wools bred in 

 the Border counties, and their general appearance along the 

 north-eastern coast, as well as in the south-western counties, 

 we think they would still poll well. 



In our attempt to give a general account of the leading 

 breeds, we commence with the Leicester, not because they are 

 a more ancient race than either Lincoln or Cotswold, but 

 because in the hands of Bakewell they were modelled into a 

 type of animal that eventually impressed its qualities more or 

 less upon every other variety of long-woolled sheep. Bakewell 

 was so far fortunate in occupying the arena at a time when 

 circumstances extraneous to himself enabled him to carry out 

 his improvements. The successful cultivation of the turnip as 

 a field crop provided a more regular supply of food. It was 

 possible, by good management, to keep stock thriving from birth 

 to death ; hence the value of an animal that could make flesh 

 rapidly. We have no record of the modus operandi. Bakewell 



