316 THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



weights — 801b. to 881b. — they being from eleven to twelve months 

 old, and having had the aid of only a small proportion of cake 

 or corn. We find in these days it is no use keeping them 

 after they get about 801b., as what they gain in weight we lose 

 in price per pound, and their gain in flesh is very rapid. Our 

 fleeces from two-teeth ewes average from 101b. to 111b. each, and 

 the general flock, not including wethers or rams, average nearly 

 91b. per fleece." To this statement may be added the fact that 

 Mr. Robert Farthing, one of the oldest of existing Longwool 

 breeders, realised 70s. each for the whole of his wether hoggets 

 in the spring of 1886 after being shorn of their wool. 



A leading breeder has remarked that '* while good pastures 

 are desirable for most breeds of sheep, the Devon Longwools 

 will live hard, and on high land; they have often been tried 

 with other breeds, and have been found to do well in dry 

 seasons when grass is very short, keeping their own and 

 improving, while other sorts living with them have wasted a 

 good deal, and lost much flesh. I never house them — they 

 stand all weathers out of doors." 



Lambing commences about the second week in January, but 

 is not general until towards the end of that month or the begin- 

 ning of February. The period of weaning varies much. Some 

 flockmasters take the lambs from their dams as early as the 

 middle of April, but the generality wean them in May, and a 

 few postpone the matter until June. The ewes are very fair 

 nurses, and prolific, yielding many twins, although not equal in 

 these respects to Dorset horns, or cross-bred sheep. It has 

 also been remarked that the coarser-bred Devon Longwools are 

 more prolific and better nurses than some of the better flocks 

 of higher quality. 



In the first edition of this work it was stated that prior to 1877 

 several West Somerset breeders, and especially Mr. E. Corner, 

 Mr. Bird, and Mr. R. Farthing, had been in the habit of holding 

 periodical ram sales for many previous years ; and that in 

 Devon, some of those who had been reputed as amongst the best 

 breeders were Mr. John Wippell, of Brenton, near Exeter ; Mr. 

 Drew, of Exeter ; Mr. Wm. Wippell, of Thorverton ; Mr. Pent- 

 ridge, of Bow ; Mr. G. Radmore, of Court Hayes, Thorverton ; 

 Sir J. H. Heathcoat-Amory ; and Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbings, 



