OHAPTEK XIX. 



EXMOOR SHEEP. 



N the far comer of West Somerset, sea-girt on the one 

 ^^ ^ side at Minehead and Porlock, and bordering North 

 y^ J Devon on the other, is a wild tract of mountainous 

 country, the greater portion of which still consists of 

 oj>en, uncultivated commons, bearing little else but heather, the 

 home of the blackcock and wild red deer. But a race of moun- 

 tain sheep has always been native to the region as far back as 

 either history or tradition will carry us, no one being able to tell 

 whence it came. Probably, however, the Exmoor, as the breed 

 is most popularly called, had origin from the same ancient stock 

 as the Portland, and even the Dorset, for the sheep that once 

 existed on the Mendip Hills seemed a connecting link between 

 them. Youatt, in comparing the Mendip sheep with the Dorset, 

 states that the former would lamb quite as early, and bear two 

 crops a year if required, but that they had smaller horns, white 

 countenances, and were more diminutive in size ; and he adds, 

 " these sheep api>ear to be an intermediate race between the 

 Exmoor and the Dorset." Those desirous of tracing the family 

 resemblance further may be informed that Exmoor ewes are 

 frequently applied to the production of fat lambs ; while, if fed 

 well, they are bountiful in doublets, and sometimes triplets, 

 which they are usually allowed to rear, being the very best of 

 nurses. 



As to points, a leading breeder, in communication to ourselves, 

 says : " I take it the chief merit of Exmoors lies in their round 

 barrels and good constitutions, with fine-flavoured mutton and 

 fair quantity of wool." The late H. H. Dixon enumerated 

 them as follows : "A very strong constitution, which will bear 



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