424 THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



distance, and wishes to keep his surplus stock, this clause is not 

 binding. 



A great many objections have been urged against this custom, 

 the most serious being that it enables men without sufficient 

 capital to take farms ; but this can be met either by the landlord 

 taking care that his proposed tenant is, if not a man of great 

 substance, a man of steady industry, and one who understands 

 his business, or by requiring a bond. On the whole we think 

 the custom works well and is a good one, as in cases where it 

 has not been in force, and the whole stock has been sold off, 

 we have known great advantage taken of the necessity to buy 

 largely which the incoming tenant was known to be under, to 

 run the biddings up unfairly high. 



We have omitted to mention one rather peculiar circumstance, 

 which is, that there was originally a distinct strain of this sheep 

 about Seathwaite, that had fourteen ribs. Though we believe 

 that, as a distinct strain it no longer exists, yet many individual 

 sheep possess this peculiarity; and Mr. Nelson, of Gatesgarth, 

 one of the most noted breeders, tells us that instances are not at 

 all uncommon in his flock, and that he does not notice any other 

 peculiarity or difference between them and sheep possessing the 

 normal number of ribs. 



The engravings are from photographs of two tups, the 

 property of Mr. C. W. Wilson, of High Park, Kendal, who has a 

 large Herdwick stock at Kentmere Hall ; these tups were shown 

 at the Eoyal Society's Exhibition at Hull in 1873, where one of 

 them was second to a Lonk tup, shown in the same class. And 

 here we must protest against Herd wicks being made to compete 

 with such a breed as Lonks, which go on immensely superior 

 ground. Surely they might be allowed in the same class with 

 the horned black-faces, seeing that they imdergo even greater 

 hardships than these. 



