SHEEP BREEDING IN IRELAND. 367 



Londonderry. They vary much in size and quaHty, and, taken as a whole, 

 the breed is capable of a good deal of miprovement. Drafts from these 

 northern mountain flocks are purchased annually by the Leinster graziers — ■ 

 ewes for crossing with a Shrop. ram to produce market lambs, and wethers 

 and lambs to be fattened off. These latter make the highest class mutton, 

 but they are very slow to fatten when taken off the mountain. The Kerry 

 mountain sheep resemble the Scotch, but are somewhat inferior in size and 

 quality, and they are shorter in the wool. 



Of the pure breeds of English sheep there are numerous flocks in Ireland, 

 but these flocks are only of limited extent, and are kept exclusively for the 

 purpose of breeding rams for sale. These rams are usually sold as shear- 

 lings, either by public auction at the owner's residence, or at the Dublin 

 Autumn sales, or by private sale, either at home or at the fairs. To ensure 

 purity of type in the different flocks, and for the general harmonious work- 

 ing of the trade, an association, called " The Irish Ram Breeding Associa- 

 tion," has been formed, and a number of rules laid down to regulate the sale 

 of rams at the annual Dublin auctions. One of these rules states that : — 

 All sheep for sale must be bona fide the property, and have been in the 

 possession of the member of the association in whose name the entry is 

 made for six months prior to date of entry, and must be entered, or the 

 flocks from which they came must be entered, in the respective Flock 

 Books of their breeds. 



It is a matter of essential impbrtance with these ram breeders to maintain 

 the purity of their respective flocks, and at the same time not to allow their 

 sheep to degenerate in size, which is a characteristic usually attendant on 

 the continued inbreeding of pure breeds of English sheep in this country. 

 Tc obviate the latter, drafts of new blood are imported each year, or every 

 alternate year, into the flocks, either from England or from the flocks of 

 noted Irish breeders. Some forty or fifty years ago the Leicesters were the 

 most favoured of the English pure breeds for crossing purposes ; but they 

 were found to grow too small, and the mutton they produced was considered 

 too fat, and being open in their fleeces, they were found rather delicate for 

 our moist climate. For all these reasons their breeding was discontinued, 

 so that latterly they would appear to have almost entirely disappeared in 

 Ireland as a pure breed. The Shropshires have taken their place, and of 

 all the English pure breeds they are now the most extensively bred in 

 Ireland, particularly in the good grazing districts, where they are largely 

 used as rams to cross with native Irish ewes, for the production of early 

 market lambs. The other English pure breeds used for ram breeding are 

 the Lincoln, the Border Leicester, the Oxford Down, the South Down,, 

 and the Hampshire Down. The rams from the pure English breeds are 

 used by the Irish graziers for crossing with the native ewes, and the Shrop. 

 is the most extensively used. The Oxford Down ram is considered an 

 excellent cross with the Mountain or Cheviot ewe, for the production of 

 market lambs, the Border Leicester ram being considered a better cross 

 with these sheep for breeding store lambs, fed on stony mountain or rocky 

 pasture, the latter breed having harder feet to wear than the Shrop. These 

 pure bred flocks are to be found indifferently all through the country — the 

 eastern, midland, and southern counties, where the good grazing lands are 

 placed, being the chief centres of the breeding ; while Connaught is an 

 exception, the breeders in that province still holding true in their allegiance 

 to the lordly Roscommon. 



