368 



SHEEP BREEDING IN IRELAND. 



The following Table shows the number of sheep in each county of Ireland 

 in 1 900 : — 



The following statement gives the number of sheep in Ireland for each 

 year in the period 1 880-1 900 : — 



As regards wool, that of the Downs, Shrop., Oxford, South, and Hamp- 

 shire, is at present the most prized. Good Roscommon hogget comes next, 

 much depending on how the sheep are fed. The wool of Roscommon 

 hoggets, fed in Meath, Westmeath, and neighbouring counties, is worth a 

 halfpenny per lb. above the same class of wool from sheep fed in other 

 districts. Mountain and Cheviot wool are worth about the same price in 

 this country ; but in Scotland wool of the same breeds is worth more, as 

 they seem to breed and feed the sheep better in that country. The wool 

 of Cheviots and Mountainies, when fed on the lowlands — Meath, Kildare, 

 etc. — is called " Seaside ; " the same wool off sheep fed on the mountains is 

 ■called " Mountain." The Scotch Horny, which is bred in the North of 

 Ireland, produces the lowest grade wool. The Border Leicester and Lin- 

 coln wool is considered rather too long and coarse in texture. The wool of 

 aged Roscommon sheep does not vary in price as regards the lands on 

 which they are fed so much as in the case of hoggets of the same breed. 

 "Foreign competition is the cause of the decline in the price of wool. 



