THE SHEEP. 175 



Tvhich the sheep mnst travel all day in order to procure a sufficiency of 

 food. They require a good, or at least moderate soil, and on this they 

 fatten with incredible rapidity, and are consequently very profitable 

 to the breeder. If in the establishment of this breed Mr. Bakewell 

 erred, it was in the very little regard he paid to the wool, in which his 

 immediate followers imitated hiin, some even going so far as to prefer 

 sheep with bad fleeces to those with good, as if a fine and perfect 

 carcass and good wool were incompatible with each other. But this 

 false notion is now corrected, and the fleece obtains its due share of 

 attention. 



^Vith respect to the quality of the mutton of the improved Leicesters, 

 we do not estimate it so highly as that of some of the short-wooled 

 breeds. When not over fVit, it is tender and juicy, but destitute of high 

 flavor ; but when fattened to a high degree, the interstices of the fibers 

 of the muscles are replete with fat in such a manner that the line of dis- 

 tinction between fat and lean is almost, as it were, lost; the carcass 

 appears to be a mass of fat, and is any thing but attractive. Besides, 

 such meat is not profitable to the purchaser, though it may be to the 

 cook. AVe admit, however, that it is the grazier's fault if he carries the 

 fattening process beyond the point at which he ought to stop, whether 

 he regards his own profit or the interest of the consumer. It is the 

 character of the breed to ripen early and quickly. As soon as the 

 sheep are in a proper condition for the butcher, the grazier, instead of 

 wasting more food upon them, should get rid of them, and commence 

 the feeding of another lot, to be disposed of in their turn, as soon as 

 ready. 



It is for the accumulation of outside fat that the Leicesters are chiefly 

 remarkable. They have comparatively little loose inside fat or tallow 

 — a point of some consequence to the butcher, who deems this as add- 

 ing to his profit. By way of a counterbalance, however, the smallness 

 of the head, the thinness of the pelt, and the general greater weight of 

 the carcass than the appearance of the animal would indicate, should 

 be taken into consideration. Whatever it may be to the butcher, 

 "this diminution of offal is advantageous to the grazier; for it shows a 

 disposition to form fat outwardly, and is uniformly accompanied by a 

 tendency to quickness of improvement." In this latter quality the new 

 Leicesters, cceteris paribus^ are unrivaled. 



The new Leicesters, with all their good qualities, are not a hardy 

 race, neither are they so prolific as many other breeds. The ewes sel- 

 dom produce twins, nor indeed did the founders of this stock deem the 

 production of twins desirable. They aimed at bringing forward the 

 lamb as early as possible, and rightly considered that few ewes could 

 produce two such lambs as would meet with their wishes and realize 

 their object. The fact, moreover, is, that the exclusive attention pnid 

 to the establishment of a race, the vital energies of which were to be 

 exhibited in the attainment of early maturity, and in the quick accumu- 

 lation of fat, while productive of the results aimed at, necessarily entailed 

 counterbalancing deficiencies. A tendency to rapid fattening and early 

 ripeness is not coexistent, as a general rule, with great fertility. In 

 this point, then, the new Leicesters are defective, but less so than for- 



