176 DOMESTIC AIJIMALS. 



merly. Still the ewes do not yield any great abundance of milk, and 

 the lambs are tender, delicate, and unfitted to endure any great inclem- 

 ency of weather. 



As a whole the New Leiccsters have not succeeded so well in this 

 country as in England, owing to the severity of our winters and to the 

 heat and dryness of our summers. They do not find that luxuriance 

 and abundance in our pastures so necessary to their highest thrift. 

 Their flesh has not sufficient admixture of lean to be palatable to our 

 people. The breed, however, succeeds well in rich lowland pastures, 

 and yields a profitable return. 



The South-Downs. — Formerly the South-Down sheep were very indi - 

 ferent; it is true that they carried very fine wool, but then the carcass 

 was ill-formed, a disadvantage which more than counterbalanced the 

 excellence of the fleece. They were small, thin in the neck, high in the 

 shoulders and in the loins, down on the rump, with the tail set very low; 

 the back was sharp, the ribs flat, and the fore-quarters narrow; yet 

 there were materials to work upon, and besides, these sheep had some 

 excellent qualifications; they arrived at early maturity, were extremely 

 hardy, thrived upon scanty keep and short feed on the natural pastures, 

 and the mutton was fine-grained and of good flavor. 



Attempts were first made to improve on South-Downs by crosses wnth 

 the Leicesters, a long-wooled sheep, but these attempts ended in utter 

 failure, nor were crosses between them and the Merinos ultimately ad- 

 vantageous. It was by careful selections, and the keeping in view of a 

 definite purpose in the choice of breeding-stock, that the improvement 

 of the South-Downs was achieved. It is to Mr. EUman of Glynde that 

 the elevation of this breed to its unrivaled position in its own line as a 

 hill sheep is due. 



Mr. Culley, in his "Live Stock," I8OY, notices the exertions "of 

 the ingenious Mr. Ellman, whose flock is already superior to that of 

 most of his neighbors, both in carcass, quantity, and quality of wool." 

 This enterprising and skillful breeder did not, however, content himself 

 "with mediocrity; and in the Annals of Agriculture^ Mr. A. Young 

 thus speaks of Mr. Ellman's South-Downs: " His flock, I must observe, 

 is unquestionably the first in the country, the wool the finest, and the 

 carcass the best proportioned. Both these valuable properties are 

 united in the flock at Glynde. lie has raised the merits of the breed 

 by his unremitting attention, and it now stands unrivaled." Mr. Ell- 

 man's own description of them is very unpretending. He says: "They 

 are now much improved both in shape and constitution ; they are smaller 

 in the bone, equally hardy, with a greater disposition to fjitten, and much 

 heavier in carcass when fat. They used seldom to fatten until they 

 were four years old ; but it would now be a rare sight to see a pen of 

 South-Down wethers at market more than two years old, and many are 

 killed before they reach that age." Doubtless the age is reckoned, as 

 is usual with sheep, not from the time when lambed, but from the time 

 of the first shearing. 



The average dead weight of South-Down wethers, varies from 100 

 to 150 pounds. They are very healthy and hardy, seldom aflfect.ed with 

 the rot and the diseases common with other varieties. 



