CHEVIOTS. 259 



short for combing; and high-class flocks yield an annual clip of not over 

 three to five pounds per head. 



In size the Cheviots rank as medium ; two-year-old wethers can be 

 made to weigh 180 to 200 Ibs. , and breeding rams at maturity should 

 scale about 175 Ibs. They fatten quickly on root-crops, after pasture, 

 without grain. The ewes are good mothers, although not so prolific as 

 some other breeds, and the lambs very hardy. 



For western and northern ranges, especially those in the mountain- 

 ous regions of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the Cheviot should prove 

 an excellent breed. 



The pure bloods are, perhaps, not so valuable, but they furnish an 

 admirable basis for crossing with Cotswold and Leicester rams, increas- 

 ing thereby length of staple and size of carcass, while retaining the 

 hardy mountain instincts of the Cheviot race. 



