216 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



t 

 English farmer is engaged in the production of those heavy 



breeds, to which we have referred, as best adapted to his soil, 



and climate, and market, his neighbors, both near and remote, 



are occupied with a very different business. 



In the mountains of Westmoreland, Lancashire and North- 

 umberland, and throughout Scotland, the Black-Faced Heath 

 sheep roam over the cold, bleak pastures, whose variety and 

 sweetness of herbage, though it is short, gives peculiar delicacy 

 of flavor to the mutton, and whose climate gives these sheep 

 great hardiness and endurance. They are the short sheep of 

 Scotland, in contradistinction to the Cheviot, or long sheep, — 

 a distinction upon which Scott and the Ettrick Shepherd had 

 their famous discussion. In form they are short, round, firm 

 and handsome. Their weight is from sixteen to twenty pounds 

 per quarter, and their yield is about five pounds of long, coarse, 

 shaggy wool. 



In the more fertile and better cultivated portions of this dis- 

 trict, the Cheviot, a larger sheep, is increasing in numbers very 

 rapidly. These sheep are found, not only upon the high hills 

 of Cumberland, Galloway and Westmoreland, from which they 

 take their name, but they are very generally kept in most parts 

 of Scotland. They are peculiarly adapted to the rough, cold 

 region which they inhabit. Their legs are long and strong, fit- 

 ting them for travelling through bogs and snow ; their quarters 

 are strong and very evenly balanced, their fleece is close, com- 

 pact and fine ; and their forms are straight, round and well 

 proportioned. Their weight, under ordinary circumstances, 

 is from twelve to eighteen pounds per quarter; and under 

 extraordinary feeding and care they reach thirty and thirty-two 

 pounds per quarter. 



In Wales, a " small, short, knotty sheep" is found, kept in 

 large flocks, and exposed to much hardship. They weigh 

 about ten pounds per quarter, and their mutton is very highly 

 esteemed. 



In Ireland, a coarse, heavy, misshapen sheep, which attained 

 a large size upon the rich pastures of that island, has been 

 much improved by the introduction of blood from some of the 

 best breeds in England. 



On the continent of Europe, many varieties of sheep are 

 found, taking their names from the countries in which they are 



