THE KENTISH OR ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 33 



their first summer, looking dry in the coat and wanting the 

 bloom which is seen on Down lambs. They are said to be 

 delicate when young, and require time to mature. But what- 

 ever their appearance in youth, they grow up grand and hardy, 

 and it is asserted by experienced farmers of the district that 

 no breed will so well withstand the climate or thrive so well 

 on what Camden's translator calls the " weally " nature of the 

 soil. They ought not to be run too thickly upon the land, nor 

 enclosed too constantly in hurdles, and if such a policy is 

 pursued they lose in size. The Cotswold is not adapted for 

 breeding fat lambs. The mutton is of second quality, like 

 that of most long-woolled sheep, and is pale and long in the 

 grain. When long wool commanded a higher price than short 

 wool, the position of the Cotswold sheep was stronger than at 

 present, as a Cotswold fleece was easily worth i. Now the 

 same fleece is probably not worth more than IDS. For a 

 time the demand for Cotswold rams seemed in danger of 

 falling off, but during the last two or three seasons there has 

 been a reaction in their favour. 



THE KENTISH OR ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 



The flat and bleak district of Romney Marsh would scarcely 

 at first sight, seem suitable for extensive sheep farming. And 

 yet there is a general resemblance between it and the exten- 

 sive fens of East Anglia, which once supported the famous 

 old Lincoln breed, and now carry its descendants, modified 

 by Leicester crosses. A similar and parallel change trans- 

 formed the large arid hardy sheep of Romney Marsh into the 

 compact race which to-day covers the large tract stretching 

 from Hythe to the River Rother, and for ten miles from 

 Dungeness to Appledore. Over the westerly district known as 

 Romney Marsh proper, Walland, Denge, and South Brooks ; 

 from Hythe in Kent to Guildford Marsh on the north-west, 

 stretching well into Sussex^ we find -the district known as 

 Romney Marsh. It is a plain of alluvial land nearly on a level 

 I 



