MUTTON BREEDS 57 



and knowing which would be transmitted. He made 

 such fame as a breeder of sheep that before his 

 death his rams were let for the season for as high 

 as $2,000 each. 



The Leicester is found in Canada and on some 

 of our western ranches. It is a large sheep, with 

 white points and a long, rather coarse wool. It is 

 finely formed, with an especially wide spread of 

 rib, and has an extraordinary facility for taking on 

 fat. In truth, it is a defect in the Leicester, accord- 

 ing to modern idea, that it loads up too much with 

 internal fat. Its best place in our economy is in 

 cross-breeding. Leicester rams on Merino ewes pro- 

 duce superb feeders with a very good class of wool. 



COTSWOLDS. 



One of the most common breeds in parts of Amer- 

 ica thirty years ago was the Cotswold. Common 

 they still are in parts of the country. They abound 

 in Canada and in some parts of the West, notably in 

 Utah and Oregon. The Cotswold resembles the 

 Leicester somewhat, being a large sheep with white 

 face and legs and long wool. The face may be gray- 

 ish or even light brown, and there is a tuft of wool 

 on the forehead. The wool is coarse but adapted to 

 certain uses. Cotswolds make gain profitably but 

 are not adapted to the production of very young fat 

 lambs. The best use of the breed is in cross-breed- 

 ing on ewes of Merino foundation, and for this pur- 

 pose it has been extensively used in Montana and 

 other western states. Cotswolds do not thrive when 



