THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



161 



Shnep should have a regular supply of salt at 

 all times. Where hay is cut /or siieep (or any 

 other stork) it should.be salted, as it is n)uch 

 more convenient to give thetii salt in the vvinler 

 in this way. 



The kind of sheep raised must depend upon 

 circumstances. Where the chiel' demand is lor 

 mullon, some of ihe larger kinds ol' sli^ep may 

 be most valuable, ns (he Bakevvell or Colswold. 

 This will be especially ihe case where pasiurage is 

 very abundant, for ihese large sheep require 

 pastures. J3ut where the object is chiefly vvool, the 

 Merino or a cross of the Mcriijo and Saxony will 

 be found most profitable. The larger sheep will 

 do better in our rich level lands than in moun- 

 tainous regions. It might have been supposed 

 that a cross of the Southdown upon our Merino 

 flocks would be very advantageous. And such 

 a cross has been strongly recommended in Ken- 

 lucky. 



But this has not been the result, in the trials 

 that have been made in Eugland. It is said in 

 the Complete Grazier, page 230, that the pro- 

 duce of this cross had " lender constitutions, slow 

 feeding, bad shape, and deficiency in the num- 

 ber of lambs. This new breed has therefore 

 been generally given up in Sussex, and also in 

 Wiltshire, where it has been extensively tried." 

 The wool of the Southdown was consideiably 

 improved. 



The following account of the difTerenl breeds 

 of England is taken from Judge Beaity's Prize 

 JKssay upon the Agriculture of Kentucky, pub- 

 lished in the 4ih vol. Ky. Farmer, page 300 : 



" England is quite as celebrated for her breeds 

 of sheep as of cattle. They may be divided 

 into the long and short woolled kinds. 01' the 

 former, the most noted are the following, and 

 they stand in point of sine in the order named : 



1, Teeswaier wethers, weighing per qr. 



at 2 years old, 30 lbs. 



2, Lincoln, " 25 



3, Dartmoor or Bampton, " • 25 



4, Colswold, " 24 



5, New Leicester, " 22 



6, Romney Marsh, « 22 



" These bear fleeces from eight to eleven pounds 

 in the yolk. The Lincolns bear the heaviest. 

 The Teeswaier, Cots wold and Dartmoor wethers 

 average nine pounds each, and the New Leices- 

 ter and Romney Marsh eight poilnds. These 

 breeds all bear very coarse wool, which foriy 

 years ago sold in England at lOd. sterling (20 

 cents.) Of the short woolled kindd of native 

 sheep, the most noted are the Ryelands and 

 Southdowns. Southdown wethers average at 2 

 years old, 18 lbs. per quarter ; the Ryelands 

 only 14 lbs. at 3| years old. They are a small 

 race of sheep, but bear finer fleeces than any 

 of the native sheep of England. The South- 

 downs are the next finest. Their wool at the 

 period above-mentioned was worth two shillings 

 and four pence, sterling, {56 cents,) and their 

 fleeces average about three pounds. 



" The Teeswaier are the largest sheep in 

 England, and are prevalent " in the rich, fine, 

 fertile, enclosed land on the banks of the Tees, 

 in Yorkshire." Tliey are supposed to have 

 sprung^ from the Lincolns, being an improve- 

 ment of that stock, as regards size, with little 

 alleration to the quality of the wool. They 

 Vol. X.-21 



are said to be a breed calculated for warm, rich 

 pastures, where they are kept in small lots, in 

 small CHclosuree, and supported with food in severe 

 winter seasons." 



" The Lincolns of the improved breed are 

 said to be " among Ihe best, if not actually ihe 

 best long woolled sheep in England." The fla- 

 vor of the Lincoln mutton is superior to that 

 of the Dishley, and is a great favorite at Smith- 

 field. Their wool is fi-om ten to eighteen 

 inches long, but very coarse, being only "fit for 

 combing. 



" The New Leicester or Dishley (Bakewell) 

 is an improved breed of sheep, which, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Culley, "is readily distinguished from 

 the other long woolled sorts, by having fine live- 

 ly eyes, clean heads, without horns, straight, 

 broad, flat backs, round or barrel shaped bodies, 

 fine small bones, thin pells, and a disposition lo 

 make fat at an early age." Mr. Culley adds his 

 testimony in favor of the " superiority in the fine- 

 ness of the grain and flavor of the mutton, to that 

 of the other sheep of the long woolled kind." But 

 upon this point other authors do not concur. The 

 author of the ' Treatise upon Live Stock,' says 

 the New Leicester mutton is the most fine by grain 

 of all Ihe large long woolled species, but of a flavor 

 bordering on the insipid.''^ Mr. Livingston, in his 

 admirable Essay on Sheep, speaking of Mr. Bake- 

 well's improvement of the Dishley stock, says, 

 he was of opinion " that fat upon the rump and ribs 

 was more important than tallow, and accordingly 

 he produced sheep on which it is there found five 

 or six inches thick. He further remarks that 

 " his sheep are, on that account, less valuable to 

 the epicure than to the laborer, with whom 

 they, in some sort, supply the place of pork." 



Th& wool of this sheep is the shortest and 

 finest of combing wools, ihe length of the staple 

 being six or seven inches." 



The late Mr. Robert Bakewell originated this 

 improved vari<My, and it is supposed the base of 

 the improvement was a cross between the Lin- 

 colns and Ryelands, the latter giving fineness to ihe 

 wool and grain of the mutton. This breed is ad- 

 mitted " to be the most perfectly formed, and 

 consequently more disposed to fatten quickly, 

 and to contain a much larger proportion of meat 

 on an equal weight of bone." They are said 

 also to be more disposed to fatten than other 

 breeds of the same size of carcass j but are alleged 

 10 be objectionable because of their " fattening too 

 much, and the mutton, in consequence, becom- 

 ing less delicate in its flavor than other breeds that 

 require a greater length of lime in the process. 



The Cotswold variety are also of the fine spe- 

 cies oi' combing wool, and, like the New Leices- 

 ters, are said to have derived this feature from a 

 cross with the Ryelands. 



The Romney Marshes are a large breed, car- 

 rying wool suitable for combing, of rather a fine 

 quality. They acquire their name from the 

 marsh on which they are chiefly raised, and 

 are said to be well adapted to be " ftitlened on 

 the rich kinds of marsh pasture, and on those 

 which extend from Hastings to Rye in Kent." 

 The author of the ■' Synopsis of Husbandry" 

 says that "a convincing proof of the great va- 

 lue of this breed of sheep, as well v.s of the 

 land on which they are ted, is that six lo eight 

 wethers may be fattened per acre." This breed 



