SHE 



SHE 



583 



breed, a very considerable portion 

 of the long-wooled sheep in Eng- 

 land have been greatly improved 

 in this respect. 



" The peculiar characters of 

 these sheep have been well de- 

 scribed by Mr. Culley, an eminent 

 grazier in Northumberland, who 

 introduced the breed into that part 

 of England. I'he Dishley breed 

 are distinguished from other long- 

 wooled breeds by their fine lively 

 eyes, clean heads, straight, broad, 

 flat backs, round (barrel like) bo- 

 dies, very fine small bones, thin 

 pelts, and inclination to fat at an 

 early age. The last property is 

 probably owing to the before spe- 

 cified qualities, which, from obser- 

 vation and experience, there is 

 reason to believe extend generally 

 through every species of domestic 

 quadrupeds. The Dishley breed 

 is not only peculiar for the mutton 

 being fat, but also for the fineness 

 of the gvain : the flavour is supe- 

 rior to the mutton of most other 

 long-wooled breeds. The weight 

 of the carcase may be stated in 

 general; ewes three or four years 

 old from eighteen to twenty-six 

 pounds per quarter; wethers, two 

 years old from twenty to thirty 

 pounds." 



Among the shurtwooled sheep, 

 the English possess, besides the 

 Merino breed, the Ryeland, the 

 Shropshire, the Shetland, the Dor- 

 set, Wilts, he. &c. Merino sheep 

 were first introduced into Great 

 Britain in the year 1787; and al- 

 though it was formerly a general 

 opinion, that the excellence of 

 their fleece depended in a great 

 degree upon the temperature of 



the Spanish climate, it has been 

 ascertained that the fineness of the 

 Spanish wool is not impaired by 

 breeding the sheep in England, 

 France, Saxony, Hungary, &c. 



Mr. Custis, of Virginia, is rear- 

 ing a new breed of sheep, which 

 he calls the Arlington sheep, with 

 long wooled fleeces for worsted 

 manufactures. They are a mix- 

 ture of the Bakevvell breed with a 

 ram from Persia, imported by 

 General Washington. 



The common practice of smear- 

 ing the bodies of sheep with a mix- 

 ture of tar and fresh butter or 

 other oily substance is not approv- 

 ed of by IV] r. Luccock, an English 

 writer, who says, " The oil which 

 the mixture contains is most cer- 

 tainly useful, but the tar, a dirty 

 and tenacious substance, adheres 

 to the wool so closely as frequent- 

 ly to corrode the hair, rendering 

 the part to whicli it was immedi- 

 ately aj)plied thin, rough and weak. 

 When atfected by the filthy cus- 

 tom of smearing, the pile is less 

 capable of acquiring the softer and 

 more delicate tints, which it is so 

 often desirable to communicate to 

 the diflferent articles of the woollen 

 manufacture. A portion of that 

 dirt, which it obstinately retains 

 through every previous process, is 

 dissolved among the ingredients of 

 the dying vat, and disqualifies 

 them from communicating that 

 vivid lustre, which they would 

 have afforded to a purer wool, 

 even though tlie artist supply his 

 pans with a much larger proportion 

 of the colouring materials. In the 

 subsequent processes of the manu- 

 facture, this filthy staple produces 



