1052 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



r 



ART 



III. 



890 



varieties, produced by peculiarities of litUBtlon, and different model of management, and by oocarional 

 intermixture with other breetli Uc may, therefore, distinguish the sheep of the mainland of Scotland 

 irniii those of the Hebrides, .hm of the northern i-i.nnis of Orkney and Zetland. 



713a The llebridean sheep i| the smallest animal "I iU kind. It is Ol a tliin, lank shape, and lias usually 

 straight shorn horns The lair anil legl are white, tin- tail very short, and the wool ol' various colours ; 

 lometimei of a bluiih «n y, brown, or deep russet, and sometimes all these colours meet in the fleece of one 

 animal Where tin- pasture and management an 1 favourable, the wool is very line, resembling in softness 



that of Shetland ; hut, .11 other parti ol the same islands, the wool is >tunted and coarse, the animal sickly 

 and puny, and frequent] 3 carriei lour, or even six horns. The average weight of this poor breed, even 

 when rat, is only ."■ or '■» lbs pel quarter, or nearly about 'Jo lbs. per sheep. It is often much less, only 

 amounting to (a or loin.. ; and the price of the animal's carcass, skin and all, is from 10f. to 14a. Fat 

 •redden hue been sold m the Long Island at 7-. a head, and ewes at 5s. or 6s. The quantity of wool 

 which the Beece yields is equally contemptible with the weight of the carcass. It rarely exceeds one 

 pound weight, and is often short of even hah that quantity. The quality of the wool is different on dif- 

 t rent part oi the body j and inattention to separating the fine from the coarse, renders the cloth made 

 in the Hebrides verj unequal and precarious in its texture. The average value of a fleece of this abori. 



J final Btebridean breed is from 3d. to la. sterling. From this account it is plain, that the breed in question 

 las every chance of being speedily extirpated. [Maedonald't Report of the Hebridet, p. 447.) 



71 7. Qf the Zetland sheep it would appear that there are two varieties, one of which is considered to 

 be the native race, ami carries very tine wool; but the number of these is much diminished, and in some 

 places they have been entirely supplanted by foreign breeds ; the other variety carries coarse wool above, 

 anil soft fine wool below. They have three different successions of wool yearly, two of which resemble 

 long hair more than wool, and are termed by the common people/or.? and scudda. When the wool begun 

 to loosen in the roots, which generally happens about the month of February, the hairs, or scudda, spring 

 up ; and when the wool is carefully plucked off, the tough hairs continue fast until the new wool grows up 

 about a quarter of an inch in length, then they gradually wear oil"; and when the new fleece has acquired 

 about two months' growth, the rough hairs, termed fart, spring up and keep root until the proper season 

 for pulling it arrives, when it is plucked off along with the wool, and separated from it, at dressing the 

 Beece, by an operation called forsing. The scudda remains upon the skin of the animal as if it were a thick 

 coat, a fence against the inclemency of the seasons, which provident nature has furnished for supplying 

 the want of the fleece. The wool is of various colours ; the silver grey is thought to be the finest, but the 

 black, the white, the mourat, or brown, is very little inferior, though the pure white is certainly the most 

 valuable for all the finer purposes in which combing wool can be used. {Sir John Sinclair un the different 

 Breeds of Sheep, S(C. Appendix, No. 4. Account if the Shetland Sheep, by Thomas Johnston, p. 79.) In 

 the northern part of Kincardineshire, as well as in most other of the northern counties, there is still a 

 remnant of this ancient race, distinguished by the yellow colour of the face and legs, and by the dishevelled 

 fixture of the fleece, which consists in part of coarse, and in part of remarkably fine wool. Their average 

 weight in that county is from seven to nine pounds a quarter, and the mutton is remarkably delicate and 

 highly flavoured. (Kincardineshire Report, p. >'3S5. Sap. E Brit, art Agr. 176.) The Highland Society 

 of Scotland have offered premiums for the improvement of this breed, and some experiments are now in 

 progress. See vol. vi. of their Transactions; and for a particular account of the breed itself, and its 

 management, see ShirrefT's Survey of Orkney and Shetland. 



7138. The Spanish, or Merino breed, bears the finest wool of the sheep species; the 

 males Jig. 889.) usually have horns 

 of a middle size, but the females 

 (Jig. 890.) are frequently without 

 horns ; the faces and legs are white, 

 the legs rather long, but the bones 

 fine. The average weight per quar- 

 ter of a tolerably fat ram is about 

 seventeen pounds, and that of ewes 

 about eleven pounds. 



7139. The shape of this race is far from being perfect, according to the ideas of English breeders, with 

 whom symmetry of proportion constitutes a principal criterion of excellence The throatiness, or pen- 

 dulous skin beneath the throat, which is usually accompanied with a sinking or hollow in the neck, pre- 

 sents a most offensive appearance, though it is much esteemed in Spain, as denoting both a tendency to 

 tine wool, and a heavy fleece. Yet the Spanish sheep are level on the back, and behind the shoulders ; 

 and Lord Somerville has proved that there is no reason to conclude that deformity in shape is, in any 

 degree, necessary to the production of line wool. 



7140. Thefieeee of the Merino sheen weighs, upon an average, from three to five pounds; in colour, it is 

 unlike that of any English breed : there is on the surface of the best Spanish fleeces a dark brown tinge, 

 approaching almost to a black, which is formed by dust adhering to the greasy properties of its pile; and 

 the contrast between this tinge and the rich white colour below, as well as that rosy hue of the skin which 

 denotes high proof, at first sight excites much surprise. The harder the fleece is, the more it resists any 

 ixt.rn.il pressure of the hand, the more close and fine will be the wool : here and there, indeed, a fine 

 pile mi] be found in an open fleece, though this occurs but rarely. Nothing, however, has tended to 

 render the Merino sheep more unsightly to the English eve than the large tuft of wool which covers the 



> : it is 01 a very inferior quality, and classes with what is produced on the hind legs; on which 



ol it do,- not ,nrt with any of the three qualities, viz. rafinos, or prime ; finos, or second best ; and 



r, the inferior sort ; and, consequently, is never exported from Spain. 



71*1. Vertnot were first brought mtn England in 17ns, but did not excite much interest before his 



al.gesn ■ sales, which began in 1804 ; the desirable object of spreading them widely over the country, and 



subjecting them to the experiments of the most eminent professional breeders, has' been greatly promoted 



by the institution ot the del 110 So iety in 1811, to which belonged some of the greatest landholders, and 



t eminent breeders in the kingdom. For some years past, this breed lias been on the decline. 



[Sup E. Brit. art. Agr. A COI importation was made by Colonel Downie, of Paisley, which 



distributed the breed throughout different parts of Scotland. See the Renfrewshire Survey. It is not 



understood that they have answered the expectations that were once formed of them ; and Iain not aware 



that there are any Hoiks in the possession of rent-paving farmers. The only successful experiment in 



.- 1! md seems to have been that of the late Mr. Malcolm I.aing, in the Orkney Islands ; and it is not the 



pure race, but crosses into other breeds. See the General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. 



Sect. II. Criteria (f Properties in Sheep. 



7142. The criteria of an excellent ram, as given by Culley, combines qualities which ought to be found 

 in every bn ed of sheep cultivated for its Been and wool. I lis head should be fine and small ; his nostrils 

 wide and expanded ; hi- eves prominent, and rather bold or daring; ears thin ; his collar full from his breast 

 and shoulders, but tapering gradually all the way to where the neck and head join, which should be very 



