80 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



and yields mutton of the highest quality. Of the pure mountain 

 breeds it is certainly the best adapted for fattening on the lowland 

 farms, though it is small in size. 



First Crosses. When these mountain sheep are crossed with 

 any of the large-sized quick-growing breeds, they produce lambs 

 of excellent quality, quickly maturing, and very profitable, either 

 for the butcher or for breeding from as cross-bred ewes. 



Border-Leicester Cheviot cross. For the first cross the Border- 

 Leicester ram is the one most in favour for use on these mountain 

 ewes in Scotland and the North of England. Like all sheep of the 

 long-woolled breeds Border-Leicester, Leicester, Lincoln, and 

 Cotswold it carries far too great a proportion of fat in its carcass ; 

 but it is a large, early-maturing sheep, with excellent fleece, and 

 begets good-backed lambs that both grow and fatten rapidly. 

 It has also the important recommendation of having a narrow 

 head, which is inherited by the lambs, and so the difficulty to 

 the small mountain ewes of lambing large lambs is not materially 

 increased by its use as a sire. Where rams of the Down breeds 

 are used, lambing difficulties and losses may occur, owing to the 

 large heads of the lambs. 



South country farmers frequently raise the objection to the 

 Border-Leicester Cheviot cross that the flesh is " sappy " and 

 does not keep well, but this is probably through associating this 

 half-bred white -faced sheep with the pure Leicester and other white - 

 faced breeds that carry so much fat. As a matter of fact the Cheviot 

 so satisfactorily corrects the inferior quality of the flesh of the Border- 

 Leicester as to make the cross one of the best mutton carcasses. 



The ewes of this cross are handsome, compact sheep, of good 

 size, with fleeces of the best quality ; they inherit the good milking 

 qualities of the Cheviot, are free yeaners generally bringing 

 twin lambs if in good condition at tupping time and easily fatten 

 while suckling a pair of lambs. Very large numbers of half-bred 

 lambs and draft ewes of this cross are sold annually at the autumn 

 store sheep sales of Scotland, a large proportion of them coming 

 across the Border, the lambs for winter fattening and the ewes for 

 early lamb -breeding. 



Border - Leicester Black - face cross. The Border - Leicester 

 Black-face cross prevails in the adjacent districts of Cumber- 

 land and Westmorland, of which the market town of Penrith is 

 the centre. Some thousands of these " Grey-faced " lambs and 

 draft ewes, as they are locally named, are sold in the Penrith 

 Auction Mart every autumn. These sheep are not so compact 

 in make as the half-bred white-face just described, nor do they 

 carry wool of such good quality ; but for good feeding qualities 

 and high-class mutton, with plenty of lean, they would be difficult 

 to beat. The ewes have the excellent milking qualities of the 



