KENTISH BHEEP.] 



AND TREIK VARIOUS BREEDS. 



[KENflBU BUEEr. 



we have already observed, they have all, more 

 or less, been improved by crosses with the 

 Leicpstors ; and a more beautiful cross can 

 hardly bo soon. The Leicester sliortens tho 

 leg; but it also shortens tho wool. Still, the 

 cross so far keeps up tho character of an open 

 fleece, that it is excellent in a point where tho 

 Leicester is somewhat deficient. Tho cross is 

 always the substitution of a Leicester instead 

 of a Teeswatcr ram to a Teeswater llock of 

 ewes. The finest animal shown at a meeting 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society at Liverpool, 

 was one of these crosses ; but it was excluded 

 because it was not a pure Leicester. " Long- 

 ■woolled," however, was a term soon after sub- 

 stituted for Leicester, so as to admit sheep 

 of this description to compete. Tiie old Tees- 

 water was a large, full sheep, of ungainly form, 

 with a coarse bead, rounded haunches, and 

 long and large limbs. Other large breeds 

 formerly existed in the midland counties, but 

 most of them were smaller than the Teeswatcr. 

 These and similar breeds, however, have now 

 altogether disappeared in England. 



The Teeswater sheep thrive best in small 

 flocks, and when they are dispersed over pas- 

 tures with other stock, rather than when tiiey 

 are crowded on the ground. The ewes are 

 very fruitful, and usually produce two, and 

 often three lambs at a birth. They are ex- 

 cellent mothers, and famous milkers ; and 

 though almost incapable of being brought up 

 to a state of fatness at one year old, they will 

 weigh 25 to 30 lbs. per quarter at the shear 

 without difficulty. The contest respecting 

 large and small sheep on good land, and the 

 most politic course for breeding and fatting, 

 is by no means settled. 



KENTISH OR ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 



I 

 The Kentish, or Romney Marsh sheep is 



not, in its external characteristics, unlike the 



Teeswater : it inhabits a locality to which it is 



peculiar)}' adapted. In the northern and 



eastern districts of this county, there is much ; 



open ground, covered with short pasture, upon 



which this variety thrives amazingly. Sir 



Richard Phillips says of them, in his day — 



"The marsh lands of Kent, used for breeding 



sheep and fattening cattle, are 82,000 acres ; 



of which Romney Marsh is 41,000. It has ' 



fourteen miles in length, and ten in breadth, 



4x 



and for tho greater part consists of a rich clay 

 soil, well ada[)ted for rearing a large breed of 

 sheep. This had been reclaimed, at somt* 

 time, from tho sea." Sir liichard again says, 

 "that four sheep will live on an acru oi' mode- 

 rate land in summer, and two in winter." Tho 

 proportion is now quintupled, but tlio scosca 

 is reversed. lie then huneuts "tho deteriora- 

 tion of tho wool of tlie liomneys ; for the wool 

 of sheep deteriorates as the sheep's carcass in- 

 creases; hence, for some years, owing to the 

 enlargement of the English sheep by new 

 breeds, the wool has become too long and 

 coarso for Cue cloths. Our long and coarse 

 wool will not unite or produce the required 

 substance for clothing." 



The head of the original Romney Marsh 

 sheep is largo and thick, and covered with a 

 white woolly tuft. Tho forehead is flat and 

 broad, the neck long, and somewhat small for 

 the size of the animal. The loin and back 

 are wide, but the sides are flat, and the belly 

 is deep. This exaggerates a naturally narrow, 

 and not very deep chest, so as to make it 

 appear still less favourable. The legs, speak- 

 ing of them in the sense of mutton, are large 

 and broad; and the hind quartex'S generally 

 are better developed than the fore. The wool 

 is long, but fine, and very suitable for combing. 

 It weighs about nine pounds per fleece. The 

 mutton is good in quality, and the weight is 

 often 140 lbs. ; and, in some cases, loO or 

 160 lbs. 



The race can bear cold, wet, and eastern 

 exposure. Formerly they were fed, both 

 winter and summer, on grass and a little hay, 

 and were seldom provided with shelter; so 

 that, not unfrequently, the lambs all died, 

 and the ewes suflered from the cold and wet. 

 The long-established custom of the Romney 

 breeders has been to send their lambs to the 

 farmers on the uplands, to be fed during the 

 winter; but they are usually kept very hard, 

 chiefly on the stubbles for a long time, when 

 they are often greatly debilitated before they 

 are transferred to the pastures. They are 

 rarely allowed hay — a kind of economy which 

 sometimes proves very destructive to the stock. 

 In the management of the ewes in the marshes, 

 the same negligence and want of caro are 

 apparent. However severe the weather may 

 be, shelter is very rarely alFarded them ; but 



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