LEiCESTEB SHEEP.] AND THEIR V A Kl O U S intEEDS. [leicestee siikep. 



and, indeed, in every pnrt of the diatrict where 1 

 tliia system is pursued, aro roared chiefly on 

 artifie'ial grasses. Tlioro aro, however, groat 

 numbers bred on oUl pastures, the best of which 

 are kept for the purpose of fatting sheep." 

 The ollVctou tluMVOol.as to (piaiitity, certainly 

 depends on the degree of Leicester blood 

 infused. The lowland sheep, when the in- 

 fusion prevails to a smaller extent, have a largo 

 massv frame of flesli, covered and grained witli 

 fat. They are compact and kiiuUy feeders, 

 though they require more food than when a 

 larger proportion of Leicester blood prevails, 

 and cannot either be put on land so inferior, 

 nor on any land in the same average quantity. 

 Their produce of wool is very great. A 

 wether killed at Grantham, one of au equal 

 lot of twenty-seven, clipped 17 lbs. of wool, 

 and weighed almost 30S lbs. The sheep are 

 always sold at two shear, and the united clip — 

 the one made as a shearling, and the other at 

 two years old — will often average 20 to 25 lbs. 

 "When fatted to the utmost extent, a wether 

 has been known to weigh 300 lbs., and a ewe 

 262 lbs. Such instances exhibit the power of 

 these large-framed sheep to produce both wool 

 and mutton. Assuming a choice specimen to 

 be two shear, his whole produce will be — 



£ s. d. 

 Two fleeces of wool, 24 lbs., at Is. 3rf. . . 1 10 

 Carcass, say 250 lbs., at 5d 5 4 2 



Total . . . .£^6 14 2 

 "With higher prices, of course, the value of 

 the animal would be more ; but this is sufficient 

 to show that the Lincolnshire sheep, when 

 not far removed from its original stock, is an 

 animal very remunerative both as to wool and 

 mutton. 



THE DISHLEY, OR NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 



Tlie Leicester, or the Hew Leicester slieep, 

 had its type in the Teeswater, the Lincoln, 

 and the Eomney Marsh breeds. It was a 

 large, heavy, coarse sheep, with a disposition to 

 feed favourably, but with much grossncss about 

 it. Its wool, however, was excellent for comb- 

 ing. The rams would weigh, when fat, 40 lbs. 

 per quarter ; and the fleece would weigh 13 or 

 14 lbs. It was on these animals that Bakewell 

 began his experiment, with a view to improve- 

 ment ; and, in 17G0, he commenced the system 

 of letting rams, as distinguished from selling. 



The usual course was for the farmers to save 



the best of their several flocks, and resorvo 

 them uncast rated, as male lumbc*. Bakewell 

 began a letting system; but so liltlo was it 

 liked, and so little was thouglit of his ramn, 

 that ho lot one in that year, for tlio season, 

 for only sixteen shillings; and it was not till 

 twenty years afterwards, that anything like a 

 remunerative price was received. It was tlien 

 onlv ten guineas for one ram ; but it afterwards 

 rapidly increased, till, in 17SU, ho received 

 300 guineas for one ram ; and, three years 

 afterwards, he realised no less than G,'20Q 

 guineas, thus rewarding him for his unwearied 

 perseverance, under almost every species of 

 discouragement and opposition. Subsequently 

 he established the Dishley Society, with the 

 view of extending the breed, preserving it pure, 

 and benefiting the members of it. As an im- 

 prover of the breed of sheep, this gentleman 

 stands alone; but how ho accomplished the 

 great points he achieved, remains a secret, for 

 the plan he adopted died with him. It is cer- 

 tain that ho reduced the size of the native 

 animal, and gave him small offals, induced him 

 to lay on flesh and fat all along the breech, 

 the sides, the shoulders, the flank, and the 

 neck ; opened his wool, and also reduced it in 

 weight, and a little in length. He likewise 

 increased the tendency to lay on fat in propor- 

 tion to the food consumed, and made the animal 

 take on fat a year or two earlier at least, and 

 thus enabled two or three animals to be fed 

 where one only could be kept before. All this 

 he did ; and the same breed of sheep has, for a 

 century, not only maintained its position, but 

 has been employed, with more or less success, 

 to improve nearly every breed of sheep in the 

 United Kingdom, and, at the same time, has 

 more or less displaced almost every other breed. 

 The various points of the New Leicester 

 have been thus accurately set down by Mr. 

 Low: — "The head should bo hornless, long, 

 small, tapering towards tho muzzle, and pro- 

 jecting horizontally forwards. The eyes should 

 be prominent, with a great expression ; whilst 

 tho ears should be thin, somewhat long, and 

 directed backwards. The neck should be 

 full and broad at its base, where it proceeds 

 from the chest, but gradually tapering towards 

 the head, and being particularly fine at the 

 junction of the head and neck ; tho neck 



707 



