COTSWOLD SHEEP.] 



SHEEP, 



[daetmook sheep. 



Drayton writes of its abundance. Speed, 

 writing upwards of 200 years ago, speaks of 

 the wool as similar to the Eyeland, and rival- 

 ling that of the Iberian peninsula. Indeed, 

 some have gone so far as to say, that the Cots- 

 wold is the progenitor of the Merino sheep, 

 as, in 1464, Edward IV. permitted a number to 

 be exported to Spain, where they multiplied 

 and spread. Before this period, however, 

 Spain enjoyed a celebrity for her wools. The 

 Cotswold is a large breed, with a long and 

 an abundant fleece. In the time of Queen 

 Elizabeth, when Markham wrote, he describes 

 them as a long-woolled race. The ewes are 

 not only prolific, but good nurses. At one 

 time they were bred only on the hills, and put 

 to fatten in the valleys of the Thames and the 

 Severn. Since the enclosure of the Cotswold 

 hills, however, coupled with the improvement 

 in their cultivation, they have been reared 

 and fatted in the same district. This species 

 has a great tendency to accumulate fat upon 

 the back ; and whilst its breast is not so wide, 

 deep, or prominent as that of the Leicester, it 

 IS of larger bone. Its sides are flatter, but it 

 is neither so broad nor so prominent in the 

 shoulders and legs. The fat and flesh are laid 

 in the back, in a large and unyielding mass ; 

 whilst the Leicester has a soft elastic firmness, 

 in every way agreeable to be touched. This 

 may arise from the fineness of the pelt. The 

 Cotswold, on the contrary, has a thicker pelt, 

 and the wool mats itself near the skin, and is 

 more straggling at the edges. The head is 

 white, and so are the legs ; while the ears are 

 small, and fall downwards and outwards. The 

 top of the head is a mass of soft bushy wool. 

 The weight of the animal will sometimes reach 

 28 lbs. per quarter ; but 28 to 30 lbs. will be 

 a nearer average for two-year-old sheep. At 

 a year and a quarter they will, when properly 

 fatted, be found to yield 19 lbs. per quarter, 

 and sometimes attain to 20 or 21 lbs. Their 

 yield of wool, v\ hich is fine and light in propor- 

 tion to its bulk, is from 8 to 9 lbs. 



The gradual infusion of Leicester blood is 

 general amongst the most celebrated and ex- 

 tensive flocks of the Cotswold breed, other- 

 wise thi re would be longer wool, more hardi- 

 ness, less ?arly maturity, more bone, and some- 

 what ligl ter fore quarters. The Leicester 

 mixture, h 3)wever, is not excessive, and occurs, 

 71G 



perhaps, in a very remote degree. The sheep 

 is still and quiet in its habits, and is one of 

 the best kinds for carrying out the board or 

 hurdle feeding. In Gloucestershire, the Cots- 

 wolds, now almost lost in the Leicesters, have 

 multiplied to a degree which would hardly 

 have been believed to be possible in this pavt 

 of the kingdom ; and the short-wools are nearly 

 driven out of this district. Writing upon this 

 breed, Mr. Spooner says, that "the superior 

 hardihood of the improved Cotswold over the 

 Leicester, and their adaptation to common 

 treatment, together witb the prolific nature of 

 the ewes, and their abundance of milk, have 

 rendered them, in many places, rivals of the 

 New Leicester, and have obtained for them 

 more attention to their selection and treat- 

 ment, under which management still further 

 improvement appears very probable. They 

 have also been used in crossing other breeds, 

 and have been mixed with the Hampshire 

 Downs. It is, indeed, the improved Cotswold 

 that, under the term of New or Improved Ox- 

 fordshire sheep, are so frequently the success- 

 ful candidates for prizes oflered for the best 

 long-woolled sheep at some of the principal 

 agricultural meetings or shows in the king- 

 dom. The quality of the mutton is considered 

 superior to that of the Leicester, the tallow 

 being less abundant, with a larger develop- 

 ment of muscle or flesh. We may, therefore, 

 regard this breed as one of established reputa- 

 tion, and extending itself throughout every 

 district of the kingdom." 



THE DARTMOOR SHEEP. 

 This is one of the principal forest breeds of 

 the West of England, and it bears a strong 

 resemblance to the Dorset. Its habitat is 

 found in the higher situations of Devonshire 

 and Cornwall ; and, from the hardiness of its 

 nature, it is well adapted to the poverty of the 

 pasture which the forests of Dartmoor and 

 Exraoor afi'ord. They have white faces and 

 legs ; have horns generally ; but some are with- 

 out these. The head and neck are small, and 

 so is the bone in every part of the animal t 

 whilst the carcass is narrow, and the sides are 

 flat. When fat, they weigh from nine to twelve 

 pounds per quarter. In the yolk, the place is 

 three or four pounds in weight, and the wool 

 is somewhat short, with a coarse top. It is 



