SHEEP. 



SHEEP. 



behind the shoulder, have a long, straight back, 

 are round in the rib, and well-proportioned in 

 the quarters; the legs clean and small-boned, 

 and the pelt thin, but thickly covered with fine, 

 short wool : they possess very considerable 

 fattening qualities, and can endure much hard- 

 ship, both from starvation and cold. He is fit 

 for the butcher at three years old, and at two 

 when crossed with the Leicester." (Youatt on 

 Shtep, p. 285 ; "On crossing the Mountain and 

 Cheviot Sheep," by Mr. Hogg, Quart. Journ. 

 Jfgr. vol. i. p. 175.) 



Class II. HORNED SIIKKP. 



The Dorset Sheep. " Most of these," says Mr. 

 Youatt, " at least of the pure breed, are entirely 

 white; the face is long and broad, and iher"e is 

 a tuft of wool on ihe forehead; the shoulders 

 low and broad; the back straight; the chest 

 deep; the loins broad ; the legs rather beyond 

 a moderate length, and the bone small. They 

 are, as their form would indicate, a hardy and 

 useful breed. They are good folding sheep; 

 their mutton well-flavoured, averaging, when 3 

 years old, from 16 to 20 pounds a quarter. 

 Their principal distinction and value is the 

 forwardness of the ewes, who take the ram at 

 a much earlier period of the year than any 

 other species, and thus supply the market with 

 lamb at the time when it fetches the highest 

 price. These sheep are principally bred within 

 a circle of 12 miles round Dorchester, where a 

 considerable quantity of house lamb for the 

 London market is produced. In other parts of 

 Dorset the South Down breed prevails; ex- 

 cept in Portland and on poor, sandy, heath soils 

 near Warebone and Poole, where a poor small- 

 horned breed prevails, with black muzzles, well 

 adapted for this locality. Their meat is tender." 



The Norfolk Sheep. "A peculiar variety of 

 heath sheep," says Mr. Youatt, "has been found 

 in the localities of Norfolk and Suffolk from 

 time immemorial. The carcass was long and 

 slender; legs long; face and legs black or 

 mottled; face long and thin; the countenance 

 lively and expressive of mingled timidity and 

 wildness: taken altogether, there was more re- 

 semblance to the deer in the Norfolk sheep 

 than has been observed in any other species. 

 They were attempted to be improved by being 

 crossed with the South Downs ; but at length 

 the pure South Down was generally preferred 

 to the pure Norfolk, and, in consequence, the 

 race is now nearly extinct." 



The Merino Sheep. This celebrated breed are, 

 in Spain, divided into the estantes, or stationary, 

 and the transhumantes, or migratory. The first 

 are those which remain during the year in one 

 place or farm : the last travel some hundred 

 miles every year in search of pasture. They 

 are thus described by Mr. Low in his excellent 

 Illustrations of the Breeds of Domestic Animals. 



"The stationary sheep consist partly of the 

 larger sheep of the lower country, partly of 

 mixed races, and partly of pure Merinos, which 

 do not differ in any respect from the migratory 

 sheep of that name, except in the method of 

 treatment. The stationary Merinoes are reared 

 where the district or farm affords them suffi- 

 cient food during the whole season. They are 

 most numerous in the central countries, where 

 the pastures are less apt to be scorched by the 

 988 



heats of the summer, as in Segovia, and the 

 mountain ranges to north of Madrid. 



"The migratory sheep have been reckoned 

 to amount to ten millions, which is probably 

 equal to half the whole number of the sheep 

 of Spain. They may be divided into two 

 great bodies: those which are to pass further 

 to the eastward, to Soria, or even beyond the 

 Ebro. These vast hordes of sheep break up 

 from their winter cantonments, south of the 

 Guardina, about the 15th of April, and proceed 

 chiefly northward. The rams having been ad- 

 mitted to the ewes in the month of July, the 

 lambs are born in November. In the course 

 of their journey northward, they are shorn in. 

 large buildings erected for that purpose. The 

 western, or Leonese division, crosses the Tagus 

 at Almaray. The eastern, or Sorian division, 

 crosses the same river further to the eastward, 

 at Talavera. and in its course approaches the 

 city of Madrid. Having reached their desti- 

 nation, they are pastured until the end of Sep- 

 tember, when they recommence their journey 

 southward. Each of these journeys, of seve- 

 ral miles in length, occupies about 6 weeks in 

 travelling. The older sheep, it is said, when 

 April arrives, know the time of setting off, and 

 are impatient to be gone. In the ten or twelve 

 latter days, increased vigilance is required, on 

 the part of the shepherds, lest the sheep should 

 break out. Some of them do so, and pursue 

 their accustomed route, often reaching their 

 former year's pastures, where they are found 

 when the main body arrives ; but, for the most 

 part, these stragglers are carried off by wolves, 

 which abound along the course which the mi- 

 gratory flocks pursue. 



"These migratory sheep are divided into 

 flocks of a thousand or more, each under the 

 charge of its own mayoral, or chief shepherd, 

 who has a sufficient number of assistants 

 under his command. It is his province to di- 

 rect all the details of the journey. He goes in 

 advance of the flock ; the others follow with 

 their dogs, to collect the stragglers, and keep 

 off the wolves, which prowl in the distance, 

 migrating with the flock. A few mules or 

 asses accompany the cavalcade, carrying the 

 simple necessaries of the shepherds, and the 

 materials for forming the nightly folds. In 

 these folds the sheep are penned throughout 

 the night, surrounded by the faithful dogs, 

 which give notice of the approach of danger. 



" When the sheep arrive at the esquilcos, or 

 shearing-houses, which is in the early part of 

 their journey northward, a sufficient number 

 of shearers are in attendance to shear a thou- 

 sand or more in one day. The esquilcos con- 

 sist of two large, rude rooms, and a low, narrow 

 hut adjoining, termed the sweating-house. The 

 sheep are driven into one of the large rooms, 

 and such of them as are to be shorn on the fol- 

 lowing day are forced into the long, narrow 

 hut as close as it can be packed, where they 

 are kept all night. They undergo in this state 

 a great perspiration, the effect of which is to 

 soften the hardened unctuous matter which has 

 collected on the fleece. They are then shorn 

 without a previous washing, and the wool is 

 left in the esquilcos, where it is sorted, and 

 made ready for sale. By this arrangemeat 



