SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



185 



from 32 to even 40 lbs. a quarter ! Notwithstanding its weight, the 

 Down has, in the language of Mr. Youatt, a patience of occasional short 

 keep, and an endurance of hard stocking, equal to any other sheep. This 

 gives it a decided advantage over the bulkier Leicester, Lincolns, &c., as 

 a mutton sheep, in hilly districts and those producing short and scanty 

 herbage. It is hardy and healthy, though in common with the other Eng- 

 lish varieties much subject to the catarrh or "snuffles," and no sheep bet- 

 ter withstands our American winters. The ewes are prolific breeders and 

 good nursers. The Down is quiet and docile in its habits, and though an 

 industrious feeder, exhibiting little disposition to rove." Like the Leices- 

 ter, it is comparatively a short-lived animal, and the fleece continues to 

 decrease in weight after it reaches maturity. It crosses better with short 

 and middle wooled breeds than the Leicester. " A sheep possessing such 

 qualities must of course be valuable in upland districts in the vicinity of 

 markets. They have been introduced into every part of the British Do- 

 minions, and imported into various other countries. The Emperor of 

 Russia paid Mr. Ellman three hundred guineas for two rams, and in 1800 

 * a ram belonging to the Duke of Bedford, was let for one season at eighty 

 guineas, two others at forty guineas each, and four more at twenty-eight 

 guineas each.' These valuable sheep were introduced into the United 

 States a few years since by Col. J. H. Powell, of Philadelphia, and a small 

 number was imported by one of the members of this Committee in 1834. 

 The last were from the flock of Mr. Ellman, at a cost of S60 ahead. Sev- 

 eral other importations have since taken place." 



The ram and ewe, the portraits of which are given, are the descendants 

 of the importation of Francis Rotch, Esq., alluded to in the preceding 

 paragraph. They are most spirited likenesses, and were kindly furnished 

 me by that gentleman, to accompany this Letter. They are exceedingly 



SOUTH-DinVN EWK. 



characteristic of the Ellman stock. Not so large as the later importations 

 of Mr. Rotch from the celebrated flock of Mr. Webb, thev are, in the 



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