• SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 187 



coarse, long-legged, flat-i'ibbed vai'iety, light in the fore-quarter — shearino- 

 a long, heavy, coarse fleece of wool. They were hardy, prolific breeders 

 ■and capital nurses. They were deficient in early maturity, and did not 

 possess feeding properties equaling those of the Down or New Leicester. 

 To a cross with the latter variety we owe the modern or improved Cots- 

 wold. Having had no personal experience with the breed,* I prefer 

 quoting the descriptions of the later standard English writers, to the task 

 of compilation. 



The following is from Spooner : t 



" Tlie Cotswold is a large breed of sheep, wath a long and abundant fleece, and the ewes 

 are veiy prolific and good nurses. Fonnerly they were bred only on the hills, and fatted 

 in the valleys, of the tseveni and the Thames; but with the inclosure of the Cotswold 

 HiUs and die improvement of their cultivation they have been reared and fatted in the 

 same district. They have been extensively crossed with the Leicester sheep, by which 

 their size and fleece have been somewhat dimmished, but their carcasses considerably im- 

 proved, and their maturity rendered eai'lier. The wethers are now sometimes fattened 

 at 14 months old, when they weigh from 15 lbs. to 24 lbs. per quarter, and at two years 

 old increase to 20 lbs. or 30 lbs. The wool is strong, mellow, and of good color, though 

 rather coarse, 6 to 8 inches in length, and fi-om 7 lbs. to 8 lbs. per fleece. The superior 

 hardihood of the improved Cotswold over the Leicester, and their adaptation to common 

 treatment, together with the prolific nature of the ewes and their abundance of milk, have 

 rendered them in many places invals of the Nev»' Leicester, and have obtained for them, 

 of late years, more attention to their selection and general treatment, under which man- 

 agement still farther improvement appears very probable. They have also been used in 

 crossing other breeds, and, as before noticed, have been mixed with the Hampshire Downs. 

 It is, indeed, the improved Cotswold that, under the tenn New or Improved Oxfordshire 

 Sheep, are so frequently the successful candidates for prizes oflered for the best long-wooled 

 sheep at some of the principal agi-icultiu-al meetings or shows in the Kingdom. The qualits" 

 of the mutton is considered supeiior to tliat of the Leicester, the tallow being less abundant, 

 with a larger development of muscle or flesh. We may, therefore, regard tills breed as one 

 of established reputation, and extending itself throughout every district of the Kingdom." 



Of the method of crossing between the Cotswolds and Leicester, Mr. 

 Youatt remarks :| 



" The degi-ee to which the cross may be canned must depend upon the nature of the old 

 stock, and on the situation and chai-acter of the fann. In exposed situations, and somewhat 

 scanty pasture, the old blood slioidd decidedly prevail. On a more sheltered soil, and on 

 land that will bear closer stocking, a greater use may be made of the Leicester. Another 

 circumstance that will guide the farmer is the object that he principally has in vievi^. If he 

 expects to derive his chief profits from the wool, he will look to the primitive Cotswolds ; 

 if he expects to gain more as a gi'azier, he will use the Leicester ram more fi'eely." 



Cotswold sheep of good quality have been imported into the United 

 States by Messrs. Corning & Sotham, of Albany, and are now bred by 

 the latter gentleman. I believe there were several earlier importations — 

 but of their dates or particulars I am not advised. 



The Cheviot Sheep. — Sheep of this breed have been imported into my 

 immediate neighborhood, and were subject to my frequent inspection for two 

 or three years. They had the appearance of small Leicesters, but were con- 

 siderably inferior in correctness of proportions to high-bred animals of that 

 variety. They perhaps more resemble a cross between the Leicester and 

 the old " native " or common breed of the United States. Their fleeces were 

 too coarse to funiish a good carding wool — too short for a good combing one. 

 Mixed with a smaller lot of better wool, their this year's clip sold for 29 

 cents per pound, while my heavier Merino fleeces sold for 42 cents per 

 pound. They attracted no notice, and might at any time have been 

 bought of their owner for the price of common sheep of the same weight. 

 I believe the flock was broken up and sold to butchers and others this 

 spring, after shearing. They were certainly inferior to the description of 

 the breed by Sir John Sinclair, even in 1792, quoted by Mr. Youatt, || and 



* With every breed previously described, I have had amiile personal experience. I have merclj' scea 

 Cotswol.l tiocks. t Q. v., p. 99. t Q.- t>; P- ^iO. || Q. v., pp. 285, 286. 



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