08 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



and other food. That this was the main result at 

 which he aimed, all his practice shows; and his suc- 

 cess corresponded with the skill and perseverance 

 with which he applied his principles to practice. His 

 stock became gradually known and appreciated in the 

 countiy around him ; )jut it was not until after the 

 lapse of nearly a quarter of a century that it arrived 

 at that general estimation in which it was alterward 

 held. He early conceived the idea of letting his 

 rams for the season, in place of selling them. " The 

 plan waa ridiculed and opposed in every way; and it 

 was not until after the labor of many^years that he 

 succeeded in establishing it as a regular system. It 

 is said that his rams were first let,' in 1790, at ITs. 6d. 

 each; but this was certainly before his breed had ar- 

 rived at its ultimate perfection. His usual price 

 afterward became a guinea, and in rarer cases two or 

 three ; but the price rapidly advanced with the iu- 



t» the collar forward and chine backward as to leave 

 not the least hollow in either place; the mutton upon 

 his arm or fore-thigh must come quite to the knee; 

 his legs upright, with a clear fine bone, being equally 

 clear from superfluous skin and coarse hairy wool, 

 from the knees and hock downward; the breast broad 

 and well forward, which will keep his fore-legs at a 

 proper wideness; his girth or chest full and deep; 

 and instead of a hollow behind the shoulders, that 

 part, by some called the fore-flank, should Ije (juite 

 full; the back and loins broad, flat and straight, from 

 which the ribs must rise with a fine ch'cular arch; his 

 belly straight; the quarters long and full, v.ith the 

 mutton quite down to the hock, which should neither 

 stand in nor out ; his twist deep, wide and full, 

 which, with the broad breast, will keep his fore-legs 

 open and upright; the whole body covered with thin 

 pelt, and that with fine, bright, soft wool. We shall 



NEW LEICESTER SHEEP. 



creasing reputation of his stock. In 1784-5, the 

 price had risen to about 100 guineas for his best 

 rams; in 1786, he made about 1,000 guineas by the 

 lettmg of his stock ; and in 1789, he made 1,200 

 guineas by three rams, and 2,000 guineas by seven ; 

 and in the same year, he made 3,000 guineas more by 

 letting the remainder of his rams to the Dishley So- 

 ciety, then instituted." 



The best form of a Leicester ram — accordmg to 

 the description of Mr. Culley, who was one of the 

 earliest and most successful of Mr. Bakewell's fol- 

 lowers in the breeding of the new race — is as follows: 

 His head should be fine and small; his nostrils wide 

 and expanded; his eyes prominent, and rather bold 

 and daring; his ears thin; his collar full from the 

 breast and shoulders, but tapering gradually all the 

 way to where the head and neck join, which should 

 be very fine and graceful, being perfectly free from 

 any coarse leather hanging down; the shoulders 

 broad and full, and at the same time joining so easy 



add the characters of Mr. Bakewell's ewes and 

 wethers, which are supposed to have surpassed all 

 others in beauty of form. The head is long, small, 

 and hornless, with ears somewhat long, and standing 

 backward, and with the nose shooting forward; the 

 neck thin and clean toward the heacl, but taking a 

 conical form, standing low, and enlarging every way 

 at the base; the fore-bend altogether short, the bo- 

 som broad, with the shoulders, ribs and chhie extra- 

 ordinarily full; the loin broad, and the back bare; 

 the haunches comparatively full toward the hips, but 

 light downward, being altogether small in proportion 

 to the fore-parts; the legs of moderate length, with 

 the bone extremely fine ; the bone throughout re- 

 markably light. The carcass, when fully fat, takes a 

 remarkable form, much wider than it is deep, and al- 

 most as broad as it is long, full on the shoulder, 

 widest on the ribs, naiTOwing with a regular curve 

 toward the tail, and approaching somewhat the form 

 of a turtle; the pelt is thin, and the tail small; the 



