REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 3(39 



BAKEWELL, of Dishley. Their forms are handsome colour 

 white. As a lowland sheep, and destined to live on good pas- 

 ture, the new Leicester is without a rival in fact he has im- 

 proved, if he has not given the principal value to, all the other 

 long-wooled sheep. The head should be hornless, long, small, 

 tapering towards the muzzle, and projecting horizontally for- 

 wards. The eyes prominent, but with a quiet expression. 

 The ears thin, rather long, and directed backwards. The neck 

 full and broad at its base where it proceeds from the chest, but 

 gradually tapering towards the head, and being particularly 

 fine at the junction of the head and neck; the neck seeming to 

 project straight from the chest, so that there is, with the 

 slightest possible deviation, one continued horizontal line from 

 the rump to the poll. The breast broad and full; the shoul- 

 ders also broad and round, and no uneven or angular formation 

 where the shoulders join either the neck or the back, particu- 

 larly no rising of the withers, or hollow behind the situation 

 of these bones. The arm fleshy through its whole extent, and 

 even down to the knee. The bones of the legs small, standing 

 wide apart, no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively 

 bare of wool. The chest and barrel at once deep and round; 

 the ribs forming a considerable arch from the spine, so as in 

 some cases, and especially when the animal is in good condi- 

 tion, to make the apparent width of the chest even greater 

 than the depth. The barrel ribbed well home, no irregularity 

 of line on the back or the belly, but, on the sides, the carcass 

 very gradually diminishing in width towards the rump. The 

 quarters long and full, and, as with the fore-legs, the muscles 

 extending down to the hock; the thighs also wide and full. 

 The legs of a moderate length, the pelt also moderately thin, 

 but soft and elastic, and covered with a good quantity of white 

 wool, not so long as in some breeds, but considerably finer. 



This account combines the main excellences both of BAKE- 

 WELL'S own breed, and CULLEY'S variety or improvement of 

 it. It is precisely the form for a sheep provided with plenty 

 of good food and without any great distance to travel or exer- 

 tion to make in gathering it. 



The principal recommendations of this breed are its beauty 

 and its fulness of form, comprising, in the same apparent dimen- 

 sions, greater weight than any other sheep; an early maturity, 

 and a propensity to fatten equalled by no other breed; a dimi- 

 nution in the proportion of offal, and the return of most money 

 for the quantity of food consumed. 



The Cotswold sheep, although the inhabitants of low hills, 

 must be classed with the sheep of the plains. They are of 

 massy form, and bear long wool. They are not as perfect in 



