SHEEP. 



are particularly distinguished by the 

 fineness of itieir wool, 'i'lic ninnl)er 

 and the nature ol' the serration-s place 

 it precisely where the maiiulacture 

 had long done. It is decidedly supe- 

 rior in fineness and in fulness to the 

 South Down, but yields in both of 

 these qualities to the Merino wool. 

 It was atteiiii)tcd to cross the Rye- 

 land slieej) Willi the Merino, in order 

 to increase the value of the wool. 

 To a certain extent this was accom- 

 plished, but It was at the expense of 

 the carcass. The Merinos were then 

 crossed by the Ryelands, with a view 

 to the improvement of form, and 

 greater tendency to fatten, but this 

 also failed. While these experiments 

 were proceeding, arrived the period 

 when tlie fleece of the short-woolled 

 sheep, both the South Down and the 

 Ryeland, was materially changed by 

 the altered system of sheep-husband- 

 ry that was introduced, and the wool 

 of both was rejected by the manu- 

 facturer for the purposes to which it 

 had hitherto been applied. 



" The Delamere siieep is the only 

 short-woolled breed deserving of no- 

 tice in Cheshire. The wool is short 

 and fine, and still used by some man- 

 ufacturers, but it is no longer used 

 for any of the fine cloths. 



" The different districts of South 

 Wales afford a small and valuable 

 breed of sheep, principally used for 

 the supply of the London market, 

 W'iiere the Welsh mutton is in con- 

 siderable request. These sheep seem 

 scarcely to have changed their char- 

 acter for many centuries, but some 

 crossesof iheSouth Downs have been 

 lately introduced, and even some 

 flocks of this sheep have begun, and 

 with much pros|)ect of advantage, to 

 spread over the lower part of the 

 country. 



" In North Wales, and particularly 

 in Anglesea, the old Soutli Down re- 

 appears, or a sheep wh(jse likeness 

 to the unimproved South Down is 

 too striking to escape observation. 

 The purest and best blood that the 

 mountains of \Vales are now suppo- 

 sed to be capaljle of producing is 

 found at the loot or on the declivi- 

 696 



ties of Cader Idris. All the hills of 

 North Wales are covered with sheep, 

 which are sent in the spring from all 

 parts of the low country. The strong- 

 est wethers remain on the mountains 

 during the winter, and without the 

 slightest artificial provision for their 

 support ; the others are brought down 

 to the low ground about Michaelmas, 

 to be returned in the spring. 



" The Chcviois extend from West- 

 moreland far into Scotland ; their 

 birthplace, or where they were origi- 

 nally observed, and are still found in 

 their greatest purity, is the Cheviot 

 Hills in Northumberland. They dif- 

 fer essentially from i)oth the black 

 and the dun-faced breeds by which 

 they are surrounded ; but neither 

 history nor tradition has given the 

 slightest clew to their origin. The 

 following is a descrijjtion of the pure 

 breed, thirty years ago, before they 

 began to be crossed by the Leices- 

 ters : ' The head polled, bare and 

 clean, with jaw bone of a good length ; 

 ears not too short, and countenance 

 of not too dark a colour ; neck full, 

 round, and not too long, well covered 

 with wool, but without any coarse 

 wool depending beneath ; shoulders 

 deep, full, and wide ; chest full and 

 open ; chine long, but not too much 

 so ; straight, broad, and wide across 

 the fillets ; horns round and full ; the 

 body in general round and full, and 

 not too deep or fiat either in the ribs 

 or Hanks ; the fleece fine, close, short, 

 and thickset, of a medium length of 

 pile, without hairs at the bottom, and 

 not curled on the shoulders, and with 

 very little coarse wool on the hips, 

 tail, or belly.' 



" Sir John Sinclair adds the fol- 

 lowing account of them : ' Perhaps 

 there is no part of the whole island 

 where, at first sight, a fine-woolled 

 breed of sheep is less to be expected 

 than among the Cheviot Hills. Many 

 parts of the sheep walks consist of 

 nothing but peat bogs and deep mo- 

 rasses. During winter the hills are 

 covered with snow during two, three, 

 or even four months, and they have 

 an ample proportion of bad weather 

 during the other seasons of the year. 



