SlIEKP 



origin ; while flic colour and weight, 

 and uses oftlie wool, speak their com- 

 mon origin. 



" The following description of the 

 new Leicester {Fig. 2), by Mr. CuUey, 

 Fiir. 2. 



will, to a very considerable degree, 

 serve for all the varieties of the long- 

 woolled sheep. The head should be 

 hornless, long, small, tapering to- 

 wards the muzzle, and projecting hor- 

 izontally forward. The eyes promi- 

 nent, but with a quiet expression. 

 The ears thin, rather long, and di- 

 rected backward ; the neck full and 

 broad at its base, but gradually taper- 

 ing towards the head, and particular- 

 ly line 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 devia- 

 tion, one continued horizontal line 

 from the rump to the poll. The 

 breast broad and full ; shoulders also 

 broad and round, and no uneven or 

 angular formation where the shoul- 

 ders join either the neck or the back, 

 particularly no rising of the withers, 

 or hollow behind the situation of 

 those bones. The arm fleshy through 

 its whole extent, and even down to 

 the knee. The bones of the legs 

 small, standing wide apart, no loose- 

 ness of the skin about them, and com- 

 paratively bare of wool. The chest 

 and barrel are at once deep and round 

 in the ribs, forming a considerable 

 arch from the spine, so as in some 

 cases, and especially when the ani- 

 mal is in good condition, to make the 

 apparent width of the chest even 

 greater than the depth. Tlie barrel 

 ribbed well home. No irregularities 

 of line on the back or the belly ; but 

 on the sides the carcass very gradu- 

 698 



ally diminishing in width towards the 

 rumj). The quarters long and full, 

 and as wide as the fore legs. The 

 muscles extending down to the back, 

 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 quan- 

 tity of white wool, not so long as in 

 some breeds, but considerably finer. 

 " Such is the Leicester sheep as 

 Bakevvell made him. He found him as 

 different an animal as it was possible 

 to conceive — flat-sided, large-boned, 

 coarsc-woolled, slow to fatten, and bis 

 flesh ofliltle value. Were there room 

 for its insertion, a detailed history of 

 the different steps of the changes 

 would be most interesting to the read- 

 er. The means were simple, and tte 

 efTect was almost magical. The prin- 

 ciple was, that 'like produces like ;' 

 and therefore he selected a few sheep 

 with aptitude to fatten, with a dispo- 

 sition to produce an unusual quantity 

 of valuable meat, with little bone and 

 offal, and with quietness of temper ; 

 and from these he exclusively bred. 

 He cared not about near or distant 

 affinities ; but his object was to in- 

 crease every good point, and gradu- 

 ally to get rid of every bad one. They 

 were not different sorts of sheep that 

 he selected, but the best of the breed 

 to which he had been accustomed. 



" Such was the origin and the 

 eventual triumph of the new Lei- 

 cester breed of sheep. They have 

 spread themselves to every part of 

 the kingdom. There are ffew other 

 varieties of long-woolled sheep which 

 do not owe much of their excellence 

 to the new Leicesters, and even some 

 of the short-woolled flocks are deep- 

 ly indebted to the breed introduced 

 by Bakewell. There is no other spe- 

 cies of sheep that possesses so deci- 

 ded a propensity to fatten, or that is 

 prepared for the butcher at so early 

 an age. It will not, however, thrive 

 on a poor soil, nor if it is compelled 

 to travel far in order to procure its 

 food ; but on soils of a moderate 

 quality there is no other sheep so 

 profitable. Other breeds, as the 

 Teesvvatcr and the Lincoln, may be 



