106 THE SBtEPHERD's 



coarse, and of only moderate value. By a course of breeding, 

 about which he was very reticent even to his friends, and which 

 he kept secret from other breeders, Mr. Bakewell totally change! 

 the character of these sheep, and built up for himself a reputation 

 as a successful breeder, which is second to that of no other in the 

 world. Of his system of breeding, the most that is known is, that 

 he commenced with the inferior, old Leicesters, selecting the best 

 of them he could find. He apparently used any animal whatever, 

 without reference to breed or color, nor did he regard relationship, 

 if he considered those coupled together would be most likely to 

 produce the results that he wished to attain in the offspring. 

 His object was to produce an animal that would yield in the 

 shortest time, and with the least consumption of feed, the largest 

 amount of flesh and fat, meanwhile not neglecting the fleece. His 

 ideal sheep was to him precisely what the desired Short-horn was 

 to the Culley Brothers, Mr. Bates, or Mr. Booth ; an4 all these 

 breeders gave their whole soul to the attainment of their one 

 single object. The Culley Brothers were pupils of Mr. Bakewell, 

 and it is but just to give him some share of the honor attained by 

 these originators of the Short-horn. Each of these breeders bred 

 in-and-in, both frequently and closely, and each of them went out- 

 side of the breed he was building up and improving for foreign 

 blood, when anything was to be gained by it. It is stated of Mr. 

 Bakewell that he used sheep of six or seven different breeds, and 

 one visitor to his establishment, reported that, in going about the 

 stables alone, early one morning, be "ore Mr. Bakewell had risen, 

 he saw a black ram, but a very magnificent animal, hidden away 

 in a pen. In course of time his success was recognized by the best 

 test that of the market value of his sheep. He began in 1755 ; in 

 1760 his rams were let for an annual sum of about $4 each. In 

 1780 he received $50 for the season's use of a ram. In 1784 the 

 price was raised to $5^5. In 1786 one ram was let for $1,575. In 

 1789 he received $6,300 for the use of three rams, all born at one 

 birth; $10,500 for'seven others; and $15,750 for the use of the 

 remainder of his flock. Twenty-two hundred dollars was paid by 

 each of two breeders for the use of one ram for their flocks alone, 

 he reserving one-third of his use for himself, making the yearly 

 value of this one ram equal to $6,600. After his death, Bakewell's 

 system of close breeding was followed by his successors, but with 

 the effect of reducing the value of the breed to the farmer. The 

 sheep became delicate, and weakened in constitution, reduced in 

 size, less prolific, and less careful of their lambs. New blood, 

 chiefly of the hardier Cotswold, has been of late years introduced 



