DESCRIPTION OF THE COTSWOLD. 109 



wold hills. So valuable and staple a breed could not long remain 

 without improvement. Naturally, the sweet nutritious herbage 

 of the limestone soil covering these hills, favored this improve- 

 ment, and as the pastures became enclosed, and agriculture im- 

 proved in character, the flocks improved with it. When the Lei- 

 cester became the most popular sheep of England, it was made to 

 assist in this course of improvement of the Cotswolds. It gave to 

 the breed a better quality, a smoothness and refinement, and a 

 greater aptitude to fatten, while it did not lessen its ancient hardi- 

 ness of constitution. The modern Cotswold is still capable of en- 

 during hardship and exposure, and is at home on all sorts of soils. 

 It produces a large carcass of excellent mutton, and a heavy fleece 

 of valuable combing wool, adapted by its peculiar character for a 

 class of goods of wide consumption, it being in demand for vari- 

 ous manufactures from the small matters, such as worsted dress 

 braids, up to various kinds of cloths for men's and women's 

 garments. Moreover the breed matures at an early age. It is 

 not unusual to find sheep of 120 Ibs. and over, at a year old. A 

 full-grown sheep, exhibited at a Christmas cattle market in Eng- 

 land, dressed 344 pounds, or 86 Ibs. per quarter. The weight of 

 the fleece should average 8 Ibs. for a flock of all kinds, and some 

 of our naturalized flocks surpass this weight of fleece. Many 

 ewes have shorn 11 Ibs. each. The fleece of " Champion of Eng- 

 land," whose portrait is given on the opposite page, weighed 18 

 Ibs., and the fleeces of the ewes of the same flock, weighed from 

 11 to 16 Ibs. The description of a well bred Cotswold is as fol- 

 lows : The face and legs are white, but sometimes dashes of 

 brown or gray derived from the original stock, may be found on 

 both face and forelegs. The head is strong and massive, with 

 sometimes a Roman nose, without horns, and having a thick fore- 

 lock of wool upon the forehead. The neck and forequarters are 

 not so square and heavy, nor the brisket so prominent, as is the 

 best Leicesters, but the hind quarters are square, full, and broad, 

 and the thigh solid and heavy. The back is straight and broad, 

 and the ribs \vell sprung, giving a round body ; the flanks are 

 deep; the legs are clean, of moderate length, but the bone is not 

 so fine as in the Leicester. The general style and appearance is 

 good and attractive, and indicative of a vigorous, active, and hardy 

 animal, and a prime mutton sheep. They are active and well 

 fitted for gathering a living upon a pasture in which a Leicester 

 would hardly thrive. The lambs are active and hardy, and the 

 ewes are good mothers. The fleece is closer upon the back than 

 that of the Leicester, and only in aged rams exposes the skin along 



