MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



79 



tweeds, made from the fleece of the Cheviot, have been highly 

 esteemed for a very long time. Cheviot wool must have been held 

 in very high esteem in the days of old. Sir John Sinclair, presi- 

 dent of the British Board of Agriculture, writing about the year 

 1791, said "the Highlands of Scotland may sell at present, perhaps, 

 from 200,000 to 300,000 worth per annum of lean cattle. The 

 same ground will produce twice as much mutton, and there is the 

 wool into the bargain. If covered with the coarse-wooled breed of 

 sheep the wool might be worth about 300,000, whereas the same 



Cheviot Ram Parnell Type. 



ground under the true Cheviot or true mountain breed will pro- 

 duce at least 900,000 worth of fine wool." 



The Cheviot belongs to the middle-wool class of sheep. The 

 rams sheer a fleece of seven to eleven pounds and the ewes from 

 six to nine pounds. Whether it is due to the climate or due to 

 the breeders, the Cheviot flocks seem to turn a little to the coarse 

 side in this country. The Cheviot ewe. is the best of mothers, giv- 

 ing a good flow of milk, and is fairly prolific, twins being com- 

 mon, and she takes good care of her lambs. An Indiana breeder 

 recently reported an increase of 200 per cent. 



Sir Herbert Maxwell relates the following interesting little 

 story of a Cheviot identifying her lamb : "It had fallen into a river 

 and owing to the steepness of the bank could not climb out. An 



