MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 113 



in close phalanx up and down a ploughed field to tread in the 

 wheat. The ordinary sheep of the country, when fat, do not 

 weigh ahove 11 to 12 Ib. per quarter. Where pains have been 

 taken to improve a flock they may reach on the average 16 or 

 18 Ib. a quarter and some are brought up to 24 Ib. a quarter when 

 fed on the Bridgwater marshes. There is also great difference in 

 the quality of the wool of a common and of a well-bred sheep. It 

 is the practice of farmers who have good land as well as common 

 to put their draft ewes with a small-headed and high-proof Lei- 

 cester ram to sell the lambs fat in May and the ewes as soon as 

 they get fat. There are great objections to horned sheep. It is 

 almost impossible to prevent them from being infected with the 

 scab while they are on the open hill; they also acquire such rest- 

 less habits that they are always breaking the fences when brought 

 into the inclosed ground. In fattening them much judgment and 

 practical knowledge is required, for they do not get on well in 

 hot weather, and it frequently happens that when they are first put 

 on turnips they lose ground, or 'pitch/ as it is called, for two 

 months in the autumn, and are slow in regaining it afterward. 

 For these and other reasons, farmers who- occupy good land in 

 the vale with their hill fa-rms are getting tired of their horned 

 sheep and use their hill farms only as summering ground for 

 knot sheep and bullocks." 



Vancouver in his "General Survey of Agriculture" (in Eng- 

 land, 1808), paid a visit to Devonshire and reported upon the 

 merits of the cross of the Merino upon the Exmoor. In this re- 

 port he shows that the native fleece of 4j^ Ib. sold at 26 cents per 

 pound; the first cross Merino fleece of 5 Ib. sold at 52 cents per 

 pound, the second cross fleece on this produce of 5 pounds sold at 

 66 cents and the third class of 5 pounds sold at 82 cents. He 

 added to this report that the carcass was rather advanced in qual- 

 ity than otherwise. 



The Exmoor Horn Sheep Breeders' Society, recently es- 

 tablished, already has 117 members and about 17,000 sheep en- 

 tered in its books and is in a very flourishing condition. The 

 Exmoor would no doubt be worthy of a trial in this country, since 

 it has proved itself worthy of respect in South Africa. 



LONK SHEEP. 



Among the mountain breeds of sheep that might be tried 

 with a good chance of success in this country is the Lonk. The 

 author is indebted to that famous breeder and exhibitor, Mr. 

 David Hague, Bolton-by-Bolton, Yorkshire, England, for the fol- 

 lowing comprehensive sketch of the breed : 



With regard to your inquiry about Lonk sheep, I take great 

 pleasure in forwarding you photos of my Lonk ram, "Worsthorne 



