SHEEP. 209 



tatioii to common treatment, together with the prolific natuVc 

 of the ewes and their abundance of milk, have obtained for 

 them much attention. The quality of the mutton is considered 

 superior to that of the Leicester, the tallow being less abundant, 

 with a larger development of muscle or flesh." The Cotswold 

 sheep have a bright, intelligent look, compared with the dull, 

 dirty-faced look of the Oxford Downs, but this may be an objec- 

 tion rather than an advantage for practical purposes. It is well 

 to have sheep that do not know too much. If ever ignorance 

 is bliss, it may be when our sheep do not know that there is 

 any better feed than they enjoy. The Oxford Downs look as if 

 they knew just enough to eat, drink, sleep and grow fat. 



William R. Putnam, Chairman. 



Statement of Richard S. Fay. 



You ask me to furnish some information respecting the breed 

 of sheep which I have had on my farm for several years, some 

 of which were exhibited at the Essex agricultural show last 

 week, under the name of Oxfordshire Downs, by which they 

 are now known in England. Until lately, however, they have 

 only been recognized as half-breeds, although for more than 

 twenty years they have been known as a distinct breed of sheep, 

 such is the dislike in England to the introduction of new breeds 

 in competition with old established ones. 



A very good account of these sheep is to be found in the 

 fifteenth volume of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal, 

 1855, page 228 and onwards, where they are spoken of as Down 

 Cotswolds. A very good description is also given of them in a 

 previous volume of the Journal, by W. Druce, published in 

 1853. A more full and complete account of this breed is given 

 by Mr. Charles Howard, in an address before the London or 

 Central Farmers' Club, which is quoted in the May number of 

 the Farmers' Magazine for this year, page 401. What you find 

 stated there is confirmed by my own experience ; and, after 

 seven years' trial, I am satisfied that there are no sheep so well 

 adapted to New England as these. From my full and seven- 

 eighths breeds, consisting of fifty-two ewes, I had, this season, 

 seventy-three lambs, which were dropped in February and 

 March, all of which did well. These ewes yielded an average 



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