1050 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Pakt ]II. 



7117. The long-wooUed British sheej) are chiefly the Teeswater, the * old unci *new 

 Leicester, the * Devonshire nots, Exmoor, and the Heath sheep. 



^ 7118. The short-ivoolled sheep are chiefly the Dorsetshire, * Hereford or Ryeland, the 

 * South Down, the Norfolk, the * Cheviot, the * Shetland sheep, and the * Merinos. 



7119. The hornless breeds are those in the above classes marked (*), the others have 

 horns. These breeds, and their subvarieties, may be further arranged according as they 

 are suited to arable or enclosed lands, and to open or mountainous districts. 



7 1 20. The sheep best suited to arable land, an eminent writer observes, in addition to 

 such properties as are common in some degree to all the different breeds, must evidently 

 be distinguished for their quietness and docility ; habits which, though gradually ac- 

 quired and established by means of careful treatment, are more obvious, and may be 

 more certainly depended on in some breeds than in others. These properties are not 

 only valuable for the sake of the fences by which the sheep are confined, but as a proof 

 of the aptitude of the animals to acquire flesh in proportion to the food they consume. 



7121. The lojig-woulled large breeds are those iisually preferred on good grass-lands ; 

 they differ much in form and size, and in their fatting quality as well as in the weight 

 of their fleeces. In some instances, with the Lincolns or old Leicesters in particular, 

 wool seems to be an object paramount even to the carcass ; with the breeders of the 

 Leicesters, on the other hand, the carcass has always engaged the greatest attention : 

 but neither form nor fleece, separately, is a legitimate ground of preference ; the most 

 valuable sheep being that which returns, for the food it consumes, the greatest market- 

 able value of produce. 



7122. The Lincolnshire, or old Leicestershire breed, have no horns, the face is white and the carcass 

 long and thin ; the ewes weighing from 14 to 20 lbs., and the three- year-old wethers from 20 to SOlbs. per 

 quarter. They have thick, rough, white legs, bones large, pelts thick, and wool long, from ten to eighteen 

 inches, weighing from 8 to Hlbs. per fleece, and covering a slow-feeding, coarse-grained carcass of 

 mutton. This kind of sheep cannot be made fat at an early age except upon the richest land, such as 

 Romney Marsh, and the richest marshes of Lincolnshire; yet the prodigious weight of wool which is 

 shorn from them every year, is an inducement to the occupiers of marsh-lands to give great prices to the 

 breeders for their hogs or yearlings ; and though the buyers must keep them two years more, before they 

 get them fit for market, they have three clips of wool in the mean time, which of itself pays them well in 

 those rich marshes. Not only the midland counties, but also Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland, 

 can send their long-wooUed sheep to market at two years old, fatter in general than Lincolnshire can at 

 three. Yet this breed, and its subvarieties, are spread through many of the English counties. 



7123. The Teeswater sheep (Jig. 882.) differ from the Lincolnshire in their wool not being so long and 

 882 heavy ; in standing upon higher, though finer boned legs, supporting 



a thicker, firmer, heavier carcass, much wider upon their backs and 

 ^"-' "" TH^V ^i^'^s ; ''^"'i i" affording a fatter and finer grained carcass of mutton : 



the two-year-old wethers weighing from 25 to 35 lbs. per quarter. 

 Some particular ones, at four years old, have been fed to 55 lbs. and 

 upwards. There is little doubt that the Teeswater sheep were ori- 

 ginally bred from the same stock as the Lincolnshire; but, by 

 attending to size rather than to wool, and constantly pursuing that 

 object, thev have become a different variety of the same original 

 breed. {Cu/le,i/ on Live Stock, p. 122.) The present fashionable 

 breed is considerably smaller than the original species ; but they are 

 still considerablv larger and fuller of bone than the midland breed. 

 They bear an analogy to the short-horned breed of cattle, as those of the midland counties do to the long- 

 horned. They are not so compact, nor so complete in their form, as the Leicestershire sheep; neverthe- 

 g^o less, the excellence of their flesh and fatting quality is not doubted, and 



their wool still remains of a superior staple. For the banks of the Tees, 

 or any other rich fat-land county, they may be singularly excellent. - 



7124. The Dishley, or new Leicester breed {Jig. 883.), is distinguished 

 from other long-wooUed breeds by their clean heads, straight, broad, flat 

 backs, round barrel-like bodies, very fine small bones, thin pelts, and 

 inclination to make fat at an early age. ^pjfhis last property is most pro- 

 bably owing to the before-specified qua^lfties, and which, from long expe- 

 rience and observation, there is reason to believe extends through every 

 species of domestic animals. The Dishley breed is not only peculiar for 

 its mutton being fat, but also for the fineness ot the grain, and superior 

 flavour, above all other large long-wooUed sheep, so as to fetch nearly as 

 good a price, in many markets, as the mutton of the small Highland and short- wiiglled breeds. The weight 

 of ewes, three or four years old, is from 18 to 26 lbs. a quarter, and of wethers, two years old, from 20 tff 

 301b. The wool, on an average, is from 6 to 8 lbs. a fleece. (Cw/fey, p. 106.) 

 7125. The Devonshire Nots (fig. 884.) have white faces and legs, thick necks, narrow backs, and back- 

 bone high; the sides good, legs short, and the bones large; weight 

 much the same as the Leicesters; wool heavier, but coarser. In the 

 same county, there is a small breed of lone-woolled sheep, known by the 

 name of the Exmocr sheep, from the plaws where they are chiefly bred. 

 They are horned, with white faces and^legs, and peculiarly delicate in 

 bone, neck, and head ; but the form of the carcass is not good, being 

 narrow and flat-sided. The weight of the quarters, and of the fleece, 

 about two thirds that of the former variety. 



7126. The shorter-imoUed varieties^ and such as, from their 

 size and form, seem well suited to hilly and inferior pastures, 

 are also numerous. Generally speaking, they are too rest- 

 less for enclosed arable land, on the one hand; and not 

 sufficiently hardy for heathy mountainous districts, on the 



other. To this class belong the breeds of Dorset, Hereford, Sussex, Norfolk, and 



Cheviot. 



1 



