Essay on Sheep » 55 



sheep are, however, on that account, less valu- 

 able to the epicure than to the labourer, with 

 whom they in some sort supply the place of 

 pork. He insists that they require less food 

 than other sheep; yet, in a comparative trial 

 made between them and a Merino ram by 

 Young, it appeared that they eat more, and 

 gained less weight than the Merino, in the pro- 

 portion of three to two. Small bones, a straight 

 back, and broad chine, with short legs, are the 

 favourite points in this new breed; and, indeed, 

 they contribue very much to improve the ap- 

 pearance of the animal, and should be sought 

 in whatever breed we cultivate, if they can be 

 reconciled with the other essential qualities 

 that we seek In sheep. Of the advantage of 

 short legs I have, however, great doubt in a 

 country which abounds in snow. Some judg- 

 ment may be formed of the nature of British 

 flocks by the average prices of their native 

 wool, which Gov. Pownal, in a letter to Arthur 

 Young, states as follows: Coarse seven and a 

 half-pence, common eight and a half-pence, 

 fine eleven-pence the whole fleece; at that 

 time they paid six shillings and six-pence ster- 

 ling per pound for Spanish wool, and now 

 pay seven shillings and three-pence. 



It would almost have been unnecessary to 



