68 Essay 07i Sheep. 



their luxury may make upon it. His early 

 lambs will in this case bring such a price as to 

 make it an object to keep a breeding flock of 

 that species of sheep which will produce the 

 earliest lambs. The most celebrated stock 

 which I know for this purpose is the Dorset- 

 shire sheep, from which are bred the house 

 lambs which supply the London market. The 

 ewes are kept in high order, and are put to the 

 ram in the months of May and June. The 

 lambs are fit for market during all the winter 

 months, and on that account bring an extrava- 

 gant price. They are kept in the house at all 

 times, and the ewes turned out, but brought in 

 to them at night and at noon. A lump of 

 chalk is given to the lambs to lick, which is 

 said to make the meat white. When a ewe 

 loses her lamb, or it is killed off, she is com- 

 pelled to admit another, and is held if she re- 

 fuses it. The lambs by this means having both 

 a mother and a foster-mother, are rendered 

 sooner fit for the butcher. The ewe is kept 

 upon the most succulent food while she gives 

 milk; but it is a rule among the breeders to 

 keep the earliest ewe lambs for stock, and it is 

 probably an attention to this circumstance that 

 has produced a kind of sheep that will lake 

 the ram at so early a period. By the same at- 



