CHAP. I. 



LEICESTER SHEEP. 



477 



into which the improved Leicester did not penetrate, and probably 

 many of our present English breeds have at one time or another 

 received a greater or less infusion of Dishley blood. In more than one 

 case the free use of Leicester rams on a local stock resulted in the 

 establishment of a new breed, which has for years been able to maintain 

 its position without further admixture, and whose supporters are 

 indeed now apt to repudiate the influence to which their fathers were 

 indebted. 



The following is a concise description of a Leicester sheep (figs. 108 

 and 109) : Head rather long, tapering towards muzzle, projecting hori- 

 zontally forwards ; eyes prominent ; ears rather long, thin, pointing 



Fig. 109. Leicester Ewes. 

 The property of Mr. Teasdale H. Hutchiiison, Manor House, Catterick, Yorkshire. 



backwards ; neck full and broad at base, tapering towards head ; breast 

 full and broad ; shoulders broad and round ; arm fleshy to the knee ; 

 legs fine and clean, not coarse, of moderate length, and standing wide 

 apart ; barrel deep and round, ribs well arched from the spine ; the 

 line of the back and belly regular throughout, but the sides diminishing 

 in width towards the rump ; quarters long and full, muscles extending 

 down to the hocks ; thighs wide and full ; pelt moderately thin and 

 soft, covered with a good quantity of white wool, not so long as that of 

 some breeds, but finer. 



THE BORDER LEICESTERS are a direct off- shoot from the Dishley 

 Leicesters of Bakewell. In the year 1767, Messrs. George & 

 Matthew Culley, one or both of whom had been pupils of Bakewell, 



