500 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK iv. 



3 lb. per fleece. In 1792 George III. imported several rams of the 

 Negretti breed, and a determined attempt was made under the most 

 distinguished auspices to introduce Merinos for the purpose of improv- 

 ing the sheep of the country. The experiment was for a time fully and 

 satisfactorily worked out. Flocks of the pure Merino were kept by 

 several public -spirited individuals, and the wool which they produced 

 was equal to any that could be imported from Spain. Various breeds 

 of British sheep were crossed with the Merinos, and the result generally 

 was that, to a great extent, the wool was increased in length and 

 weight and fineness, but the carcass diminished, or at any rate was not 

 improved. Even in Australia, New Zealand, and the Argentine Republic, 

 since the export trade in frozen mutton and lamb was started, the Merino 

 has given place to a great extent to British breeds and crosses. 



Did the farmer look to the fleece as his only or his chief source of 

 remuneration, the Merino breed, or rather judicious crosses from it, 

 would gradually supersede every other; but no breed can ever be 

 adopted in this country however it may increase the value of the wool 

 which is deficient, as the Merinos undeniably are, in the properties 

 of early maturity and general propensity to fatten. 



It is of interest to record that at the Show of the Eoyal Agricultural 

 Society, held at Newcastle in 1908, the following sections were arranged 

 for sheep, in the order indicated : Oxford Down, Shropshire, South- 

 down, Hampshire Down, Suffolk, Dorset Horn, Ryeland, Kerry Hill, 

 Lincoln, Leicester, Border Leicester, Cotswold, Kent or Romney Marsh, 

 Wensleydale, South Devon, Cheviot, Lonk, Herdwick, Welsh Mountain, 

 and Black-faced Mountain. 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 



T)EFORE we proceed to discuss this branch of rural economy, it 

 JL) will be necessary to state the names or terms by which sheep 

 are generally known at different ages ; though these vary somewhat in 

 the counties of Britain. 



From the time of weaning to the first shearing the entire males are 

 denominated ram lambs, hogs, hoggets, or hoggerels ; after which they 

 receive the appellation of shearing, shearling, or diamond tups, or rams. 

 They are then called two, three, or four shear, according to the number 



