BAKEWELL 215 



on his stock. His great production was the new Leicester 

 breed of sheep,^ which in half a century spread over every part 

 of the United Kingdom, as well as to Europe and America, 

 and gave England 2 lb. of meat where she had one before. 

 Sheep at this time were divided into two main classes : (i) short- 

 woolled or field sheep, fed in the open fields ; (2) long-wooUed 

 or pasture sheep, fed in enclosures. That they were not at a 

 very high state of perfection may be gathered from this de- 

 scription of the chief variety of the latter, the ' Warwickshire ' 

 breed: 'his frame large and loose, his bones heavy, his legs 

 long and thick, his chine as well as his rump as sharp as a 

 hatchet, his skin rattling on his ribs like a skeleton covered 

 with parchments.' The origin of the new Leicester sheep is 

 uncertain, but apparently the old Lincoln breed was the basis 

 of it, though this, like other large breeds of English sheep, 

 was itself an introduction of the last half century. The new 

 sheep was described as having a clean head, straight broad 

 flat back, barrel-like body, fine small eyes, thin feet, mutton 

 fat, fine-grained and of good flavour, wool 8 lb. to the 

 fleece, and wethers at two years old weighed from 20 to 30 lb. 

 a quarter. 



By 1770 his rams were hired for 25 guineas a season, and 

 soon after he made ^3,000 a year by their hire, one named 

 ' Two-pounder' bringing him 1,200 guineas in one year. 



One of his theories was that the poorer the land the more 

 it demanded well-made sheep, which is no doubt true to a 

 certain extent ; but it has been proved conclusively since that 

 the quality of the breed gradually drops to the level of the 

 land unless artificially assisted. At his death he left two 

 distinct breeds of sheep, for he improved on his own new 

 Leicester, so that the improved became the ' New Leicester ' 

 and the former the ' Old Leicester.' However, at the time 



* Acco#ding to some, Joseph Allom originated the breed, and Bakewell 

 vastly improved it. We may safely give the chief credit to so careful and 

 gifted a breeder as Bakewell. 



