38 



nml fore quarters, for the London market, which is our 

 chief dependence for the sale of our mutton. They are 

 now, however, getting them longer, with more lean meat, 

 so as to make a good saddle of mutton ; and getting rid of 

 thin necks, which generally denote delicate constitutions. 

 My idea of a useful sheep is, that it should have a long, 

 straight, and flat buck, a good scrag, and head up, good 

 fore quarters, and good inside thighs, to produce good legs 

 of mutton, and with all these, a good fleece. Some flock- 

 masters assert, that a great deal of the good breeding, in 

 sheep, goes in at the mouth. This assertion I do not 

 assent to ; at the same time I cannot but acknowledge that 

 there may be some reasonable argument in it. Supposing, 

 at the death of a farmer, who had five hundred good 

 Leicester sheep, his flock was equally divided between his 

 two sons ; one retaining the occupation of his father's farm, 

 which was land of good quality the other occupying a 

 farm of double the number of acres, of an inferior soil, but 

 sound, and wholesome land for sheep. Supposing they 

 were equally good managers, and always kept an equal 

 number of sheep; that they annually hired tups, of equal 

 value, of the same person ; the question is, whether at the 

 end of twenty years, the flock on the poorer soil would be 

 of equal value to the other, which had been kept on the 

 better soil? If not, then it must be admitted that some 

 part of good breeding goes in at the mouth. The size of 

 sheep and cattle of the different parts of the kingdom, has 

 become, from time, to correspond with the quality of the 

 soil they have been kept on : this is exemplified by those of 

 Lincolnshire and North Wales. The great size, however, 

 of the former, has not been produced entirely from rich 

 soil, but of course from the owners of the sheep and cattle 

 selecting those of largest size to breed from. The weight 

 and fatness of a sheep, with a full fleece on, can only be 

 ascertained by handling. Those who know little about 

 this, will do well to observe what the butcher does who is 

 about to purchase. First, he puts his fingers on the rump, 

 to feel if the backbone is covered with meat ; then on 

 the ribs, to feel if they are covered ; he then spans the 

 loin, to ascertain its width ; he then handles the scrag and 

 shoulder points ; then, by turning the sheep up, handling 



