196 CATTLE-BREEDING. 



would bear it by crosses with the more valua- 

 ble sorts. As the conditions of life were im- 

 proving for all domestic animals about this 

 time such improvement was rarely at the cost 

 of destroying the capacity of the flocks to 

 thrive in their environment. Such crosses 

 were used on Welsh and Scotch breeds in the 

 main with great advantage. There was some 

 trouble at first in the cross of the Cheviot with 

 the Black-faced Heath breed in Scotland, so 

 much so that Youatt says: "The black-faced 

 sheep seemed obstinately to resist the influence 

 of foreign crosses. The Leicester and even the 

 Cheviot blood added little to the value of either 

 the fleece or the carcass, while they materially 

 lessened the hardihood of the sheep." There 

 seems to have been a general misunderstand- 

 ing of the manner of making the crosses at 

 first, and it was noted at the time that the 

 winters were exceptionally severe at the period 

 during which the crosses were being made. It 

 appears that at first those showing the utmost 

 Cheviot character were always the ones re- 

 served for breeding, "while the figure, wool, 

 and other qualities of the Cheviot rams were 

 most conspicuous in the smallest and feeblest 

 of the progeny" in the first cross; "while the 

 properties of the mountain breed were more 

 fully exhibited in the strongest and most ro- 

 bust of the lambs. This misled many of the 



