THE KERRY BREED. 75 



ter than & change of purpose ; and, whichever race be pre- 

 ferred, the effect will be beneficial, and in a few generations 

 the indigenous race of the Wicklow Mountains may be ex- 

 pected to cease to exist any where in the pure state. 



The full benefits, however, of any kind of crossing cannot 

 be obtained, unless a better system of management is intro- 

 duced amongst the neglected flocks of the district. At pre- 

 sent, the smallness of the possessions, and the existence of 

 commons, are eminently unfavourable to the bringing of these 

 Sheep to any perfection, Their wildness of habits, is mainly 

 the result of the circumstances in which they are placed, and 

 can only be corrected by enclosures, by subdivision of flocks, 

 and by a regular system of management. 



VI. THE KERRY BREED. 



The Breeds of Sheep of Ireland may be divided into two 

 general Classes, those of the mountains, bogs, and moors, 

 and those of the plains, valleys, and richer country. In the 

 former class, one breed has been described, that of the Wick- 

 low mountains, which has been seen to be closely allied to 

 the ancient Sheep of Wales. The mountain breeds of other 

 parts of Ireland present very different characters, and so 

 little resemble any other breeds of Sheep in the British 

 Islands, that we might suppose them to have a distinct 

 parentage, did we not know the great changes produced in 

 the form and characters of the species by the agency of food, 

 climate, and situation. It is in the west of Ireland that we 

 naturally seek for the more ancient races of the country, and 

 we there find them mingled in blood with one another, and 

 with the imported varieties which have spread over the same 

 tracts, but in many cases presenting such characters as to 

 indicate the traces of distinct breeds, under the common 

 acceptation of the term. But it would be uninstructive to 

 discriminate the minor varieties. It will suffice to present 



