THE BLACK-FACED HEATH BliEED. 87 



is this property, as much as its hardiness, that has rendered 

 it so suitable to the heathy mountains where it is acclimated, 

 and where it finds subsistence beyond the ordinary range of 

 other Sheep. It feeds on the loftiest mountains, up to the 

 very verge where the heaths give place to the musci and 

 other plants of the higher latitudes. Feeding much on the 

 shoots of heath, these Sheep find subsistence, in the times of 

 snow and severe frosts, better than any other in this country. 

 The mothers are hardy nurses, and are able to bring up their 

 young, when they themselves have been exposed to severe 

 privations. A great defect of this breed is the character of 

 the fleece, which, besides being thin on the body, yields wool 

 fit only for the manufacture of carpets and the coarser stuffs. 

 Little general attention has been paid to the quality of the 

 fleece, although it is susceptible of considerable improvement. 

 A defect of the wool, very common in this breed, is the ex- 

 istence of what are termed kemps. These consist of hard 

 and wiry filaments mixed with the pile. They are deficient 

 in the felting property, and in the oily secretion which 

 moistens the true wool. The removal of kemps is effected 

 by superior food, and by breeding from parents free from the 

 defect. Sometimes individuals of this breed are born with 

 wool which is fine and short. Were advantage taken of this 

 occurrence, it might be possible, by means of breeding, to 

 produce a variety with fine in place of coarse wool. 



This breed, extending over a great variety of situation and 

 soils, from the moist moors of Yorkshire and other parts to 

 the rocky mountains of the north of Scotland, presents a 

 great diversity of size and aspect. In some of the lower and 

 less heathy moors both of England and Scotland, the Sheep 

 have so far deviated from the ordinary type, as to have lost 

 their horns, and the black colour of the legs and face. This 

 variety is generally of smaller size, and less hardy habits, 

 than those which are naturalized on the drier mountains of 

 abundant heath. The best of the breed are found in Tweed- 

 dale in Scotland, which may be partly due to the nature of 



