116 THE SHEEP. 



are such as the Black-faced Heath Breed would itself, in the 

 course of ages, assume in a lower country of chalk and heath. 



These Sheep were greatly esteemed in the districts which 

 produced them, and were spread over a large tract of coun- 

 try. Their mutton was, and still is, held in high estimation ; 

 and they were valued by the butchers for producing a large 

 proportion of internal 'fat, and by the farmers for their adap- 

 tation to the husbandry of the fold. They were long the 

 prevailing breed of Norfolk and Suffolk ; but, as improve- 

 ments extended, they became more confined to the higher 

 grounds, and animals of more docile habits and superior fat- 

 tening properties supplied their place in the cultivated coun- 

 try. Other causes, also, have contributed to lessen the num- 

 bers of this breed, and limit its range. With the more im- 

 proved races, these wilder sheep produce admirable first 

 crosses, either for being killed as lambs, or when of an older 

 age. The ewes prove excellent nurses, and give birth to a 

 robust progeny ; and no finer lambs are brought to the Eng- 

 lish markets than the first crosses between them and the 

 Leicester or South Down rams. This circumstance produces 

 a gradual intermixture with the blood of other varieties, and 

 a progressive diminution of the numbers of the pure race. 

 To such a degree has this intermixture taken place, that the 

 perfectly pure Norfolk Breed is now becoming rare, and, if 

 breeders have not inducements afforded them to preserve it, 

 will soon cease to be found. It is to be observed, that the 

 greater number of Sheep now brought to the markets of Lon- 

 don under the name of Norfolks, are crosses, or the offspring 

 of crosses, especially with the Southdowns. 



The Old Norfolk is thus sharing the fate of the various 

 Forest and other breeds of this country, by giving place to 

 races of superior value with respect to the power of arriving 

 at earlier maturity of muscle and fatness. A certain feeling 

 of regret may perhaps exist, that a race possessing many 

 good properties, should have been extinguished rather than 

 improved. That the Old Norfolk was, like every other breed 



