THE RYELAND BREED. ' 157 



round about it (Lemster Ore they call it), which, setting aside 

 that of Apulia and Tarentum, all Europe counteth to be the 

 verie best." 



A method of treating the Sheep of this part of England, 

 calculated to preserve and increase the fineness of the wool, 

 existed until a recent period. The animals were kept during 

 the night in large houses termed Cots, capable of containing 

 from 100 to 500 Sheep. This practice was probably adopted 

 in early times, for the purpose of protecting the animals 

 from the wolves which greatly abounded in the forests of the 

 western counties. It may be supposed to have been continued 

 afterwards by habit ; but experience would shew that it was 

 eminently calculated to preserve and increase that fineness 

 of the wool for which the breed was distinguished. The 

 animals in these cots were sparingly fed with pease-straw 

 and other dry forage, a system eminently favourable to the 

 production of a short and delicate fleece. 



The modern Ryelands, where they yet exist, retain the 

 diminutive size of their progenitors. Their form is compact, 

 and their mutton is juicy and delicate. They are gentle and 

 well formed ; and they are patient in a remarkable degree 

 of scanty fare. Both sexes are destitute of horns. The 

 colour of the whole fleece is white, and the wool extends 

 forward to the face, forming a tuft on the forehead. This 

 wool is yet the finest produced in England. It is not, how- 

 ever, equal in this respect to that of the Spanish Merino, 

 nor so well suited, by its felting properties, for the purposes 

 of the clothier, on which account, since the extensive intro- 

 duction of the fine wools of Spain and Germany, its relative 

 value has greatly declined. Further, the Sheep are of small 

 size, and inferior in economical value to the races which the 

 country is capable of maintaining. Hence, the inducement 

 to cultivate the breed has been constantly diminishing, so 

 that it has now almost ceased to exist in a state of purity. 



The smallness of the size of the Ryelands led to innumer- 

 able experiments in crossing, with the design of increasing 



