1 70 THE SHEEP. 



4 



tensive locality of this class of Sheep is the fine tract of new 

 red sandstone which, extending southward from the lower 

 valley of the Tees, forms the fertile valleys of York and 

 Trent ; and which, extending from the vale of Trent to the 

 mouth of the Severn, and thence northwards, includes the 

 greater part of the counties of Nottingham, Leicester, War- 

 wick, Worcester, and a part of Stafford and Lancaster; com- 

 prehending a tract of the highest fertility with respect to the 

 production of the grasses and other herbage plants. But 

 connected with this tract, as a locality of the Long-woolled 

 Sheep, are districts of the lias and oolite formations, com- 

 prehending the counties of Rutland, Northampton, Glouces- 

 ter, part of Oxford, and others, to which may be added the 

 lower parts of Devonshire, and the valleys of the larger 

 rivers in different parts of the country. The second locality 

 of the Long-woolled Sheep comprehends the flat alluvial 

 tracts of fens on the eastern coasts and the shores of Kent. 

 Conformably to this division, the Long-woolled Sheep may 

 be arranged in two general groups ; first, those of the inland 

 plains, represented by the Teeswater, Leicester, and other 

 varieties ; and, secondly, those of the fens and alluvial coun- 

 try, represented by the breeds of Lincolnshire and Romney 

 Marsh. 



Of the breeds which have been mentioned, those of the 

 marshes and fens are the most marked and peculiar in their 

 characters. The rich and marshy tract of land, extending 

 from the Humber southwards, through Lincolnshire into 

 Norfolk, Cambridge, and the adj oining country, is a fitting 

 habitation for the coarser and heavier kinds of Sheep. The 

 lower part of Lincolnshire, accordingly, and the fertile tracts 

 in connexion with it, are inhabited by a race remarkable, be- 

 yond any other, for their size, their coarse and massy forms, 

 and the length of their wool. The type of these breeds has 

 been termed the Old Lincoln, which requires, however, to 

 be distinguished from the race of mixed lineage which now 

 inhabits the same country. 



