174 THE SHEEP. 



New Leicester breed is shorter and finer; but it wants the 

 toughness, softness, and length of fibre which distinguish 

 the other, and which, could it now be obtained, could be used 

 with great advantage in various worsted manufactures. It 

 cannot be doubted, that the same principles of breeding which 

 enabled Mr Bakewell to form a new breed, could have been 

 applied by the Lincolnshire breeders to remove the defects of 

 the native race, and call forth its useful properties. 



But although the Old Lincoln breed is now almost extinct 

 in the pure state, the breed of mixed lineage which has suc- 

 ceeded to it in the countries of the fens often retains much 

 of its peculiarities. In this rich district are yet to be found 

 the largest sheep of the Island, and, it is believed, of Europe, 

 with fleeces superior in weight and value to any other. They 

 do not fatten so quickly as the New Leicesters, but they 

 arrive at great weight, and pay the graziers well, on the fer- 

 tile pastures which are proper to them. The wethers are fre- 

 quently killed at the enormous weight of 50 or 60 Ib. the 

 quarter. Great numbers of these large sheep may be seen 

 pasturing on the rich flats on the Thames, for the supply of 

 the London market. The mutton may not be sufficiently de- 

 licate for the palates of the opulent, but for the supplies of 

 the numerous population of labourers in our large cities, who 

 are contented with wholesome, nourishing, and cheap food, the 

 mutton of the countries of the fens is as much valued as any 

 other in the kingdom. It is of national as well as of private 

 concern, therefore, that the modern Lincoln breed should be 

 preserved; and he would merit well of the country who should 

 devote attention to its improvement. 



XVIIL THE ROMNEY MARSH BREED. 



The Sheep of these Islands, it has been seen, may be di- 

 vided into two general classes : 1. The smaller Sheep, inha- 

 biting the mountains, moors, downs, and less fertile tracts, 



