THE SHEEP. 205 



ized in the calcareous district of the south-western counties. 

 They have horns in both sexes, bear a clothing wool of me- 

 dium quality, and are noted, beyond any other breed, for the 

 faculty of the females to receive the males at an early sea- 

 son. This latter property has caused them to be extensively 

 cultivated for the rearing of house-lambs. They have now 

 been much diminished in numbers by the effects of crossing, 

 and the substitution of other breeds regarded as more pro- 

 fitable. Allied to these varieties is the Isle of Portland 

 Breed, of small size, and of little economical importance be- 

 yond the narrow district which it inhabits. 



13. The Merino Breed, derived from the mountains of 

 Spain, but partially naturalized in England. It bears the 



, finest wool of any known race of Sheep. On account of this 

 property it has been extensively diffused over a great part of 

 Europe, and carried to America, the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and the Colonies of England in Australia. The individuals, 

 however, are of defective forms, of tender constitutions, defi- 

 cient in the power of yielding milk, and slow in arriving at 

 maturity. For these reasons, the Merino Breed, notwith- 

 standing the abundance and excellence of its wool, has been 

 received with little favour in England, and is deemed inferior 

 in value to the more improved varieties of the country. 



14. The Long-woolled Sheep, comprehending, First, the 

 pure New Leicester Breed ; and, Secondly, the varieties more 

 or less intermixed with it in blood, of which the principal are : 

 1st, the larger class of Lincolnshire Sheep ; 2d, the Romney 

 Marsh Breed ; 3d, the Cotswold Breed ; 4th, the Devonshire 

 Notts ; bth, the Long-woolled Irish varieties. All these Sheep 

 are of large size, are destitute of horns in both sexes, and bear 

 long wool, unsuited for preparation by the card, but eminently 

 fitted for preparation by the comb, and the manufacture of 

 stuffs termed Worsted. They are the kinds of Sheep more 

 especially adapted to the plains, and the districts where arti- 

 ficial food can be reared in the necessary quantity. They 

 have been continually increasing in numbers with the exten- 



