SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



131 



fleece. They were slow in an'iving at maturity, compared with the im- 

 prmed Engrlish breeds, and yielded when fully grown, from 10 to 14 lbs 

 of a middling quality of mutton to the quarter. They were usually long- 

 legged, light in the fore-quarter, and narrow on the breast and back, al- 

 though some rare instances might be found of flocks with the short legs, 

 and some approximation to the general form of the improved breeds. Tlic 

 romaion sheep were excellent breeders, often rearing, almost entirely dea- 

 titute of caie, and without shelter, one hundred per cent, of lambs, and ir 

 small fl ")cks a still larger proportion. These, too, were usually dropped in 

 March n- the earlier part of April. Restless in their disposition, their impa- 

 tience of restraint almost equaled that of the untamed Argali, from which 

 they were descended ; and in many sections of our country it was common 

 to see from twenty to fifty of them roving, with little regard to inclosures, 

 over the possessions of their owner and his neighbors, leaving a large por- 

 tion of their wool adhering to bushes and thorns, and the remainder placed 

 learly beyond the possibility of carding by the Tory weed ( Ci/noglossum 

 officinale) and Burdock (Arctium lappa) so common on new lands. 



" The old common stock of sheep, as a distinct family, have nearly disap- 

 ])eared, having been universally crossed, to a greater or less extent, with 

 the foreign breeds of later introduction. The hrst and second cross with 

 the Merino, resulted in a decided improvement, and produced a variety 

 exceedingly valuable for the farmer who rears wool only for domestic pur- 

 poses. The fleeces are of uneven fineness, being hairy on the thighs, dew- 

 lap, &c. ; but the general quality is much improved ; the quantity is con- 

 siderably augmented ; the carcass is more compact and nearer the ground ; 

 and they have lost their unquiet and roving propensities. The cross with the 

 ^axon, for reasons which we shall hereafter allude to, has not been generally 

 so successful. With the Leicester and Downs the improvement, so far a« 

 form, size, and a propensity to take on fat are concerned, is manifest." 



MERINO RAM. 



\DeSiance. I munths old. bred by and the property of Henry 1 



