HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 59 



to ajd. per pound higher than the best in the dis- 

 trict. The great demand that has been made for 

 this wool, added to the encouragement given by Sir 

 John Sinclair (who, for a few years, bought con- 

 siderable numbers of these Sheep, which he took to 

 the Highlands of Scotland, and now breeds them 

 upon the same kind of heathy mountains as the 

 original stock were taken from) caused an emula- 

 tion amongst the breeders, which has been produc- 

 tive of considerable improvement in their flocks, 

 both in the wool and fore-quarter, in which they 

 were generally deficient. But as improvements in 

 stock can only be effected by slow gradations, and 

 as this improved breed is but of a few years stand- 

 ing, it will probably be advantageous, not only to 

 individuals, but to the public at large, to encourage 

 exertions which, if fortunately successful, might 

 place these Sheep upon a level with those produced 

 upon well-cultivated grounds, which might be other- 

 wise more advantageously employed for the use of 

 the public. 



Thus the difficulty of producing an improved 

 breed for heath pastures has, in a great measure, 

 been removed by the skill and attention of the 

 Northumberland farmers, to whom we think the 

 community much indebted ; and we doubt not that, 

 in the course of a few years, this breed will become 

 the parent stock of all the Sheep bred for grazing 

 on heathy, and what are called waste grounds. 

 They thrive on the most sterile heaths, their wool is 

 of the most desirable texture, they are easily fat- 

 tened, and their whole conformation is so properly 

 suited to mountainous pasture, that we are surprised 

 the breed has not already been more generally dif- 

 fused. 



