BREEDS OF SHEEP 245 



nothing to complain of as regards their swede crops. 

 The drought, however, then lay heavy on the country- 

 side ; the thinner pastures near the rock were burnt up, 

 and the air came hot and dusty off the white limestone 

 roads. 



The belt of cultivated land is not very broad, and 

 quickly runs up into rounded hills scarred with terraces 

 of limestone, sheep walks pure and simple. One of 

 these isolated hills which rises from the plain a few 

 miles north of Lancaster Farleton Knot, is notable as 

 possessing a breed of sheep of its own, although the 

 whole hill accommodates only three farms. These 

 " Horned Crag" sheep have been known for the last 

 half-century ; they are white-faced, and though now 

 distinct are probably derived from the same general 

 stock as the Lonk and the Scotch Blackfaces. It is 

 perhaps the most remarkable example we have met 

 with of the extreme segregation of breeds of sheep 

 which prevails in the British Islands, because there is 

 nothing to suggest that this breed is either better or 

 worse than its neighbours, or that it possesses any 

 characteristic which renders it particularly appropriate 

 to its limited habitat. Doubtless any owner of a 

 speciality gives a little extra care to his stock, and in 

 this case continued selection and watchfulness seem to 

 have overcome whatever disadvantages have arisen 

 from the close in-breeding that must have prevailed. 



At Milnthorpe we turned westward across the head 

 of the great sandy bay that is formed by the estuaries 

 of the Lune and Kent, and visited several farms in the 

 Cartmel country, which is a similar district of free 

 working soils upon the limestone, with a mild and 

 equable climate and a considerable rainfall. The sea- 

 board is fringed by breadths of flat salt marshes and 

 mosses, some of which have been deliberately reclaimed 



