76 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



L 



for pasturing on marshes. And thus the Romney Marsh 

 sheep is a habitant of the extensive salt marshes of South- 

 eastern England in the County of Kent. Considering that 

 we have many millions of acres of similar lands on our sea 

 coasts; this breed is by no means to be omitted in this recapit- 

 ulation. Indeed it has been acclimated and kept with suc- 

 cess on the coast lands of New England and New Jersey. 

 It is supposed that the deadly parasite, the fluke, would for- 

 bid the keeping of sheep on marsh lands; but this parasite, 

 the cause of the liver rot of sheep, is never found on salt 

 marshes, as its common bearer, in which it passes one stage 

 of its existence, inhabits only fresh w r ater. It is related in 

 form and character to the old Lincoln, being a long W T OO! 

 sheep with a very closely coated fleece. As with the Lincoln 

 it has been greatly modified and improved by infusion of 

 Leicester blood. Like the Lincoln, too, its home is on rich 

 pastures, and it is not uncommon for seven of these sheep, 

 with as many wethers, to be kept on each acre of a pasture. 

 This fact should be well considered by our readers, for fine 

 sheep and a profitable flock must go with full feed, and the 

 farm sheep is always a type of the culture of Ilio land on 

 which it is kept. 



By the crossing, it has been reduced in size and improved 

 in form, w r hile its fleece has been refined. It is a white faced 

 breed mostly, having a forelock like the Lincoln, which it 

 much resembles. It is an extremely hairy sheep, being rarely 

 house-fed in the whiter, pasturing on the marshes and 

 meadows in all weathers through all the storms of a sea 

 coast exposure. It is thus one of the breeds which may be 

 adopted for range flocks, of which hardiness is a. desirable 

 characteristic. It is a profitable sheep for its fine mutton 

 and its fleece, valuable for worsted goods. 



THE COTSWOLl). 



The Cotswold sheep has an interesting history. It is the 

 oldest breed of sheep of which there is any satisfactory rec- 

 ord. Its history goes back for at least three centuries, and 

 beyond that, while it has no written records, yet it has been 

 known that the long wool yielded by this sheep was in high 

 favor long before the name of the sheep which produced it 

 was a matter of notoriety. This long pedigree explains the 



