300 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



a nine to twelve Ib. dressed quarter. The ewes are prolific, 

 good milkers and mothers and are much sought after by 

 feeders in the near English counties for raising mutton 

 lambs. Like all the Welsh sheep of the mountains, the llod- 

 .nor, though not a ready feeder, is a producer of high quality 

 mutton. The old native Radnor carried a veiy large heavily 

 wooled tail and was hairy at breach and breast,' but his mod- 

 ern descendent carries a 4 or 5 Ib. fleece of tine quality 

 wool, horns in the ram, ewes polled, but sometimes with rudi- 

 mental horns, ablack face, vary ing to tan, gray and even white, 

 and a light fore-quarter, and is a very hardy, active, self- 

 reliant sheep, and though favored with recognition at some 

 of the great shows, is a provincialist, best suited to his 

 bleak native habitat and never likely to take a prominent 

 place in British husbandry. 



THE SHEEP OF SOUTH WALES 



are characterized by Mr. Morgan Evans as "principally 

 w r hite-faced, though some have rusty brown, others speckled 

 and others gray faces. The males are horned, the ewes gen- 

 erally hornless, though sometimes with very short horns and 

 occasionally with horns .equal in size to those of the ram. 

 The head is small and carried well up, the neck long, poll 

 high, shoulders low, chest narrow, girth small, ribs flat, 

 rump high and tail long. Average weight of ewes 7 Ibs. per 

 quarter. Three year old wethers, 9 to 10 Ibs. per quarter, 

 and the mutton famous for its delicacy. The average clip 

 of wool is about 5 Ibs. per fleece of fine quality, but in some 

 districts it is mixed with long hairs about the neck and 

 back." All attempts at improvement of these little mountain 

 sheep have ended in failure. They are the natural product 

 of the bleak, semi-barren Welsh hills, the heather, a rigorous 

 winter climate and generally hard conditions, modified by 

 the salt sea winds, and in their best estate, are likely, though 

 diminutive in size, to long: remain the unapproachable, 

 superlative mutton sheep of the hill country. 



THE EXMOOU, 



like the Dartmoor, are native to the North Devon and neigh- 

 boring mountains, and in their original estate bore noticeable 

 resemblance to the Dorsets, of which they were near neigh- 

 bors. They were naturally wild and nomadic, carried light 



