SHEEP 



575 



Cotswolds— The Cotswold is the most 

 popular of the long wool breeds in 

 America. It is one of the old English 

 breeds, first brought to the United States 

 in 1832. They are distributed in every 

 state in the Union, as well as Canada. 

 They stand next to the Lincolns in size. 

 The bucks weigh from 250 to 275 pounds 

 when in good flesh, and the ewes 200 to 

 225 pounds, the fleece is 8 to 10 inches 

 long and should weigh on the average 

 10 to 14 pounds unwashed. The breed 

 has a well poised head with a character- 



try association was organized in 1878, 

 and has registered 36,670 animals. 



Romney Marsh—The home of this 

 breed is the low, marshy lands of south- 

 eastern England. It is a hardy breed 

 and survives under conditions of neglect 

 where many of the other breeds would 

 fail. It is perhaps the best of the breeds 

 for marshy conditions. The character- 

 istics of the Romney Marsh, according 

 to Stewart are: "A thick, broad head 

 and neck, long carcass, flat sides, broad 

 loins, full and broad thigh, neither heavy 

 nor full fore-quarter, thick, strong legs 



Fig. 362 



istic foretop coming well down over the 

 eyes, a straight, broad back, well round- 

 ed body with full brisket. It has a 

 hardy constitution, good grazing and 

 feeding qualities and is specially well 

 adapted for crossing on smaller Down 

 and Merino breeds for increasing the 

 weight of the lamb, lengthening the 

 fleece and improving the quality of the 

 mutton. They are popular on the range 

 for crossing on Merino ewes. The face 

 and legs are white, or slightly mixed 

 with gray. The fleece covers the whole 

 body. The American Cotswold Eegis- 



CIIAMPIOX OXFORD EWE 



and broad feet; wool long, somewhat 

 coarse, and coarsest on the thighs, much 

 inside fat, and favorite animal with the 

 butcher. There is a tuft of wool on the 

 forehead. The fleece weighs from 7 to 

 10 pounds, is of long staple, sound qual- 

 ity, bright and glossy." Three-year-old 

 wethers should dress 100 to 120 pounds, 

 the ewes from 70 to 90 pounds. 



Black-faced Scotch or Highland sheep 

 — This is one of the oldest breeds of 

 Scotland. They are a black-faced breed 

 with large spiral horns, a square, com- 

 pact body, very muscular and active and 



