432 SHEEP 



of leg. The head from the ears forward is covered with a soft 

 white hair, the skin having a slight bluish tint and small black 

 spots often occurring on head and ears. The face is of medium 

 length, the nose is frequently Roman in form, with black skin 

 at muzzle, and the ears are thin, somewhat large, and delicate, 

 standing more or less erect. Neither rams nor ewes have horns. 

 The neck tends to be short and is not much elevated in carriage. 

 The body is very wide of rib but often lacks in depth, the pro- 

 portion of breadth to depth being striking. The breast is usu- 

 ally quite prominent, both in extension and thickness, and the 

 hind quarters frequently are not so large as they should be, 

 being peaked. The legs tend to be long and fine of bone. The 

 temperament is quiet and gentle, such as might be expected with 

 the large breeds. The fleece is excellent for coarse wool, medium 

 long, and usually lies over the body in fine spiral locks. Usually 

 no wool extends beyond the ears, and the legs are not commonly 

 wooled below knee and hock. 



The size of the Leicester is large, though this is the smallest 

 of the long-wooled breeds. Average-sized mature rams weigh 

 from 225 to 250 pounds and the ewes from 175 to 200 pounds. 



The pure-bred Leicesters as mutton producers do not rank 

 high. When mature they are too large for common market 

 demands, and unless killed before twelve months of age produce 

 too fat a mutton. Neither is the quality quite equal to the best 

 standard. Wrightson states that the Leicester is best fattened 

 when from twelve to fifteen months old, when the carcass weighs 

 about eighty to one hundred pounds. At three of the American 

 Fat Stock Shows held at Chicago the following figures were 

 secured, showing the best records made by Leicester fat wethers. 



Age 969 days, weight 300 pounds, average gain per day from birth .3 1 pound 

 " 600 " " 295 " " " " " " " .49 pound 



" 235 " " 178 " " " " " " " .75 pound 



In feeding experiments at the Ontario Agricultural College the 

 better Leicester high-grade, fat, shorn yearlings weighed 242 

 pounds and made an average daily gain of .54 pound. 



Cross-bred or grade Leicesters are regarded with favor by some 

 superior sheep feeders. A compact, easy-feeding Leicester ram, 

 used on ewes of Merino character, will sire sheep of more scale 



