434 



SHEEP 



The breeding qualities of the Leicester are only moderate. 

 None of the largest breeds are strongly prolific, and no doubt 

 the early policy of very close in-and-in breeding followed by 

 Leicester breeders injured the fecundity of the breed. Careful 



management will no doubt 

 secure fair results. Mr. 

 Benedict, above referred 

 to, reports 136 per cent 

 increase in his Leicester 

 flock. 



The Leicester as a graz- 

 ing or range sheep ranks 

 as only fair. Leicesters 

 will not flock equal to the 

 Merinos. They require 

 better range and more 

 abundant pasture, are not 

 suited to rough ground, 

 and in winter lack the 

 constitution to withstand 

 roughing it without shel- 

 ter. The open fleece is 

 objectionable where much 

 snow or cold rain prevails. 



Fig. 203. Grand-champion Leicester ewe (Bor- 

 der Leicester) at the Louisiana Purchase 

 Exposition, 1904. Owned and exhibited by 

 A. W. Smith, Maple Lodge, Ontario. Photo- 

 graph by the author 



In the so-called corn belt, where properly protected, with abun- 

 dance of roughage, grain, and roots, this breed may do very well. 



The popularity of the Leicester in America to-day is quite 

 secondary, although in the middle of the last century it was 

 looked on with favor in the eastern states. Very few are now 

 owned in the United States, notwithstanding the extended his- 

 tory of the breed here. A few are kept for show purposes and 

 some for cross-breeding, but this large type does not suit the 

 modern demand for a hardy, smaller class of quick-feeding sheep, 

 not too fat when finished. More Leicesters are fed in Canada 

 than elsewhere in America. 



The distribution of the Leicester is wide. Since the days of 

 Bakewell it has been more or less distributed over Europe, Aus- 

 tralia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and North America. It is not a 



