nKMKI.UI:ii:nls AM> .\fl/.T/J:i/:<>ts rniCHXASry yyj 



ho mentions liaving seen a Sheep tliat was twenty years old, which had 

 bred every year. A Ewe at Hohenheim, in 1845, hroiif,'lit forth one 

 Lamb, the first ; m 184G two; in LS47 live; in 1848 four; 1841) three ; 

 1M50 two —in all seventeen Lambs at six births. Four of these were 

 males, and thirteen females. 



In our own country such fecundity is not very uncoiimion. 



For instaiicf, in the Cha»il>er of Aiirlntlliire. Joiinia/ for Maidi, 1>71, there is a 

 notice of extraordinary proliticacy related by Mr. An^nis, of Lowthorpe, Hull, who 

 saya : — " Last 3'ear i-ne of my E*es, of tl>e Jjincohi lireeti, broiiglit forth .six Lanilis, ail 

 living. I had great ditticulty in persuading my neighbours to believe this, although 

 the fact was tjuite elear and well attested. I gave her a private ear-mark, and last 

 Michjvelmas a separate red mark also. As we naw this spring that she was getting heavy, 

 we kept her ipiite separate from the rest of the Ewes, and last Thursday she produced 

 another six Lambs. Some of these will not survive, as they were a few days belore their 

 prop«'r time ; but all are complete and well fornn-d, and the ICwe is now suckling one 

 Lamb." " The especial wonder about this woolly mother," adds the editor of the journal, 

 "is tliat she belciMns to a breed in which it is rare for a l-'we to drop more than three 

 L«nib.s, while good luck among the Lincoln Hocks is 'one half pairs,' with occasionally a 

 three." 



The Carmarlhi u Journal (March, 1844) alludes to foiir Ewes in that county, which in 

 one week yeaned fourteen Lambs ; one had five Lambs, and these all did well. The 

 Che.iler C/ironirle (May '2.'), 1867) mentions that a little Welsh Kwe at I'irkenhead had 

 two Lambs in the spring of ]S»;i ; in ISGfi three, all alive; Ibtiti, four, all living ; and in 

 1876 five, fiiur of which lived, and were in good health. Jidl's WkUij Mtssiuijer 

 (June "29, l'<14) sUites that a farmer in Kent had a Ewe which dropped the extranrdinary 

 number of six Lambs, four of which it reared, and the other two were brought up by 

 hand. The previous season the aanie Ewe produced four Lambs, all of which were 

 reared and turned out well. .According to tho C/iesfir C/ironiilc (Aprd 11, 1S68), a farmer 

 at Otlej-, Yorkshire, had a Ewe, five years old, which had produced fifteen Lambs. AVhen 

 one year old it had two, at two years four, at three \'ears two, at four years four, and at 

 five years three. The SaJo/nun (April li, l.'^7-) speaks of a Ewe at Wem, Salo]), which 

 gave birth at one time to five Lambs the previous year, and these were all reared, and in 

 thi^ year six were born, five of which lived. The Chfsfir Chronicle (April l!', 1873) 

 alludes ti> a Ewe which produced an annual average of three Ijambs for seven years ; the 

 animal itself was one of three. The Slirtwihitri/ C/irouicle (June "20, 1874) reportn that 

 a Shn>pshire Kwe lambed twice in six months, producing twins each time ; and the Fii-ld 

 (May \'l. 187-'5) gives an instance of a Ewe having five Lambs, one of which died in a few 

 days, but the others did well. The Oxirfslri/ AilrtrliMr (October 2, 1S72) instances a 

 Ewe which gave nine Lambs in two seasons — -three and six — all fine I^ambs, anil in perfect 

 health. And in the Cnmliridu newsj>aper for the same month, it is mentioned that 

 "Mr. .1. M. Harding, of the TownHill Farm, .Swansea, has just h>»<l an extraordinary 

 piece of goo<l luck in Innibing. From a small flock of seventeen Ewes, he has had no 

 le.«s than thirty-seven Lambs, all alive and doing well. Every Ewe has bnuight 'doubles,' 

 and three have brought ' triplets.' It i.s not only the numl»-r of I.,ambs, but they are all 

 strong and healthy. . . . There is no reiuson to doubt that the remainder of the flock 

 will be e<|ually prolific." 



In the yo'.tiniiham Jnnrnnl for 18 UI, it is stated that a Ewe in that loeality brought 

 forth five Lambs .at a birth, all alive and likely to continue so. 



Mr. Lite, already ((uoted, mentions the case of five Ewes which ha<l been attacked 

 with symptoms of brain disorder shortly before lambing, and soon died. Each, when 

 opened, was found to have four I>anil>s, making twenty in all. 



The Lynn yl(/iy»7i.scr for February, 187"_', states that a Ewe in that locality lambed 

 on the 11th of that month, the Lamb living twenty-four hours; again on Junt' '28, and 

 on January 21, 1872, bringing fi>rth twin I^ambs on the last occasion. The Ewe thus 

 lambed three times in a year and ten days. 



In 1875 Mr. Rol>ert P. Oreenhill, of Elmbridge, near Droitwich, wa.s in jx>sses.siiiii ,,f 

 a Ewe, seven years old, which had product-d no fewer than 20 Lnnd)s -a small flock. In 

 the first year she gave birth to 2 ; in the second, 1 ; third, •$ ; fourth, " ; fifth, 4 ; sixth, 4 ; 

 and seventh, 3. 



And at Shafte.«bury, it is recorded in M.iy, 1876, that a farmer had some Ewes 

 fatting, and a neighbour's ram gf)t with them ; consequently, 13 of thtm jin>ved to be 

 j)r»gnant, and produced no le.ss than 31 Lambs, all born alive (a few dead since), ai 

 follows : — 



