1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



49 



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COTSWOLD SHEEP. 



In OUT li*st nnmter-WTg gtmrim illustration of a 

 Cotuwold Buck, and now present the reader an 

 engraving of two beautiful Cotswold Ewes, and 

 with them the opinion of Mr. John T. Andrew, 

 of West Cornwall, Conn., a gentleman well quali- 

 fied by his long culture of sheep to judge of their 

 respective merits. He says : 



I have selected the Cotswold breed of sheep for 

 my own cultivation, as combining more desirable 



Dualities as a mutton sheep, than any other known 

 ariety. Its large size removes it from all compe- 

 tition except with the Leicester. Compared with 

 them the appearance of the Cotswold indicates a 

 I'ecent origin, less refinement of anatomy, less deli- 

 cacy of style, equal beauty of form, less liability 

 to disease, and that greater vigor of constitution 

 given by the fresh blood of a new and rising race. 

 Some of the best of this breed of sheep, arc now 

 known as New Oxfordshires. I am keeping Ijoth 

 varieties, and have yet had no reason to regret my 

 selection. 



They are prolific. — After two years of age they 

 usually bring twins. The lambs become fat, and 

 are worth in autumn five dollars to the 'outcher. 

 Selected for breeding, the lambs sell at from ten 

 to twenty-five dollars each. A gentleman in 

 Canada who had fourteen of this class of sheep, 

 informed me that he one year raised from them 

 twenty-eight lambs, and sold them for seven hun- 

 dred dollars. 



Their icool is prrrfOuble^ — The \\XjtA -of this 

 sheep, compared with the Merino, is dry, clean, 

 and less soft. The staple is very long. No other 

 sheep produce so heavy a fleece of pure wool. 

 Some washed fleeces have Aveighed as high as 

 twenty pounds. The lightest fleeces are from 

 bearing ewes, and these will average seven pounds 

 each, so that there is no kind of wool selling 

 higher by the fleece. 



These sheep are hardy. — I have kc])t them three 

 years, and have not had a case of disease among 

 them. Their long, heavy fleece protects them 

 from cold, and turns off the storms. 



Theij come to early tnafvrify. — They may be 

 fatted with jirofit when a year old. At two I have 

 seen them fatted with very little grain, and sold 

 to the butcher for eighteen dollars each. 



They are disposed to become fat. — It is well 

 known that a given amount of food will produce a 

 far greater amount of valuable fat and flesh on 

 some animals than on others. Grain fed to these 

 sheep, produces more pounds of meat than fed to 

 swine, and the meat sells higher by the pound. 



These Sheep obtain a yrcat size. — A standing 

 premium of one hundred dollars, for a sheep 

 weighing two hundred pounds in the mutton, has 

 been taken by this breed alone. The wool will 

 pay the expenses of keeping until three years of 

 age. They have then been flitted to weigh three 

 hundred pounds, and sold for twenty-five dollars 

 each. 

 These sheep are well adapted to small farms, 



