154 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2 



The Ditl'erent Breeds of Sheep. 



Wool Gb')Hi»g ia becoming a very imporliini 

 and proliiable branch of agriciiUure in ihia Sale, and 

 many fanners ore anxioiia to infurni themselves re- 

 spccung the character and relative value of the d.fler- 

 ent breeds of sheep. The flolluwing article, copied 

 from ibe Western Fanner & Gardener, is the beet we 

 hove seen on this subject of late. We would advise 

 our readers, who wiah inf TMiotion respecting this or 

 any other kind of farm stock, to attend as many Agri- 

 cultural fairs as they can, where they may see the 

 different breeds, and compare them. We will give 

 sjrnc engraved representatii)n8 hereafter. 



In my former comniiinication, I endeavored to lay 

 before your reid'is nome a count of the pirtieular ap- 

 plication of the different sorts of wool, to their manii- 

 tacturing purposes ; didtinguiyhing them by their 

 wuli known dii'ision ol long and short In continu- 

 ing the subject, I purpoee making a short review of 

 the various breeds of sheep, or such of them as 1 think 

 will be intere-ting to your readers; explaining with 

 as much distinctness as lays in my power, thtr origin 

 of the name held at present by each particular brcid: 

 having in view the intent of iniorming those who may 

 not be acquainted with the subject, what n meant by 

 the ■ oiswold, Bakcwetl, *fec. 



The long-wooHed sheep shall first occupy our at- 

 t«niion; and, as they are more especially before the 

 public mind, we will begin with the Leicestershire. 



Tue Oid Leicester, the New Leicester, the Uiike- 

 wcll, and tue D-ahley, are one and the same breed of 

 ahcep; the Old Leice.3ier being the original stock. — 

 Ab mt the middle of the last century, Mr. Bukewell, 

 who lived at Dishley, in Leicestershire, endeavored to 

 im,)r.)ve the existing sheep of that c lunty; which he 

 did by attention and a careful selection from all the 

 n)ck8 around his neighliorhood, without regard to 

 Bize, but having in view the greatest propensuv to 

 fatten, with that shape which he considered would 

 produce the largest proportion of valuable meat, with 

 the smallest quantity of bone and offal. 



Having formed his stock fiom sheep so selected, 

 be carefully attended to the peculiarities of the indi- 

 vidals from which he bred, and (from the be.t in- 

 fornntion) did not object to breeding from near rela- 

 tions, when by doing so he put together animals 

 likely to produce a progeny possfssiiig the character- 

 istics he wished to obtain. 



Some person-* supposed that Mr. Bakewell formed 

 the New Leceister variety by crossing different sorts 

 of sheep. There is no reason for believing this; and 

 the contrary appears to be the fact. He next estab- 

 lished a eyetem of letting rams for the season, instead 

 of selling them, to those whowi:?hed their use — a sys- 

 tem not only bcnchcial to the ram-breeder, but alio 

 to the fanner. It enables the ram-breeder to keep a 

 greoter number and give his whole attention to this 

 department; and secures to the farmer, any cross he 

 may require for ony portion of his flock, without the 

 necessity of in-and-in breeding. 



Valuable as this system no doubt was, it was only 

 after 21) yearsof incessant perseverance, that Mr. Buke- 

 well had ihe pleasure of seeing his ideas on this subject 

 sustained by the breeders i>f th.-i country. Tue first ram 

 Mr. B let, wis for sixteen shillings. Twenty-six years 

 from that time, he let a celebrated ram called thu Two 

 Pounder^ for one season, at four hundred guineas 

 each iVoni two breeders, still reserving one-third for 

 himself; the value of the ram for this seoson, being 

 thus astiinated at twelve hundred guineas, (about six 

 thousand dollars.) Mr. Bikewell's improved breed 

 were called the New Li'ceister, to distinguish them 

 from the parent stock; by some they were designated 

 as the BnkewuU, and hy others the Dishley, being the 

 place of his ab ide: and thus we get at the origin ol 

 all thi-'se names. 



B;fore closing this account it mny be well to des- 

 cribe the peculiarities of the New Leceister breed of 

 sheep The head should be hornless, long, email, 

 tapering towards the muzzle, and projecting horizon- 

 tally forwards; the eyes prominent but with a quiet 

 expression: the ears thin, rather long, and directed 

 backwards, the neck full and broad nt its base, where 

 it proceeds from the chest, but gradnnily tapering to- 

 wards the head, and particularly tine at the jiinctinn 

 of th'i head and neck; the neck seeming to project 

 straight from the chest, so that there is, with the 

 »ligh'.est possible deviation, one continued horizontal 

 line from the rump ti) tlie poll; the breast broad and 

 full; the sh'iiilders also oroad and round, and no un- 

 even or angular formation where the shimldcrs join 

 either the neck or the b«ck; particularly no rising of 



the withers; or hollow behind the situation of these 

 hones; the arm Qe^hy through its whole extent, and 

 even down to the knee; the bones of tlie legs small, 

 standing wide apart, no looseness ol skin about them, 

 and comparatively bare of wool; the chest and barrel 

 nt once tlLepaiid round; the ribs fornnng a considera- 

 iilc arch from the spine, so as in some cases, and es- 

 pecially when the aninut is in good conditijn, to 

 make the app-irent width of the chest even greater 

 tliiiu the depth; the barrel well nbbed home; no ir- 

 regularity oi line on ihe back or belly, but on the 

 suits the carca^9 very gradually diminishing in width 

 uiwards the rump; the quarters long and lull, and, as 

 with '.he lorelegs, the muscles extending down to the 

 hock; the thighs also wide and lull; the legs ol a mo- 

 derate length: the pell also moderately thin, but soft 

 and elastic, and covered with a good quantity ol 

 white wool, not so long as in some breeds, but consi- 

 derably liner. 



The New Lc'cesters ore not'howevrr, without their 

 faults; they are by no means prolilic breeders. This, it 

 is probable, may be the result of the in and-in bleeding 

 to which Mr. B ikewell no doubt sometimes resorted. 

 They vory much in eiz-, weighing at a yesr and a 

 half old from twenty-four to ihirty six pounds per 

 quarter; though we have instances of their bein^ led 

 to a considerably greater weight. We have it on re 

 cord that Mr. Morgan of L'uighton, led a pure bred 

 New Leicester bhjcp, the live wei;iht of which was 

 three hundred and sixty-eight pounds, and that of the 

 carcass two hundred and forty-eight. 



The fibre of the wool varies f.'om five to more than 

 twelve inches in length, and the fleece averages from 

 six to seven pountls : it is used mostly in the manu- 

 facture of serges and carpels. 



The Cotswold sheep takes its nome from a range 

 of hills on which they are raised in Gloucestershire, 

 and known as the Cotswold bills — being one of ihe 

 grand divisions of thot county. Camden says **that 

 they derive it from the cots or sheds in which they 

 were housed at nighi, — ur periimnently for the win- 

 ter; and the wolds or open hilly grounds on which 

 they were pastured in the summer." Every peison 

 at all conversant with the lopograghy of England 

 knows that the Cotswold hills have ever been famous 

 for the pasturage afforded to this ['articular breed of 

 sheep. In 1437, Don Duarte, King ol Portugal, 

 made application to lleniy IV. king o) England, for 

 liberty to export sixty sacks of Cotswold wool, that 

 he might manufacture certain ' loths of gold at Flor- 

 ence, for his own use. Stowe says in his Chronicle, 

 that in the yesr 1467, Edward IV. gave license to 

 pass over into Spain, certain CotswoM sheep, &.c. — 

 The object that I have in making iliese quotations, is 

 merely to show the antiquity of the breed. Very few 

 pure Cotswolds now exist, ond these we ore given to 

 understand, are last passing away. The description 

 given of the pure Cotswold is that they are taller ond 

 longer than the improved breed; comparatively flat 

 sided; deficient in the fore quarter but full in the hind 

 one; not fattening s-i early, but yielding a longer and 

 a heavier fleece. 



The Cotswold have been crossed considerably by 

 the Leicester, and the prevalent breed may be said to 

 consist ol half Leicester, half Colswold. Though a 

 distinct breed ol sheep, the similarity that presents it- 

 self in the Bukewell and Cotswold sheep of this coun- 

 try, would carry conviction to the mind of any breed- 

 er, that the cross has been carried to a very consider- 

 able extent, upon most, if not all of the sheep ol this 

 name imported into America. In some parts of this 

 cDuntry — for instance, in the territory of Iowa, or any 

 other, where wool is the object and not the carcase — 

 the pure Cotswold is the better sheep; they are more 

 easily kcjit; are larger, th>uigh not so well formed in 

 the body, and produce a heavier fleece. This is speak- 

 ing comparatively between the Cotswold and the Lei- 

 cester. 



The improved Cotswold, which is the ebeep we 

 have here, will weigh from 25 to 41) lbs. per quarter: 

 and yield a fleece of' from 7 to 8 pounds on the av- 

 erage. 



The pure Linconshirc sheep, like the pure Cots- 

 wold, is fast disappeortng. Culley describes them as 

 having no horns; white faces, long, thin, and weak 

 carcases; the ewes weighing from 14 to 'Hi lbs per 

 quarter, and the wethers from 20 to 30 lbs.; with 

 lliick, rough, white legs; lorge honei; thick pelts, 

 and long wool, from ten to eighteen inches, and 

 weighing from 8 to 14 lbs. per flecco. According to 

 Ellis, they were the longest legged and lorgeei car- 

 cassed sheep of ail others; and olthough their U'ge and 

 bellies were for the most part void of wool — yet 

 they carried more wool on them than any other sheep 

 whateoever. The conttjst for supremacy between the 



Lincolnsand the Leicestere was long ond acrimonious, ' 

 and d uht even now exists in the minds of tome, with 

 regal d to the relai.vc volue of the respective breeds. 

 Tfie cross ol the Leceistersbire rom on the Lincoln 

 ewe, displayed to a great extent the excellencies of the 

 male parent, and the wether attained iis maturity in 

 a year less tune than it was accustomed to, with less 

 eompar-tive expense of food even in that time. Tiia 

 Lincolnshire sheep now, is for the most part crofsed 

 with the Leceibt- r — as indeed is the case with most 

 of the long wooled varieties. The overage weight of 

 the fleece of the present sheep, is about 7 lbs., and of 

 the pure Lincoln, nut more than U Ibe. — the liugiU 

 ol the staple from 8 to ii inches. 



There are other long wool sheep, but from tbecroea 

 of the Leicester, they uave generally imbiljcd so much 

 of the characteristics of that bree.,' thot I think it un- 

 necessary to give any lengthened dcocripiion of them. 



In a future number I will take a review ol" the short 

 wool sheep, and give my opinion as to the adaptation , 

 of the particular breeds to western farming purpi ses. t 

 Yours, &,e. UMBRA. 



American Wool Product. 



To those who have poid the subject but little at- 

 tention, the amount ol money invesied in the produc- 

 tion ol woo, within the United States, will seem sur- 

 prising. It is very generally believed that this is ijiiilo 

 a secondary bran h of our general interest, inetc'd of 

 one of the most fruitful sources of our wealth, and 

 bestdcserving the cherishing protection of our Gov- 

 ernment. As shown by the returns of the late census, 

 "e hove in this country, exclusive of North Carolina, 

 Michigan and Kentucy, 19, 0ro,!)6J sheep ; and taking 

 ten dollars as the averrg'- value of land necessary to 

 tUotain a sheep and make a fair allowance for the 

 animals themselves, for the labor necessary lor ibeT 

 proper superintendence with tliat required to prepare., 

 their product for its first market, which are os much 

 part oi the investment as the land which eusiainett; 

 them, the aggregate amuuntof capital invesied in this 

 branch of industry will be at least two bundled mil-, 

 lions of dollars This is certainly an immense sum, 

 and well deserves the attention of the General Gov- 

 ernmeni. At present, England supplies us annually 

 with some ten millions woith of broadcloths, and af- 

 ter all chooses to import her wool from the continenlj 

 to the entire exclusion of our own. In Ib39, her en- 

 tire import of this article was 57,3L'5,944 pounds, and 

 while we had some 40,000,000 pounds ol wool re- 

 moininL' at home, nearly two-lif hs of the whole wol- 

 len manufoctures of Great Britain come to the U. S. 

 And yet we have only $l-'>,000,000 invested in wollcji 

 inanuibcturcs. 



Of the aggregate amount of wool grown in the 

 United States in lf;39. New York produced 4,012,- 

 144 pounds; Ohio, 3,650,970 ; Vermont, 2,'<;57,. 

 7!:5 : which, in proportion to her population, is much 

 the largest amount grown in any Store ;Peiinsylvonia, 

 3,076 783; Virginio, 2,672,044: Maine, 1,475,:51 ; 

 New Hampskire, l,2t0.9B8 ; Indiana, 1,202,209 ; 

 -Massachusetts. 1,055,591 ; Tennessee 1,029,516; 

 and the other Staiie various amounts between the 

 8li3,675 pounds of Connecticut, and the 45,^24 of 

 Louifiiina. — N. Y. Tribune. 



Culture of the Tare or Vetch. 



A subscriber in Canada inquires whether any for- 

 mers in this region ore in the practice of growing 

 English Tores; ond if so with what success. We 

 should be ple.tsed if some of our readers would give 

 us the results ef their experience on this siibjecl. In 

 the meantime, the following, from tbe Faimer'l 

 Cabinet, may be useful: 



" At a late meeting of the Philadelphia -Agricultu- 

 ral Society, member inquired if ony one present 

 could speak experimentally on the culture and valite 

 of the tare or selch, which is in such very general 

 use in England, where the summer-soiling system is 

 adopted; remarking, that from all accounts the plant 

 must be astoniehingly productive as well ne nulritioue. 

 Having myself employed it for that purpose very 

 largely, and for many years, I would eoy, its produc- 

 tivenecB hoe never yet been overstated, or its value 

 overrated, oa food for all kinds of cattle. Horses, 

 milk cows, fatting beasts, sheep and bogs, will grow 

 fat while feeding on il, ond the older i: grows the 

 more valuable it becumea, as the seed when formed in 

 the pod, is fir superior to oats or any other groin for 

 the purpose of cattle Iced; the seeds are black, and 

 the siie of very small peas. Tbe crop is used for soil- 

 ing, by cutting while green and taking it to the sla- 



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