28 BULLETIN di, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGKICULTUEE. 



The following is the scale of points of the Suffolk Sheep Society of 

 England : 



Points. 

 Head: Hornless; face black aud long, and muzzle moderatly fine, especially in 

 ewes. (A small quantity of clean, white wool on the forehead not objected to.) 



Ears, a medium length, black and fine texture. Eyes, bright and full 25 



Xeck: Moderate length and well set (in rams stronger, with a good crest) 5 



Shoulder: Broad and oblique 5 



Chest : Deep and wide 5 



Back and loin: Long, level, and well covered with meat and muscle; tail broad 



and well set up. The ribs long and well sprung, with a full flank 20 



Legs and feet: Straight and black, with fine and flat bone. Wooled to knees and 

 hocks; clean below. Fore legs set well apart. Hind legs well filled with 



mutton 20 



Belly (also scrotum of rams) : Well covered with wool 5 



Fleece: Moderately short; close, fine fiber without tendency to mat or felt together, 



and well defined, i. e., not shading off into dark wool or hah* 10 



Skin: Fine, soft, and pink color 5 



Total 100 



THE CHEVIOT. 



The origin of the Cheviot is obscure. There is an old legend to 

 the effect that they came out of the sea, presumably having swam 

 ashore from one of the wrecked ships of the Spanish Armada. Another 

 theory is that they are the sole representatives of an old type that 

 in ages past occupied a large portion of Scotland. Flocks of the 

 breed are said to have been maintained by the monks of this region 

 during the Middle Ages on the pasture lands surrounding the mon- 

 asteries. The breed is an old one at any rate. They received their 

 present name about 1791, but are locally known as the " long sheep " 

 in contradistinction to the "short" or Black-faced Highland sheep. 



As stated before, the Cheviot is an extremely old breed. As early 

 as 1757, Mr. Robson, of Belford, purchased some Lincolnshire rams to 

 use upon his flock and by so doing made considerable improvement 

 in the breed. Edminstoun and Kerr, other eminent Cheviot breed- 

 ers, followed the same practice and likewise got good results. Later, 

 Leicester blood is said to have been introduced, carrying with it the 

 improvements that this breed almost invariably effected, namely, 

 early maturity and improvement of form. For a long term of years 

 the breed has been kept pure, any later attempts to introduce new 

 blood having failed. 



The distribution of the Cheviot to-day is through the counties of 

 Roxbury, Dumfries, Peebles, and Sutherland, in Scotland, and 

 Northumberland, in England. At the beginning of the la>st century 

 the Cheviot became very popular and crowded back the Black- 

 faced Highland to a considerable extent. The principal reason for 

 this was that the wool of the former was in high demand, and the 

 Cheviot was consequently more profitable than the Black-face. 



