756 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



ing with specimens from Gloucestershire, a result that might, however, happen from the 

 superior grazing qualities of the 2Storfolk pasture. 



The Leicester. — The Leicester breed may be described as follows : 



" The head and ears are covered with short white hair. Some are rather bald on the 

 forehead, but this is generally caused by their having been housed. The ears are long 

 andthiir; the eyes full and quick; the chestdeep and wide; the back broad and straight; 

 the bone fine." 



This breed generally takes the foremost position among long-wool varieties. Owing 

 to the magical change wrought by Bakewell in them they became towards the close of 

 the last century the model sheep of England, and the means of transforming well-nigh 

 all the long-wooled breeds in the Kingdom by bringing about better quality and more 

 symmetrical proportions. At the present day really pure-bred Leicesters are somewhat 

 limited, many of the Yorkshire flocks being crosses with the Wensleydale to increase the 

 size and make the flock a better rent-paying one, although the blood is less pure than 

 that to be found in the midland counties. In Scotland and the North of England "Bor- 

 der Leicesters " are in great favor. They are a much less symmetrical and far stronger 

 boned breed than the Leicesters proper, but yield heavier weights, both of mutton and 

 wool, and are far more profitable. Leicesters do not get so weighty as sheep of the Cots- 

 wold or Lincoln breed owing to their smallness of bone, nor are they extraordinary wool 

 bearers, 7 to 8 pounds per fleece being a good average. Their wool is not so valuable 

 as formerly now that Australia sends to England the best quality of merino adapted to 

 finer kinds of fabrics. It is, however, the best of the long-stapled, bright, coarse wools, 

 and is used for making the best quality of luster yarns. The weight of wethers from 

 fifteen to eighteen months old is usually from 20 to 22 pounds per quarter. 



The Lineolns. — The Lincoln, like the Leicester breed, is an old one very much trans- 

 formed by modern art. The old Lincolnshire was a gaunt, big-boned animal, capable 

 of feeding to an enormous weight, but taking a long time to accomplish it. By a prod- 

 igal infusion of Leicester blood the modern Lincoln has been made pre-eminently wealthy 

 in both mutton and wool, with a predisposition to fatten scarcely excelled by any other 

 long-wooled variety. Lineolns are best adapted to the fens of their native country, 

 and very high class flocks of the breed are likewise to be found in Notts and Yorkshire. 

 The type of Lincoln sheep to be found in the latter country is, however, much crossed 

 with Leicesters. Wether hoggets feed to about 25 pounds per quarter. Being very broad, 

 deep, and compact in form they generally outstrip the Cotswold in weight at the Smith- 

 field Club shows, and last December the heaviest pen* of sheep in the agricultural hall 

 was that of Mr. John Pears, which took the first prize in the ewe class, the animals 

 weighing 9 cwt. 2 quarters 24 pounds. There was, however, a heavier pen of wethers 

 in the Cotswold department than in the Lincoln, Messrs. Gillett's weighing 8 cwt. 6pounds, 

 whereas the heaviest Lincoln pen of wethers belonging to Mr. Robert Wright weighed 

 7 cwt. 3 quarters 8 pounds. 



As wool bearers Lincoln sheep excel all others. The fieeces average irom 12 to 15 

 pounds for ewes and wethers and 18 to 24 pounds for rams. They have hardy and good 

 constitutions, they thrive on bad clayey soils and where the land is wet. Their hardi- 

 ness recommends them for increased cultivation. In regard to Lincoln sheep, Mr. Mac- 

 kinder, of Lincoln, sends a record (inclosure No. 2) of his nine-months old lambs weigh- 

 ing 14 stone, and ewes three years old 26 stone, live weight. The sheep are not housed 

 in winter, and their wool, when washed, weighs 10 to 30 pounds. 



The Devon Lony- Wool.— This is a breed of long-wooled sheep much valued in Devon 

 and West Somerset. It is the result of a cross of Leicester with an old local breed 

 called the Bampton. The sheep are longer and stand higher on their legs than the 

 Leicesters, in which respect they somewhat resemble Border Leicesters, but are much 

 finer in bone than the latter. The carcasses of wether hoggets when a year old range 

 from 21 to 24 pounds per quarter. The districts where they are found in the greatest 

 perfection are about Tiverton and throughout North Devon generally, also in the Taun- 

 ton and Willeton vales of Somerset. There are two other long-wooled breeds to be 

 found in Devon, but chiefly in the southern part of that county. These are the South 

 Hams and Dartmoor varieties. 



The former are considered excellent rent-payers, and yield fleeces almost as heavy as 

 those of the LincoJns. They likewise feed to tolerably heavy weights, yet are far coarser 

 in bone and less symmetrical than the North Devon. The Dartmoors are giants, and in 

 case of crosses on the old mountain Dartmoor by South Ham rams the fleeces are heavy, 

 but most remarkably coarse and long. The carcasses of the sheep are very weighty, but 

 they are considered to take a long time to fatten. The locality where they are found is 

 around Tavislock or on the slopes of the Dartmoor mountains. 



TheKeiiiiih or Bomney Marsh. — The Kentish or Romney Marsh sheep are gaunt, and 

 very strong in bone, muscle, and wool. The Kent Marshes are very much exposed to 



*The word "pen" signifies 3 animals of a kind taken collectively. 



