176 Soiling. 



flock was more improved in the same length of 

 time. In 1875 I made mj' first exhibit outside of 

 country fairs, at the New York State Fair, at 

 Rochester, N. Y., and came home with a second 

 prize on a ram lamb. Three years later the flock 

 came home with the Sweepstakes Flock medal, won 

 in competition with the three best flocks of Cotswolds 

 in this country. Afterward during five or six years 

 they never failed to bring home the largest share of 

 the prize cards. 



The Cotswold, like all families of large-bodied, 

 long and medium wooled sheep were originated in 

 England, where the climate is cooler, and where 

 they are soiled on vetches and rape summers, and 

 turnips during autumn and winter, until rape and 

 vetches come again. So that they have come up 

 with habits of idleness in comparison with our 

 American merino and ordinary grades, which are 

 content to grub all day on scanty pastures. By 

 soiling, the English breeders have been able to sup- 

 ply their sheep dailj', from birth to maturity, with 

 more forage than they could possibly devour. 

 Americans fail to get the same results from English- 

 bred sheep, simply because they are not as good 

 feeders. When we get them to the States, we turn 

 them to pasture, and they get on fairly well until 

 June, when they prefer to lie in the shade than to 

 seeking their food in the hot sun. Cotswolds, Lin- 

 colns, and Leicesters, and the Downs as well, except- 

 ing possibly the Southdown, will not work all day 

 as they must at pasture, to produce the best results. 



