174 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



A Rarr Species of the Shropshire Breed 



Photo J. T. Xewman. IJerkhampsttnd 



although, hke them, they inhabit the plains and 

 hillsides of a great part of Europe and America. 

 There is a great difference, however, in the 

 character of those plains ; the mcjorland sheep 



live on sandy soil, while the 

 English-bred sheep are the 

 product of a rich, loamy, 

 calcareous land. England is 

 especially fitted for the forma- 

 tion of such a race, partly by 

 reason of its soft and temper- 

 ate climate, and partly because 

 of its many beautiful and fer- 

 tile meadows and the rolling 

 "downs" of the south and 

 •east; and also, and above all, 

 by reason of the practical good 

 sense that characterizes the 

 Englishman in general and the 

 English breeder in particular. 

 The history of these sheep 

 does not date back very far. 

 It was not until the second 

 half of the eighteenth century 

 that their excellent qualities came to be gener- 

 ally known, thanks to a breeder named Bake- 

 well, who died in 1799. Bakewell lived in 

 Leicestershire, where the soil and climate had 



The Shower B.ath 



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