THE SHEEP 



175 



Sheep Baths 



long produced a stout sheep suitable for butcher- 

 ing. A neighboring breed, the Herefordshire, 

 was also stoutly and heavily made, with a large 

 head and strong, bony structure ; but it was 

 chiefly valued for its wool, which was of excel- 

 lent quality. Now the stomach of London de- 

 manded meat, more meat, always meat. The 

 Englishman is beyond dispute the greatest 

 meat eater in the civilized world, while at the 

 same time he is a dainty ^i,'-(^///7«(7. To do him 

 justice, he never hesitates to pay the price 

 of his meat, which is naturally an encourage- 

 ment to the breeder. Bakewell saw his op- 

 portunity and was equal to the task. He 

 created the new Leicester breed (sometimes 

 called the Dishley) from mating the old 

 Leicestershire race with the Herefordshire, 

 Lincoln, and Teeswater races. 



The Teeswater sheep is the product of 

 very rich pastures lying along the two banks 

 of the river Tees. For a long time it was 

 one of the best known species. At two years 



of age the animal often supplied two hundred 

 pounds of butcher's meat. Towards Christmas 

 of the }'ear 1 797 a ram of this race was slaugh- 

 tered at Darlington-on-Tees, the four quarters 

 of which weighed two hundred and fort\'-nine 

 pounds, with seventeen additional p(junds of fat. 



j:MrZ. 



Raji of Old Leicester Breed 



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