CHAPTEE XX 

 THE ROMNEY MARSH 



History. — The native home of the Eomney Marsh or Kent^ 

 sheep is in southeastern England in Kent on the alluvial plain 

 known as Eomney Marsh. This plain, nearly on a level with the 

 sea and protected from it by strong walls, has an alluvial clay soil 

 with occasional outcroppings of sand or gravel. It is flat and every 

 few rods there are open ditches almost full of water, which are quite 

 as effective as fences for keeping the sheep confined to definite areas. 

 The climate is moist and in winter, cold, damp winds sweep over 

 the marsh and make it an uninviting place in which to live. In 

 summer the fine, rich pastures which are never turned by the plow, 

 will carry as many as twelve two-hundred-pound wethers to the 

 acre, and even with this heavy stocking it is sometimes necessary 

 to put a few bullocks in with the sheep to graze down the grass that 

 is beginning to grow long, for utilizing it to advantage depends on 

 keeping it grazed close (Fig. 110). 



Sheep have been kept on the Marsh for several centuries. The 

 old type, similar in many respects to the old Lincoln, but perhaps 

 even worse in its shape, was a coarse, loose-jointed, big-bellied sheep, 

 yielding long, coarse wool. Improvement was brought about by the 

 use of Leicester rams and careful selection, but it is claimed that 

 the modern Eomney Marsh does not carry as much of the Leicester 

 blood as the improved Cotswold and Lincoln breeds. It was found 

 that the introduction of Leicester blood beyond a certain point 

 produced sheep too tender in constitution to withstand the hard- 

 ships attending poor feed on the bleak, unsheltered winter pastures. 

 Through the use of Leicesters, a riiore compact, earlier maturing 

 type was secured, and the fleece was improved in fineness and felt- 

 ing properties, but reduced somewhat in weight. Eomney Marsh 

 breeders have shown a great deal of enterprise during the past half 

 century in still further improving their breed (Pig. 111). 



Description. — The Eomney Marsh is a large, rugged, rather 

 low-set sheep noted for its constitution and strength of bone. The 



^The American Eomney Breeders' Association has adopted the word 

 Eomney instead of Eomney Marsh. 



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