THE CHEVIOT 



60 1 



The Cheviot as a mutton producer stands high. In England 

 the mutton of this breed, which is rarely too fat and has very 

 superior quality, ranks in the first class. External fat is not abun- 

 dant, but there is a desirable proportion of lean to fat. Professor 

 Wallace of Scotland states that ewes fed on turnips twelve to four- 

 teen weeks, and wethers from the hills at three years, weigh, killed 

 and dressed, 60 to 70 pounds. Wethers a year younger, fed tur- 

 nips, weigh about the same. The Cheviot at the Smithfield Fat- 

 Stock Show has always made a good place for itself, and in 19 14 

 Archibald MacNeilage, ed- 

 itor of the Scottish Farmer, 

 stated that as a mutton breed 

 at this show it has been pre- 

 eminent from the begin- 

 ning. Henry and Morrison 

 show^ from Smithfield Club 

 records that 53 yearling 

 wethers averaging five hun- 

 dred and ninety-two days 

 and 224 pounds live weight 

 made an average daily gain 

 of . 3 7 pound, and 3 5 wether 

 lambs weighing an average 

 of 141 pounds at two hun- 

 dred and thirty-eight days 

 gained .59 pound daily, 

 surpassing both Shropshire and Southdown in daily gain. In the 

 carcass tests at the Smithfield Show 54 Cheviot lambs dressed 



59 per cent carcass, which is better than average. At the 191 1 

 International Live-Stock Exposition, in the carcass contest the 

 second-prize yearling wether was a Cheviot shown by Wiscon- 

 sin University that had a live weight of 160 pounds and dressed 



60 per cent carcass. 



The crossbred or grade Cheviot has much merit as a mutton 

 producer. The use of Border Leicester or Lincoln rams on 

 aged Cheviot ewes has been practiced for a great many years in 

 the border country, such half-breds having a comparatively high 



1 Feeds and Feeding (1915), p. 518. 

 ^ Digitized by Microsoft® 



Fig. 283. A Cheviot yearling ewe, first prize 

 in class at the Edinburgh Show, Scotland, 

 1904. This is a fine example of Cheviot 

 style and character. Bred and exhibited by 

 J. R. C. Smith, Mowhaugh. From photograph, 

 by courtesy of the owner 



