SHEEP. 



J 



old vrethers is from 25lb5. to 35lbs., and in particular 

 ihrtances to 55lbs. or more. The wool is fliorter and lefs 

 heavy than in that breed. However, the writer of the 

 " Treatife on Catlle," thinks that the bre^d is nearly worn 

 out ; but fuggefts that there is a fimilar breid in Ir land. 



This is a fort of (Keep that has been little atteridtd to, 

 but which, when improved by proper crofling, it is fuppofed, 

 would anfwer and pay well in diftrifls wliere it could be 

 well fupported. In the Correfted Report of tlie State 

 of Agriculture in the Weft Riding of Yorkflure, Mr. Par- 

 kinfon fuppofes that an ufeful kind is capable of being 

 bred by croiling tlie ewes of this fort with Difliky rams, in 

 a careful manner. And it is added, that by tlie life of 

 thefe, and thofe of the Northumberland kind, the quality 

 of the wool and the mutton has not only been greatly im- 

 proved, but the quantity of bone and offal much I'-flened ; 

 and, at the fame time, the fattening property conliderably 

 increafud ; they becoming fatter at two years old than the 

 others are at three. T.he wethers of this improved fort 

 generally fell unfhovn, at two years old, from 45.;. to jjj. 

 a-picce, and weigh from twenty-four to thirty pounds the 

 quarter. They fell a gre'it deal higher at the prefent time. 



Lincohijlnre Breed or V ar'iety .—"YIxk is a breed of Ihcep 

 which is charafterized by their having no horns ; white faces ; 

 long, thin, weak carcafes ; thick, rough, white legs ; bonts 

 large ; pelts thick ; flow-feeding ; mutton coarfe-grained ; 

 the weight ^fr qviarter in ewes from i^lbs. to 2olbs. ; in 

 three-year old wethers from 2olbs. to 3olbs ; the wool 

 from 10 to 18 inches in length. And it is chiefly prevalent 

 in the dillritt which gives the name, and other rich grazing 

 ones. But the writer of the work on Live-ltock luppofes 

 that thi^ breed is now fo generally improved by new Leicef- 

 ter tups, that they are probably, in a great meafure, free 

 from thofe defects of the old breed, of which Mr. CuUey, 

 with much reafon, complained, namely, flow feeding, from 

 a loofenefs of form, and too much bone, and coarfe-grained 

 ilcih. It muft not, however, be denied, that a good old 

 Lincoln has ever been, and the name, at lead, Hill continues 

 a great favourite at Smithfield, and the flavour of the Lin- 

 coln mutton has been generally held fuperior, as mc^re 

 favory than the Difliley. The new or improved Lincoins 

 have now finer bone, with broader loins and trufled carcaiies, 

 and arc among the heft, if not aftually the belt, Inng-woolled 

 Itock we have. Many will recolleft the ridiculous and 

 indecorous fquabbli, fome years ago, between two eminent 

 breeders concerning thefe two breeds of fheep. About 

 this time, they attempted to feed Lincoln (heep on the 

 Elfex inarfhes, and pretended the Itock degenerated, which 

 might happen from infnfRciency of winter keep, or, if they 

 were breeding fl >cks, from croffing with other breeds, an 

 tverlailing and unregarded praftice in thofe not profeffedly 

 breeding counties. This has been fuggeiled as a breed onlv 

 capable of being made fat on the richelt grazing lands : 

 but that in fuch cafes it may probably be kept till three 

 years old, with greater profit than tiie new Leiceiler kind. 

 The [)roportion of bone to mutton is confiderable, and the 

 latter not very fine in quality. But the principal excel- 

 lence of the breed is in the large quantity which it affords, 

 ■which pays for their being kept longer before they are 

 fatted. Such breeds as feed quicker fhould however be 

 preferred by the farmer on mod forts of land. 



Nenu Lelcrjler, or D'lJIiley Breed or Variety, — This is an 

 improved breed of fhecp, which is readily diilm^uifhed 

 from the other long-wooUed forts, according to Culley, by 

 having fine lively eyes; clean heads, without horns; ftraight, 

 troad, flat backs ; round or barrel- fhaped bodies ; fine 

 ftnall bones ; thin pelts ; and a difpofition to make fat at 



a early age ; to which may be added a fupcnority in the 



finenefs of the grain and the flavour of the mutton to that 

 of other fheep of the large long-woolled kinds. The 

 weight per quarter in ewes three or four years old from 

 l8!bs. to 261bs.'; in two-year old wethers, from 2olbs. 

 to ^olbs. ; the length of wool from fix to fourteen inches. 

 But the author of the " Treatife on Live-Stock," cha- 

 rafterizes them as having a fulnefs of form and fubflantial 

 width of carcafe, with a peculiar plainnefs and meeknefs of 

 countenance ; the head long, thin, and leaning backward ; 

 the nofe projecting fcjrward ; the ears fomevvhat long, and 

 ftandmg backward; great fulnefs of the fore-quarters; 

 legs of moderate length, and the finelt bone ; tail tmall ; 

 fleece well covering the body, of the fhorlelt and fineft of 

 the combing wools, the length of ftaple fix or feven inches. 

 The fore-flai.k, a term of the old fchool, current in the time 

 of Lifle, or that flap of fkin and fat appended to the 

 ribs, and the inferior part of the fhoulder, is remarkably 

 capacious in this breed. New Leiceiler mutton, it is be- 

 lieved, is the moft finely grained of ail the large long-woolled 

 fpecies, but of a flavour bordering on the nifipid. And it 

 is added, that it is reported, and with the ftrongefl proba- 

 bility, from the appearance of the ilock, the finenefs of the 

 wool, and the grain of the mutton, that a Rycland crofs was 

 a prime m'trument in the Difhley improvement of fheep. 

 Probably the root or foundation was Lincoln. In the 

 ordinary and gradual courfe of improvement or alteration 

 of form, it mult have taken, it is thought, a long time 

 and vail pains, to mould the animals into that artificial and 

 peculiar fliape which dillinguilhes this remarkable variety, 

 iinlefs indeed fomethiug nearly fimilar was fuddenly and 

 fortuitoufly chopped upon, as will occalionally h-appen 

 when the fickle deity is good-humouredly difpofed to fpare 

 our labours. 



It mull be obferved, that the great advantages of this 

 fort of fheep have been flated to confill in producing a better 

 profit to the farmer, in proportion to the quantity of food 

 coiilumcd, than moll others ; in being more perfectly formed, 

 and confequcntly more difpoled to fatten quickly ; in con- 

 taining a much larger proportion of meat on an equal weight 

 of bone ; in thriving well on fuch paltures as would not 

 fupport other forts of tlie fame fize ; in being capable of 

 being kept or fattened in larger proportions to the acre, than 

 other breeds of the fame fize of carcafe ; in the wool being 

 more valuable, though lefs in quantity ; in their being ready 

 for the butcher in the early part of the fpring inllead of the 

 autumn, by which there is a confiderablc faving in the fum- 

 mer's grafs ; and in the mutton, from the clofcnefs of its 

 texture, keeping longer than that of other equal-flzed 

 breeds. And that the principal dcfodts are the fattening too 

 much, and the mutton, in confequence, becoming lefs deli- 

 cate in its flavour, than in that of other breeds that require 

 a greater length of time in the proccfa ; the deficiency in 

 the quantity of wool which thev produce ; and the not being 

 calculated for the fold. It has alio been fuppoftd that their 

 peculiar rounded form, from throwing much of the fat on the 

 external partr, prevent? their tallowing well internally ; and 

 that from their great propenfity to fatten, they are liable to 

 early decay, becoming old looner than other breeds. There 

 can however be no doubt, but that it is a valuable breed on 

 palUires that are adapted to it, as is evmeed from its rapidly 

 making its way into different diflriits of the kingdom ; but 

 fome fuppofo that the fheep are too fmall, and that, from the 

 thiniK fs of their Ikiiis, or pelts, they may not be fo capable 

 of bearing cold, wiiich, however, experience does not appear 

 to fupport. 



The author of the " Treatife on Cattle," who feems 

 chiefly to object to the Ijeicelter breed, from its too great 

 propenfity to fatten, winch, it i< fuppofed, alio abates the 



procrc- 



