8 
Irish Agriculture. 
as the " Roscommon " since Culley wrote, nearly eighty years 
ago, as follows respecting them : — 
" I am sorry to say I never saw such ill-formed, ugly sheep as 
these : the worst breeds we have in Great Britain, are by much 
superior. One would almost imagine that the sheep breeders in 
Ireland have taken as much pains to breed plain, awkward sheep, 
as many people in England have been to breed handsome ones. 
I know nothing to recommend them, except their size, which 
might please some old-fashioned breeders, who can get no kind of 
stock large enough. But I will endeavour to describe them, and 
leave my readers to judge for themselves. These sheep are sup- 
ported by very long, thick, crooked, grey legs : their heads long 
and ugly, with large, flagging ears, grey faces, and eyes sunk ; 
necks long, and set on below the shoulders ; breasts narrow and 
short, hollow before and behind the shoulders ; fiat-sided, with 
high, narrow, herring backs ; hind quarters drooping, and tail set 
low. In short, they are almost in every respect contrary to what 
I apprehend a well-formed sheep should be ; and it is to be 
lamented that more attention has not been paid to the breeding 
of useful stock in an island so fruitful in pasturage as Ireland." 
But even at that time, a beginning had been made in the way 
of improvement, and Culley records the fact that " Mr. French 
and other spirited breeders " of Roscommon, " have at very 
great expense and hazard imported bulls, tups, and stone horses 
from England, and very great improvements have already been 
made from these crosses. I saw," he goes on to say, " some of 
the descendants of these sheep at the above fair (Ballinasloe), and 
it is both extraordinary and pleasing to see how much they 
exceeded the native breed." Culley refers to the great " hazard " 
which Irish breeders of that day incurred in importing live-stock 
from England. The fact is, that very stringent laws existed at that 
time against the exportation of live stock from any part of Great 
Britain to Ireland, so that Irish breeders had to resort to smug- 
gling stock into the country at great risk, before they could 
become possessed of an English ram, an English bull, or an 
English stallion. Culley refers to this fact in the following 
terms :— " But a very great bar is put in the way of these 
islanders to the improvement of their sheep ; the same law is in 
full force against exporting sheep into Ireland as into France, or 
to any of our national enemies on the continent. I think it is a 
real hardship that this division of his Majesty's subjects cannot 
have the bonofit of improving their breed of sheep, without 
smuggling them over. Application was made to Lord Harcourt, 
when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for leave to send rams over to, 
Ireland from England, offering very high security, three or four 
times the value of the ram, for his being returned to England, or. 
