152 
Chin Forest Sheep. 
the softness of texture, although not absolute freedom from hairs, of 
the wool. These, too, have been subjected to a degree of crossing 
in some districts, but unless the crossing has been very frequently 
repeated the form and type are easily recognisable. An examination 
of the Clun Forest sheep will reveal very little that is traceable to 
them. 
The Ryeland is a breed which, in discussing the history of the 
Clun Forest sheep, requires more consideration. This breed had 
many off-shoots, but the parent stock, or at any rate the higher- 
class animals of the breed, were found in the RyeLxnd district of 
Herefordshire, certain sandy tracks of land lying to the south of the 
Wye, which, in succession to the dense forests with which they 
were formerly covered, were for many years cultivated and fre- 
quently cropped with rye. This breed extended into Monmouth- 
shire on the south, into Gloucestershire and Warwickshire on the 
east, and into Shropshire on the north. In the last-named county 
the most important of the local breeds which arose from the migra- 
tion were the Clun Forest and the Shawbury. The Ryeland was a 
sheep of the poor land forests, which from time immemorial had 
covered parts of Herefordshire ; but, notwithstanding the unfavour- 
able conditions by which it was surrounded, it only lacked one 
essential characteristic — that of size. The quality of the meat was 
excellent, and the wool unequalled by that of any other breed in 
Europe with the exception of the Merino. The fineness of the 
wool and the quality of the meat have not been impaired, even 
though so many crosses have been made, in the case of the Clun 
Forest sheep, and to day the Clun Forest stands out clearly as a 
sheep possessing exceedingly fine wool and yielding delicately 
flavoured meat. 
The sheep now found in Radnorshire and the hilly parts of Shrop- 
shire bear a striking resemblance to the Shropshire sheep ; in fact, 
it is frequently stated that the Forest sheep have come to look like 
long-tailed Shropshires. Great improvement has been made by 
the crossing with the Shropshire sheep, the effect of which is 
more significant because, owing to the long, careful selection of the 
pedigree breed, it is prepotent, and the exterior is affected perhaps 
to a greater extent than is the interior of the animal. The wool is 
of fine quality, and the mutton equal to that of any breed. The 
wool on the hind-quarters is often mixed with long hairs, causing a 
“ breechiness ” which is considered a fault in other breeds, and in 
the most improved Forest sheep this characteristic is being bred out. 
The tail is long and broad, and the stoutness of the tail or breadth of 
dock is a point which breeders try to develop. Where only slight 
pains have been taken to improve the sheep, they are light in the 
fore-quarters, and the faces are either black, tan or fawn and white, 
grey, or mottled black and white. No purely white-faced Forest 
sheep remain in Clun Forest or its locality, as they have been much 
interbred with the dark-faced breeds of neighbouring districts. 
The individuality of the Clun Forest breed is lost sight of to a very 
great extent, as the crossings have been so indiscriminate ; but there 
