365 
ROMNEY MARSH SHEEP. 
Bred on exposed marshes, and generally grazed upon short and 
poor feed in its first year, the Romney Marsh Sheep may be said to 
present a result to be expected after many years of the survival of 
the fittest. Of a hardy and strong constitution, it will live and 
thrive even upon the poorest lands without any artificial feeding or 
assistance. Nevertheless, up on the best pasture, or when aided by 
extra feeding, there is no breed which more readily responds, owing 
to its natural kindliness and quick-fatting disposition. It may not 
be out of place to briefly describe the sheep-grazing district, in the 
counties of Kent and Sussex, known as Romney Marsh, which, for 
drainage and sea-defence purposes, is divided into various “levels,” 
viz., Romney Marsh, Walland Marsh, Denge Marsh, Broomhill, and 
East Guldeford, comprising an area of about 42,000 acres of pasture 
land, with a further considerable acreage of adjacent marshes ex- 
tending inland and of similar character. 
The Marsh may be regarded as a peninsula, terminating in its 
southern extremity at Dungeness Point, and having a seaboard of 
several miles upon the east and west ; while a low range of hills 
bounds it upon the north and north-east. 
Probably no more exposed and bleak country can be imagined. 
In some parts miles may be traversed without seeing tree or hedge. 
Severe winds from the east, or gales from the west, sweep across 
it with full unchecked force from the sea ; and, in a hot and dry 
season, such as we experienced in 1893, there is no shade or shelter 
from the burning glare of the sun. 
The fields are divided from each other by post and rail fences 
or by water fences called “ditches” and “sewers” (for drainage 
purposes). 
The quality of the land in the district, which, regarded geo- 
logically, is a recent reclamation from the sea, varies very con- 
siderably. On the one hand there are parts which, from a rich 
alluvial deposit, have become pasture of the highest quality, while 
on the other, and closely adjoining, or intermixed, are many acres 
of the poorest land — hard, stiff, and unkindly clay, or sand and 
shingle sparsely covered with vegetation, and only barely sustaining 
stock in the most favourable seasons. 
In these circumstances it may well be understood that the 
sheep “ bred of the soil ” must be of the most hardy and thrifty 
nature, and such qualities may be pre-eminently claimed for the 
Romney Marsh breed. 
No sheep are better proof against the diseases which from time 
to time play such havoc and devastation among our flocks. Although 
none can be said to stand sound against, for example, attacks of 
liver fluke (or rot), throat worm, or foot rot, under favourable 
conditions for the development of these diseases, yet the Romney 
Marsh sheep will be the last to succumb and is tl$e most likely to 
withstand them. 
yOL. V. T. S. — 18 B 
