VARIOUS BREEDS OF SHEEP IN GREAT BRITAIN. 107 
deserves notice here as the parent stock from which are 
chiefly descended the large flocks in our colonies of Australia 
and the Cape of Good Hope, from which this country re- 
ceives annually such large supplies of fine wools. The flock- 
masters in these colonies are accustomed from time to time 
to import Merino rams from this country for the purpose of 
improving their fleeces, as it is found that the Saxon and 
French Merinos, though producing a fleece of the finest 
quality, are not altogether so suitable for their purpose, as 
they are smaller and more delicate in constitution, and give a 
less return in wool. There are but few Merino flocks in 
England ; those now remaining are descendants of the 
Windsor flock. Lord Somerville’s, Lord Western’s, Mr. 
Trimmer’s, and others, and now exhibit a marked difference 
from the original Merinos, which were essentially a wool- 
producing breed, whereas the English Merinos of the present 
day are much improved in size, symmetry, and in disposition 
to fatten; at the same time the fleece has been increased in 
length of staple and in weight, without any great deterioration 
of its peculiar fineness. 
The average weight of the fleece may be taken at from 6 to 
8 lbs. ; in some rare instances it is met with much heavier. 
They are hardy, and not more subject to disease than our 
other breeds ; they thrive very well on moderate keep, and 
may be fed up to 110 to 120 lbs. weight at two years old; 
the mutton is considered to be of very good quality. It is 
found more advantageous to cross them with a long-woolled 
than a short-wootted breed. When crossed with the Romney 
Marsh sheep the size and shape of the animal are consider- 
ably improved, an earlier maturity and disposition to fatten 
is acquired, and a heavier fleece, somewhat inferior in quality 
but with a longer staple, is produced. At the same time 
they require a richer pasture and more attention than the 
pure Merinos. 
Shetland . — The group of islands forming the northern ex- 
tremity of Scotland possesses a breed of sheep whose hardihood 
of constitution and capability of enduring extremes of hunger 
and of cold render it admirably adapted for a country exposed, 
like the Shetland and Orkney Isles, to such frequent and 
furious storms, and from which little natural shelter is 
afforded. But little care or attention is bestowed upon the 
sheep, which are left entirely to their own resources, on the 
rough uncultivated lands, and are rarely collected together, 
save for the sake of their wool, when they are marked by 
their respective owners, and again turned loose on the moors : 
the breed consequently has exhibited no improvement, either 
