SHEEP, DIFFERENT UTCEED8. 
297 
request for combing, and will average seven pounds per head in good 
flocks. 
The Leicesters are well thought of in many parts of the West, and are 
ihcrenoii g in popularity: The true type of the breed is as follows : The 
head should be hornless, long, small, tapering toward the muzzle, and 
projecting horizontally forward. The eyes prominent, but with a quiet 
expression. The cars thin, rather long, and- directed backward. Tho 
iiOck full and broad at its base, where it proceeds from the chest, so that 
there is, 'with the slightest possible elevation, one continued horizontal 
line from the rump to the poll. The breast broad and round, and no un- 
even or angular formation where the shoulders join cither the neck or the 
back ; particular lv uo rising of the withers, or hollow behind the situation 
of these bones. The arm iicshy through its whole extent, and even down 
to the knee. The bones of the leg sm ill, standing wide apart ; no loose- 
ness of skin about them, and comparatively bare of wool. Tho chest and 
barrel at once deep and round, the ribs forming a considerable arch from 
the spine, so as in some cases, and especially when the animal is in good 
condition, to make tho apparent width of the chest even greater than tho 
depth. The barrel ribbed well home ; no irregularity of lino on the back 
or belly, but on tho sides; the carcass very gradually diminishing in 
width toward tho rump. The quarters long and full, and, as with the 
fore-legs, the muscles extending down to the hock ; the thighs also wide 
and full. The legs of a moderate length ; the skin also moderately thin, 
but soft and elastic, and covered with a good quantity of white wool. 
H. Border Leicester. 
The infusion of the blood, of the Dishlcy, or new Leicester as they 
were called, but which are now classified simply as Leicester sheep, upon 
the border flocks of England, gave rise to a sub-family, known as Border 
Leicester, and which have won a distinct position in English show yards. 
Their good and bad characteristics are as follows : The most marked 
feature in tlieir structure, is the smallness of their heads, and of their 
bones generally, as contrasted with the weight of carcass. They are clean 
in the jaws, with a full eye, thin ears, and placid countenance. Their 
backs are straight, broad and flat; the ribs arched, the belly carried very 
light, so that they present nearly as straight a line below as above ; the 
chest wide, the skin very mellow, and covered with a beautiful fleece of 
long, soft wool, which weighs, on the average, from six to seven pounds, 
On°good soils, and under careful treatment, the sheep are usually brought 
It weigh from eighteen to twenty pounds a quarter at fourteen months 
