THE SHEEP. 
175 
which the sheep must travel all day in order to procure a sufficiency of 
food. They require a good, or at least moderate soil, and on this they 
fatten with incredible rapidity, anil are consequently very profitable 
to the breeder. If in the establishment of this breed Mr. Bakewell 
erred, it was in the very little regard he paid to the wool, in which his 
immediate followers imitated him, some even going so far as to prefer 
sheep with bad fleeces to those with good, as if a fine and perfect 
carcass and good wool were incompatible with each other. But this 
false notion is now corrected, and the fleece obtains its due share of 
attention. 
With respect to the quality of the mutton of the improved Leicesters, 
we do not estimate it so highly as that of some of the short-wooled 
breeds. When not over fat, it is tender and juicy, but destitute of high 
flavor; but when fattened to a high degree, the interstices of the fibers 
of the muscles are replete with fat in such a manner that the line of dis- 
tinction between fat and lean is almost, as it were, lost; the carcass 
appears to be a mass of fat, and is any thing but attractive. Besides, 
such meat is not profitable to the purchaser, though it may be to the 
cook. We admit, however, that it is the grazier’s "fault if he carries the 
fattening process beyond the point at which he ought to stop, whether 
he regards his own profit or the interest of the consumer. It is the 
character of the breed to ripen early and quickly. As soon as the 
sheep are in a proper condition for the butcher, the grazier, instead of 
wasting more food upon them, should get rid of them, and commence 
the feeding of another lot, to be disposed of in their turn, as soon as 
ready. 
It is for the accumulation of outside fat that the Leicesters are chiefly 
remarkable. They have comparatively little loose inside fat or tallow 
—a point of some consequence to the butcher, who deems this as add- 
ing to his profit. By way of a counterbalance, however, the smallness 
of the head, the thinness of the pelt, and the general greater weight of 
the carcass than the appearance of the animal would indicate, should 
be taken into consideration. Whatever it may be to the butcher, 
“this diminution of offal is advantageous to the grazier; for it shows a 
disposition to form fat outwardly, and is uniformly accompanied by a 
tendency to quickness of improvement.” In this latter quality the new 
Leicesters, cceteris paribus, are unrivaled. 
The new Leicesters, with all their good qualities, are not a hardy 
race, neither are they so prolific as many other breeds. The ewes sel- 
dom produce twins, nor indeed did the founders of this stock deem the 
production of twins desirable. They aimed at bringing forward the 
lamb as early as possible, and rightly considered that few ewes could 
produce two such lambs as would meet with their wishes and realize 
their object. The fact, moreover, is, that the exclusive attention paid 
to the establishment of a race, the vital energies of which were to be 
exhibited in the attainment of early maturity, and in the quick accumu- 
lation ot fat, while productive of the results aimed at, necessarily entailed 
counterbalancing deficiencies. A tendency to rapid fattening and early 
ripeness is not coexistent, as a general rule, with great fertility. In 
this point, then, the new Leicesters are defective, but less so than for- 
