176 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
merly. Still the ewes do not yield any great abundance of milk, and 
the lambs are tender, delicate, and unfitted to endure any great inclem- 
ency of weather. 
As a whole the l¥rw Leicesters have not succeeded so well in this 
country as in England, owing to the severity of our winters and to the 
heat and dryness of our summers. They do not find that luxuriance 
and abundance in our pastures so necessary to their highest thrift. 
Their flesh has not sufficient admixture of lean to be palatable to our 
people. The breed, however, succeeds well in rich lowland pastures, 
and yields a profitable return. 
Tile South-Downs, — Formerly the South-Down sheep were very indi - 
ferent; it is true that they carried very fine wool, but then the carcass 
was ill-formed, a disadvantage which more than counterbalanced the 
excellence of the fleece. They were small, thin in the neck, high in the 
shoulders and in the loins, down on the rump, with the tail set very low; 
the back was sharp, the ribs flat, and the fore-quarters narrow ; yet 
there were materials to work upon, and besides, these sheep had some 
excellent qualifications; they arrived at early maturity, were extremely 
hardy, thrived upon scanty keep and short feed on the natural pastures, 
and the mutton was fine-grained and of good flavor. 
Attempts were first made to improve on South-Downs by crosses with 
the Leicesters, a long-wooled sheep, but these attempts ended in uttei 
failure, nor were crosses between them and the Merinos ultimately ad- 
vantageous. It was by careful selections, and the keeping in view ot a 
definite purpose in the choice ot breeding-stock, that the impro\emcnt 
of the South-Downs was achieved. It is to Mr. Ellman of Glynde that 
the elevation of this breed to its unrivaled position in its own line as a 
hill sheep is due. 
Mr. Culley, in his “Live Stock,” 1807, notices the exertions “of 
the ingenious Mr. Ellman, whose flock is already superior to that of 
most of his neighbors, both in carcass, quantity, and quality of wool.” 
This enterprising and skillful breeder did not, however, content himself 
with mediocrity; and in the Annals of Agriculture, Mr. A. Young 
thus speaks of Mr. Ellman’s South-Downs: “ His flock, I must observe, 
is unquestionably the first in the country, the wool the finest, and the 
carcass the best proportioned. Both these valuable properties are 
united in the flock at Glynde. He has raised the merits of the breed 
by his unremitting attention, and it now stands unrivaled.” Mr. Ell- 
man’s own description of them is very unpretending, lie says : “They 
- are now much improved both in shape and constitution ; they are smaller 
in the bone, equally hardy, with a greater disposition to fatten, and much 
heavier in carcass when fat. They used seldom to fatten until they 
were four years old; but it would now be a rare sight to see a pen of 
South-Down wethers at market more than two years old, and many are 
killed before they reach that age.” Doubtless the age is reckoned, as 
is usual with sheep, not from the time when lambed, but from the time 
of the first shearing. 
The average dead weight of South-Down wethers, varies from 100 
to 150 pounds. They are very healthy and hardy, seldom affected with 
the rot and the diseases common with other varieties. 
