Til it SHEEP. 
179 
The Cotswold Sheep. — The Cotswold is a large breed of sheep, with a 
long and abundant fleece, and the ewes are very prolific and good 
nurses. Formerly they were bred only on the hills, and fatted in the 
valleys of the Severn and the Thames; but with the inclosure of the 
Cotswold Hills and the improvement of their cultivation they have been 
reared and fatted in the same district. They have been extensively 
crossed with the Leicester sheep, by which their size and fleece have 
been somewhat diminished, but their carcasses considerably improved, 
and their maturity rendered earlier. The wethers are now sometimes 
fattened at fourteen months old, w hen they weigh from fifteen to twen- 
ty-four pounds per quarter, and at two years old increase to twenty or 
thirty pounds. The wool is strong, mellow, and of good color, though 
rather coarse, six to eight inches in length, and from seven to eight 
pounds per fleece. The superior hardihood of the improved Cotswold 
over the Leicester, and their adaptation to common treatment, together 
with the prolific nature of the ewes and their abundance of milk, have 
rendered them in many places rivals of the New Leicester, and have 
obtained for them, of late years, more attention to their selection and 
general treatment, under which management still farther improvement 
appears very probable. They have also been used in crossing other 
breeds, and, as before noticed, have been mixed with the Hampshire 
Downs. It is, indeed, the improved Cotswold that, under the term new 
or improved Oxfordshire sheep, are so frequently the successful candi- 
dates for prizes offered for the best long-wooled sheep at some of the 
principal agricultural meetings or shows in the kingdom. The quality 
of the mutton is considered superior to that of the Leicester, the tallow 
being less abundant, with a larger development of muscle or flesh. We 
may, therefore, regard this breed as one of established reputation, and 
extending itself throughout every district of the country. 
The Cheviots. — Ibis breed has greatly extended itself throughout the 
mountains of Scotland, and in many instances supplanted the black- 
faced breed ; but the change, though in many cases advantageous, has 
in some instances been otherwise, the latter being somewhat hardier, 
and more capable of subsisting on heathy pasturage. They are, how- 
ever, a hardy race, well suited for their native pastures, bearing with 
comparative impunity the storms of winter, and thriving well on poor 
keep. Though less hardy than the black-faced sheep of Scotland, they 
are more profitable as respects their feeding, making more flesh on an 
equal quantity of food, and making it quicker. They have white faces 
and legs, open countenances, lively eyes, without horns. The ears are 
large, and somewhat singular, and there is much space between the ears 
and eyes. The carcass is long; the back straight; the shoulders rather 
light; the ribs circular; and the quarters good. The legs are small in 
the bone and covered with wool, as well as the body, with the excep- 
tion of the face. The Cheviot wether is fit for the butcher at three 
years old, and averages from twelve to eighteen pounds per quarter — 
the mutton being of a good quality, though inferior to the South-Down, 
and ot less flavor than the black-faced. The Cheviot, though a moun- 
tain breed, is quiet and docile, and easily managed. The wool is coarse 
and inferior to that of the South-Down. 
