PIFFERENT BREEDS OF SHEEP. 
60S 
almost every county, which formerly had their distinct and 
recognizable breeds, the Merino blood has, to a certain ex¬ 
tent, been introduced. In our description of the ram, page 
589, we have detailed the points which are now generally 
admitted to be the best in the form of sheep. So many 
crosses have taken place of late years, that there is hardly 
a breed which possesses characters by which they can be 
distinguished, if we except those which feed on the moun¬ 
tainous tracts of Wales and Scotland, which are for the 
most part small animals, and many of the flocks with black 
faces, and both males and females provided with horns. 
These sheep are remarkable for their fine, close grained, 
muscular fibre. Nearly allied to these are those of the 
Westmoreland, Yorkshire, and Northumberland mountain 
sheep, with white faces. Those which are now most pro 
pagated are long woolled, and also such as is of a fine tex 
ture. These were first successfully improved in the follow 
ing counties, viz., Cumberland, Dorset, Hereford, Norfolk, and 
Sussex ; and these may be considered as the parent stocks 
of all our modern improved varieties. To attempt a specific 
description of these is now almost impossible, as the distin¬ 
guishing characteristics of each are mere shades of difference 
