COTSWOLD SHEEP. 
O 
and were principally kept on the Cotswold Hills 
in Gloucestershire. 
■-Many improved them by crossing with the 
Leicester, which , was undoubtedly an excellent 
cross, when a judicious selection was made; but 
the_ majority of their owners, wishing to reduce 
their size and give them more symmetry, adhered 
to the finest Leicester with their short ears, short 
faces, fat backs, small bone, and a finer quality ot 
wool, thinking such a course would produce their 
object; but the result was unfavorable, for they 
found when they lost their thick ears and curly 
coats, that they also lost their constitutions. My 
opinion is, that the curly, silvery skin is a good 
criterion of early maturity, a right quality of flesh, 
and a hardy animal. 
Cotswold Buck Splendid, Imported,—(Fig. 3.) 
The Property of Messrs. Corning and Sotham , Albany , N. Y. 
I have always noticed on shear-days, that this 
Kind of fleece covers more and a better quality of 
flesh than the finer or longer fleeces ; and I main¬ 
tain that a practical man , when shearing a sheep, 
can tell by the cut of the wool whether it grew 
from a good root. I have remarked this often to 
many of the best old shepherds (with whom I 
have sheared numbers, joining them in their merry 
jokes and cheerful songs of sheep-shearings), and 
they would readily agree with me, and always 
persuade their masters to keep such kind of ewes 
as long as they would breed a lamb, so that they 
might obtain the whole flock of that description. 
They found they would keep on less food, were 
less trouble, less liable to disease, and always in 
good condition. 
I have an idea that a person will remember 
the points he wishes to improve, far better when 
shearing than at any other time. A good shepherd 
knows the features of each sheep, equally as well as 
he does those of his own children, and remembers 
their faults when he discovers them, therefore 
when culling his ewes he refers back to shear- 
day ; this I know to be the fact, and such close 
observation is absolutely necessary, to give credit 
to a flock. 
Those who selected a ram with a good curly 
skin from the Leicester, made vast improvements 
on their flocks, but it was the close observation of 
a faithful shepherd that opened their eyes to it, 
when the breeder himself had not gone through 
the whole practical part , which I would strongly 
recommend, as it is the only sure way of knowing 
the faets; and let me tell you, there are many of 
the first breeders that depend altogether on their 
shepherd’s selections, and they take them to several 
different ram-sales before they select one to their 
taste. Time is not thrown away in searching for 
good males, nor is the purse ultimately diminished 
by giving a good price. If judgment directs the 
hand of either master or shepherd, the flock will 
keep its standing; but I have seen in many in¬ 
stances, where flocks have very much degenerated 
by the absence of the latter. 
There are many of the Cotswold breeders who 
say they have not a drop of Leicester blood, but 
have improved their symmetry by a close attention 
to the smaller male of the original, with a fat 
back and curly skin in view, still keeping their 
long faces and ears, rumps and legs of mutton } 
thus producing earlier maturity, a better mixture 
of fat and lean, than the Leicetser cross. 
