62 
THE SHEEP. 
THE ROMNEY MARSH BREED. 
so highly cultivated as the New Leicester presented to them; and great numbers of rams from the midland counties were accord¬ 
ingly introduced by individual breeders. The effects were soon apparent, even in the flocks of those who were the most opposed 
to the foreign breed; and it may he doubted if there now exists a single long-woolled Sheep in the county of Kent, in which the 
influence of the New Leicester blood does not appear. The first effect of the crossing was to reduce the bulk of the native Sheep, 
hut to give them a greater symmetry of parts and tendency to fatten; and, independently of the effects, direct and indirect, of the 
mixture, the placing before the eyes of breeders of superior models, produced a beneficial result throughout the whole district, and 
more attention was from this period bestowed on improving the native stock by selection. After a time, indeed, the feeling in favour 
of the older race began to revive, and, for a considerable period past, the Romney Marsh breeders have, with few exceptions, con¬ 
tinued to breed from the indigenous stock. Nevertheless, the effects of the change produced by the former crossing remained, and 
the modern Sheep of the marsh, although still retaining a greater degree of coarseness and lankness of body than can be approved 
of, form a very different race of animals from the Kentish Sheep of the beginning of the present century. 
The arguments used against the introduction of the more cultivated breed were similar to those employed by the breeders of 
the eastern marshes. It was argued that the decrease of size and deterioration of the fleece were not compensated by the earlier 
maturity, and greater tendency to fatten, of the imported breed; that the latter were less saleable to the butchers, and that the 
ewes were less prolific, and inferior as nurses. It was contended besides, that the new breed and its descendants were less suited 
than the former to the open marshes on which they were to be reared without shelter or artificial food, and that they were apt to 
be driven into the ditches by the strong gales which at certain seasons swept over the marsh. A satisfactory answer can be given 
to the greater part of these objections. The decrease of weight was, to a certain extent, more apparent than real, arising from a 
diminution in the size of bone and the coarser parts, and there was always a more than corresponding gain by the breeders being 
enabled to bring their animals to market at an earlier period. The depreciation in the weight and quality of the wool was little 
in the case of this breed; the wool of the Romney Marsh Sheep never having been in the first class, with respect either to quality 
or productiveness. That the new breed was less acceptable to the butchers is true; but this was because the fat was more depo¬ 
sited on the external parts, and because the offal was less. The interest of the butcher, it is to be observed, corresponds only 
in certain points with that of the breeder. The butcher prefers the animals that yield him most profit from the parts sold in 
retail; but he has no concern with the quantity of food consumed by them, with the period required for bringing them to maturity, 
nor with the details of management which yield a profit to the owner. The butchers, as a class, have rarely been the advocates 
of those changes which have added so great a value to the live stock of the country : and in the preference which they long gave 
to the coarse sheep of Romney Marsh, their opinions exercised a peculiarly injurious influence on the breeding of sheep in this part 
of England. The opinion frequently expressed, that the new breed is less productive of lambs than the old, does not seem to be 
well founded. Generally, indeed, all the coarser varieties of sheep are better nurses, and more prolific, than the more highly im¬ 
proved, under similar treatment. But it does not appear that the Romney Marsh Sheep were ever peculiarly noted for producing 
numerous lambs, or for being good nurses. No sheep in this country had so much difficulty in parturition, or were so apt to desert 
their offspring, as the Romney Marsh ewes. With respect to the averment, that the old breed was better suited than the new to 
withstand the stormy climate of the marsh, and preserve itself from the open ditches with which the country is intersected, it is to 
be observed, that some truth, mixed with more of error, exists in the statement. The New Leicester Breed is reared with facility 
in situations greatly more cold and exposed than the Romney Marsh, which possesses as good a climate with respect to temperature 
as exists in England. That the Romney Marsh Breed is better calculated to preserve itself from the accidents resulting from the 
open ditches of the country than a breed naturalized in a different situation, may be admitted; hut the danger itself ought to be 
provided against by suitable enclosing, and not used as an argument against the cultivation of a superior breed. Further, the 
fact, if it shall be admitted, that the one breed is better fitted than the other to subsist without artificial food and shelter, is no 
argument against the reception of the superior breed, but a strong one in favour of a better system of management. There can¬ 
not be a doubt that the sheep of the Romney Marsh have been signally benefited by the blood of the New Leicester race. The 
Romney Marsh breeders may now please themselves by believing that their own breed is superior to the imported one, and no harm 
will result from the opinion, provided they discard their other prejudices, and breed from the best of their own stock and upon a 
suitable model. The long and constant error of the Kentish breeders was their looking to size more than to the other qualities indi¬ 
cative of a good stock of sheep. Size, indeed, is not to be disregarded in any breed reared in a country of rich pastures; but that 
just conformation of parts which indicates the disposition to arrive at early maturity and fatten readily, is yet more to be regarded. 
