DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF SHEEP.
Mr. Lawson tells us that "the variety in sheep is so great, that scarcely any two countries produce sheep of the same kind. There is found a manifest difference in all, either in the size, the covering, the shape, or the horns."
TEESWATER BREED.
"This is a breed of sheep said to be the largest in England. It is at present the most prevalent in the rich, fine, fertile, enclosed lands on the banks of the Tees, in Yorkshire. In this breed, which is supposed to be from the same stock as those of the Lincolns, greater attention seems to have been paid to size than wool. It is, however, a breed only calculated for warm, rich pastures, where they are kept in small lots, in small enclosures, and well supported with food in severe winter seasons. The legs are longer, finer boned, and support a thicker and more firm and heavy carcass than the Lincolnshires; the sheep are much wider on the backs and sides, and afford a fatter and finer-grained mutton.
LINCOLN SHIRE BREED.
"This is a breed of sheep which is characterized by their having no horns; white faces; long, thin, weak carcasses thick, rough, white legs; bones large; pelts thick; slow feeding; mutton coarse grained; the wool from ten to eighteen inches in length; and it is chiefly prevalent in the district which gives the name, and other rich grazing ones. The new, or improved Lincolns, have now finer bone, with broader loins and trussed carcasses, are among the best, if not actually the best, long-wooled stock we have.
THE DISHLEY BREED.
"This is an improved breed of sheep, which is readily distinguished from the other long-wooled sorts; having a fulness of form and substantial width of carcass, with peculiar plainness and meekness of countenance; the head long, thin, and leaning backward; the nose projecting forward; the ears somewhat long, and standing backward; great fulness of the fore quarters; legs of moderate length, and the finest bone; tail small; fleece well covering the body, of the shortest and finest of the combing wools, the length of staple six or seven inches.
COTSWOLD BREED.
"This is a breed of sheep answering the following description: long, coarse head, with a particularly blunt, wide nose; a top-knot of wool on the forehead, running under the ears; rather long neck; great length and breadth of back and loin; full thigh, with more substance in the hinder than fore quarters; bone somewhat fine; legs not long; fleece soft, like that of the Dishley, but in closeness and darkness of color bearing more resemblance to short or carding wool. Although very fat, they have all the appearance of sheep that are full of solid flesh, which would come heavy to the scale. At two years and a half old, they have given from eleven to fourteen pounds of wool each sheep; and, being fat, they are indisputably among the larger breeds.
ROMNEY MARSH BREED.
"This is a kind which is described, by Mr. Young, as being a breed of sheep without horns; white faces and legs; rather long in the legs; good size; body rather long, but well barrel-shaped; bones rather large. In respect to the wool, it is fine, long, and of a delicate white color, when in its perfect state.
DEVONSHIRE BREED.
"This is a breed or sort of sheep which is chiefly distinguished by having no horns; white faces and legs; thick necks; backs narrow, and back-bones high; sides good; legs short, and bones large; and probably without any material objection, being a variety of the common hornless sort. Length of wool much the same as in the Romney Marsh breed. It is a breed found to be prevalent in the district from which it has derived its name, and is supposed to have received considerable improvement by being crossed with the new Leicester, or Dishley.
THE DORSETSHIRE BREED.
"This breed is known by having the face, nose, and legs white, head rather long, but broad, and the forehead woolly, as in the Spanish sort; the horn round and bold, middle-sized, and standing from the head; the shoulders broad at top, but lower than the hind quarters; the back tolerably straight; carcass deep, and loins broad; legs not long, nor very fine in the bone; the wool is fine and short. It is a breed which has the peculiar property of producing lambs at any period of the season, even so early as September and October, so as to suit the purposes of the lamb-suckler.
THE WILTSHIRE BREED.
"This is a sort which has sometimes the title of horned crocks. The writer on live stock distinguishes the breed as having a large head and eyes; Roman nose; wide nostrils; horns bending down the cheeks; color all white; wide bosom; deep, greyhound breast; back rather straight; carcass substantial; legs short; bone coarse; fine middle wool, very thin on the belly, which is sometimes bare. He supposes, with Culley, that the basis of this breed is doubtless the Dorsets, enlarged by some long-wooled cross; but how the horns came to take a direction so contrary, is not easy, he thinks, to conjecture; he has sometimes imagined it must be the result of some foreign, probably Tartarian cross.
THE SOUTH DOWN BREED.
"This is a valuable sort of sheep, which Culley has distinguished by having no horns; gray faces and legs; fine bones; long, small necks; and by being rather low before, high on the shoulder, and light in the fore quarter; sides good; loin tolerably broad; back-bone rather high; thigh full; twist good; mutton fine in grain and well flavored; wool short, very close and fine; in the length of the staple from two to three inches. It is a breed which prevails on the dry, chalky downs in Sussex, as well as the hills of Surrey and Kent, and which has lately been much improved, both in carcass and wool, being much enlarged forward, carrying a good fore flank; and for the short, less fertile, hilly pastures is an excellent sort, as feeding close. The sheep are hardy, and disposed to fatten quickly; and where the ewes are full kept, they frequently produce twin lambs, nearly in proportion of one third of the whole, which are, when dropped, well wooled.
THE HERDWICK BREED.
"This is a breed which is characterized by Mr. Culley as having no horns, and the face and legs being speckled; the larger portion of white, with fewer black spots, the purer the breed; legs fine, small, clean; the lambs well covered when dropped; the wool, short, thick, and matted in the fleece. It is a breed peculiar to the elevated, mountainous tract of country at the head of the River Esk, and Duddon in Cumberland, where they are let in herds, at an annual sum; whence the name. At present, they are said to possess the property of being extremely hardy in constitution, and capable of supporting themselves on the rocky, bare mountains, with the trifling support of a little hay in the winter season.
THE CHEVIOT BREED.
"This breed of sheep is known by the want of horns; by the face and legs being mostly white; little depth in the breast; narrow there and on the chine; clean, fine, small-boned legs, and thin pelts; the wool partly fine and partly coarse. It is a valuable breed of mountain sheep, where the herbage is chiefly of the natural grass kind, which is the case in the situations where these are found the most prevalent, and from which they have obtained their name. It is a breed which has undergone much improvement, within these few years, in respect to its form and other qualities, and has been lately introduced into the most northern districts; and from its hardiness, its affording a portion of fine wool, and being quick in fattening, it is likely to answer well in such situations.
THE MERINO BREED
"In this breed of sheep, the males have horns, but the females are without them. They have white faces and legs; the body not very perfect in shape; rather long in the legs; fine in the bone; a production of loose, pendulous skin under the neck; and the pelt fine and clear; the wool very fine. It is a breed that is asserted by some to be tolerably hardy, and to possess a disposition to fatten readily.
THE WELSH SHEEP.
"These, which are the most general breed in the hill districts, are small horned, and all over of a white color. They are neat, compact sheep. There is likewise a polled, short-wooled sort of sheep in these parts of the country, which are esteemed by some. The genuine Welsh mutton, from its smallness and delicate flavor, is commonly well known, highly esteemed, and sold at a high price."
A Boar.
Bred and fed by Willm. Fisher Hobbs, Esq. of Marks Hall, Coggleshall, Essex for which a Prize of £10 was awarded at the Meeting of the R.A.S of E. at Derby 1843.