"This breed of sheep is continued to the present day, and it has been remarked by a respected writer, that they will 'remain a lasting monument of Bakewell's skill.' As to their origin, the testimony shows them to have been of mixed blood; though no breed is more distinct in its characters, or transmits its qualities with more certainty; and if we were without any other example of successful crossing, the advocates of the system might still point triumphantly to the Leicester or Bakewell sheep.
"But what are the opinions of our best modern breeders in regard to the practicability of producing distinct breeds by crossing? Robert Smith, of Burley, Rutlandshire, an eminent sheep-breeder, in an essay on the 'Breeding and Management of Sheep,' for which he received a prize from the Royal Agricultural Society, (1847,) makes the following remarks: 'The crossing of pure breeds has been a subject of great interest amongst every class of breeders. While all agree that the first cross may be attended with good results, there exists a diversity of opinion upon the future movements, or putting the crosses together. Having tried experiments (and I am now pursuing them for confirmation) in every way possible, I do not hesitate to express my opinion, that, by proper and judicious crossing through several generations, a most valuable breed of sheep may be raised and established; in support of which I may mention the career of the celebrated Bakewell, who raised a new variety from other long-wooled breeds by dint of perseverance and propagation, and which have subsequently corrected all other long-wooled breeds.'"
We have alluded to the low price of some of the mutton brought to the Boston market. We do not wish the reader to infer that there is none other to be had: on the contrary, we have occasionally seen as good mutton there as in any European market. There are a number of practical and worthy men engaged in improving the different kinds of live stock, and preventing the degeneracy to which we refer. They have taken much interest in that class of stock, and they have been abundantly rewarded for their labor. But the great mass want more light on this subject, and for this reason we endeavor to show the causes of degeneracy, to enable them to avoid the errors of their forefathers.
Mr. Roberts, of Pennsylvania, says, "Early in my experience, I witnessed the renovation of a flock of what we call country sheep, that had been too long propagated in the same blood. This was about the year 1798. An imported ram from England, with heavy horns, very much resembling the most vigorous Spanish Merinos, was obtained. The progeny were improved in the quality of fleece, and in the vigor of constitution. On running this stock in the same blood for some twelve years, a great deterioration became apparent. A male was then obtained of the large coarse-wooled Spanish stock: improvement in the vigor of the progeny was again most obvious. A Tunis mountain ram was then obtained, with a result equally favorable. In this process, fineness of fleece or weight was less the object than the carcass. In 1810, a male of not quite pure Merino blood was placed with the same stock of ewes; and a change of the male from year to year, for some time, produced a superior Merino stock. Wool of a marketable quality for fine cloths was now the object; and it was not an unprofitable husbandry, when it would sell in the fleece, unwashed, from eighty-six cents to one dollar. The Saxon stock then became the rage, and the introduction of a tup of that country diminished greatly the weight of the fleece, without adequately improving its fineness. A male of the Spanish stock would give sometimes nine pounds; and the marsh graziers say that they went as high as fifteen pounds. Saxon males scarcely exceed five pounds, and the ewes two and a half pounds. By running in the same blood, and poor keeping, the fleece may be made finer, but it will be lightened in proportion, and of a weak and infirm texture. There are few stock-keepers who have mixed the Spanish with the Saxon breeds but what either do or will have cause to regret it. In this part of the country, a real Spanish Merino is not to be obtained. Sheep-raising has ceased to be a business of any profit nearer to the maritime coast than our extensive mountain ranges, whether for carcass or fleece. I sold, the last season, water-washed wool, of very fine quality, for thirty cents per pound. At such a price for wool, land near our seaports can be turned to better account, even in these dull times, than wool-growing. Stock sheep do best in stony and elevated locations, where they have to use diligence to pick the scanty blade. Sheep on the sea-board region should be kept more for carcass than fleece; and feeding, more than breeding, ought to be the object for some one hundred miles from tide water. It is now a well-ascertained fact, that health and vigor can only be perpetuated by not running too long on the same blood. The evils I have witnessed were due to a want of care on this head more than to any endemical quality in our climate. Sheep kept on smooth land and soft pasture are liable to the foot rot. The hoofs of the Merino require paring occasionally, for want of a stony mountain side to ascend. It is no longer a problem that this is to be a great wool-growing country, as well as a wool-consuming one. There is, in our wool-growing country, land in abundance, held at a price that will enable the wool-grower to produce the finest qualities at thirty cents per pound, the cloths to be manufactured in proportion, and the market to be steady. I have seen Merino wool, since 1810, range from one dollar per pound to eighteen and three fourths cents, though I do not recollect selling below twenty-two cents. The best variety of sheep stock I have seen, putting fineness of fleece aside, was the mixed Bakewell and South Down, imported by Mr. Smith, of New Jersey. The flesh of the Merino has been pronounced of inferior flavor. This, however, does not agree with my experience, as I have found the lambs command a readier sale than any other, from being preferred by consumers."
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.