The Leicester, or more properly the New Leicester, is the breed which Bakewell established, and is repeatedly referred to in the preceding pages. It has quite superseded the old breed of this name. His aim was to produce sheep which would give the greatest amount of meat in the shortest time on a given amount of food, and for early maturity and disposition to fatten, it still ranks among the highest. The objections to the breed for New England are, that they are not hardy enough for the climate, and require richer pastures and more abundant food than most farmers can supply. Its chief value in such locations is for crossing upon ordinary sheep for lambs and mutton.
The Cotswolds derive their name from a low range of hills in Gloucestershire. These have long been noted for the numbers and excellence of the sheep there maintained, and are so called from Cote, a sheepfold, and Would, a naked hill. An old writer says:—"In these woulds they feed in great numbers flocks of sheep, long necked and square of bulk and bone, by reason (as is commonly thought) of the weally and hilly situation of their pastures, whose wool, being most fine and soft, is held in passing great account amongst all nations." Since his time, however, great changes have passed both upon the sheep and the district they inhabit. The improved Cotswolds are among the largest British breeds, long wooled, prolific, good nurses, and of early maturity. More robust, and less liable to disease than the Leicesters, of fine symmetry and carrying great weight and light offal, they are among the most popular of large mutton sheep.
The South Down is an ancient British breed, taking its name from a chalky range of hills in Sussex and other counties in England about sixty miles in length, known as the South Downs, by the side of which is a tract of land of ordinary fertility and well calculated for sheep walks, and on which probably more than a million of this breed of sheep are pastured. The flock tended by the "Shepherd of Salisbury Plain," of whose earnest piety and simple faith Hannah More has told us in her widely circulated tract, were South Downs. Formerly these sheep possessed few of the attractions they now present. About the year 1782 Mr. John Ellman of Glynde turned his attention to their improvement. Unlike his cotemporary Bakewell, he did not attempt to make a new breed by crossing, but by attention to the principles of breeding, by skillful selections for coupling and continued perseverance for fifty years, he obtained what he sought—health, soundness of constitution, symmetry of form, early maturity, and facility of fattening, and thus brought his flock to a high state of perfection. Before he began we are told that the South Downs were of "small size and ill shape, long and thin in the neck, high on the shoulders, low behind, high on the loins, down on the rumps, the tail set on very low, sharp on the back, the ribs flat," &c., &c., and were not mature enough to fatten until three years old or past. Of his flock in 1794, Arthur Young[25] says: "Mr. Ellman's flock of sheep, I must observe in this place, is unquestionably the first in the country; there is nothing that can be compared with it; the wool is the finest and the carcass the best proportioned; although I saw several noble flocks afterwards which I examined with a great degree of attention; some few had very fine wool, which might be equal to his, but then the carcass was ill-shaped, and many had a good carcass with coarse wool; but this incomparable farmer had eminently united both these circumstances in his flock at Glynde. I affirm this with the greater degree of certainty, since the eye of prejudice has been at work in this country to disparage and call in question the quality of his flock, merely because he has raised the merit of it by unremitted attention above the rest of the neighboring farmers, and it now stands unrivalled." This, it will be noticed, was only twelve years after he began his improvements. To Mr. Ellman's credit be it said that he exhibited none of the selfishness which characterized Mr. Bakewell's career, but was always ready to impart information to those desirous to learn, and labored zealously to encourage general improvement. That he was pecuniarily successful is evident from the continued rise in the price of his sheep. The Duke of Richmond, Mr. Jonas Webb, Mr. Grantham, and other cotemporaries and successors of Mr. Ellman have carried successfully forward the work so well begun by him. The Improved South Downs now rank first among British breeds in hardiness, constitution, early maturity, symmetry, and quality of mutton and of wool combined. The meat usually brings one to two cents per pound more than that of most other breeds in Smithfield market. It is of fine flavor, juicy, and well marbled. The South Downs are of medium size, (although Mr. Webb has in some cases attained a live weight in breeding rams of 250 pounds, and a dressed weight of 200 pounds in fattened wethers,) hardy, prolific, and easily kept, succeeding on short pastures, although they pay well for liberal feeding.
The Oxford Downs may be named as an instance of successful cross-breeding. They originated in a cross between the Improved Cotswolds and the Hampshire Downs.[26] Having been perpetuated now for more than twenty years, they possess so good a degree of uniformity as to be entitled to the designation of a distinct breed, and have lately been formally recognized as such in England. They were first introduced into Massachusetts by R.S. Fay, Esq., of Lynn, and into Maine by Mr. Sears, both in 1854. They were first bred with a view to unite increased size with the superiority of flesh and patience of short keep which characterize the Downs. It is understood that they inherit from the Cotswold a carcass exceeding in weight that of the Downs from a fifth to a quarter; a fleece somewhat coarser but heavier than that of the Downs by one-third to one-half; and from the latter they inherit rotundity of form and fullness of muscle in the more valuable parts, together with the brown face and leg.
In reply to a note of inquiry addressed to Mr. Fay, he says: "I selected the Oxford Downs with some hesitation as between them and the Shropshire Downs, after a careful examination of all the various breeds of sheep in England. My attention was called to them by observing that they took, (1854,) without any distinct name, all the prizes as mutton sheep at Birmingham and elsewhere, where they were admitted to compete. They were only known under the name of half or cross bred sheep, with name of the breeder. Mr. Rives of Virginia and myself went into Oxfordshire to look at them, and so little were they known as a class, that Philip Pusey, Esq., President of the Royal Agricultural Society, knew nothing about them, although one of his largest tenants, Mr. Druce, had long bred them. It is only within two years that they were formally recognized at a meeting, I believe, of the Smithfield club, and they then received the name which I gave them years ago, of Oxford Downs. By this name they are now known in England. I can only add that an experience of six years confirms all that is claimed for them. Fifty-two ewes produced seventy-three healthy lambs from February 13th to March 15th, this year. The same ewes sheared an average of more than seven pounds to the fleece, unwashed wool, which sold for 34 cents per pound. A good ram should weigh as a shearling from 180 to 250 pounds; a good ewe from 125 to 160 pounds. They fatten rapidly, and thrive on rough pasture. My flock, now the older and poorer ones have been disposed of, will average, I have no doubt, eight pounds of wool to the fleece. The mutton is exceedingly fine and can be turned into cash in 18 months from birth."
The kind of sheep most desirable, on the whole, in any given case, depends chiefly on the surface, character and fertility of the farm and its location. At too great a distance from a good meat market to allow of a profitable sale of the carcass, the Spanish Merino is doubtless to be preferred, but if nearer, the English breeds will pay better. Mutton can be grown cheaper than any other meat. It is daily becoming better appreciated, and strange as it may seem, good mutton brings a higher price in our best markets than the same quality does in England. Its substitution in a large measure for pork would contribute materially to the health of the community.
Winter fattening of sheep may often be made very profitable and deserves greater attention, especially where manure is an object—(and where is it not?) In England it is considered good policy to fatten sheep if the increase of weight will pay for the oil cake or grain consumed; the manure being deemed a fair equivalent for the other food, that is, as much straw and turnips as they will eat. Lean sheep there usually command as high a price per pound in the fall as fatted ones in the spring, while here the latter usually bear a much higher price, which gives the feeder a great advantage. The difference may be best illustrated by a simple calculation. Suppose a wether of a good mutton breed weighing 80 pounds in the fall to cost 6 cents per pound ($4.80) and to require 20 pounds of hay per week, or its equivalent in other food, and to gain a pound and a half each week, the gain in weight in four months would be about 25 pounds, which at 6 cents per pound would be $1.50 or less than $10 per ton for the hay consumed; but if the same sheep could be bought in fall for 3 cents per pound and sold in spring for 6 cents, the gain would amount to $3.90 or upwards of $20 per ton for the hay—the manure being the same in either case.
For fattening it is well to purchase animals as large and thrifty and in as good condition as can be done at fair prices; and to feed liberally so as to secure the most rapid increase which can be had without waste of food.
The fattening of sheep by the aid of oil cake or grain purchased for the purpose, may often be made a cheaper and altogether preferable mode of obtaining manure than by the purchase of artificial fertilizers, as guano, superphosphate of lime, &c. It is practiced extensively and advantageously abroad and deserves at least a fair trial here.