The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-11-09
Aaritultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN.


AS there are many enquiries as to the
origin and characteristics of the Mutton
breed Of Sheep we insert the following on
the most celebrated of those breeds.
At u recent meeting Of the Central
Farmers Club. at London, Mr.. Charles
Howard delivered an address on the sub
iect of "The merits Of Pure-Bred and
Cross-Brcd Sheep" In this address he
gave the origin and merits of several Of
the established" breeds. We condcnsc
as follows;
/. Simultaneously South Or Sussex
downs are descended from SMALL grey
and dark faced sheep, which were found
on the hill and mountainous districts
throughout England. John Gilman was
the original improver. He was followed
and surpassed by Jonas Webb, who has
made the South-down perfect. The pccu-
liarity of this sheep is its superior quail
ty of mutton and wool Average weight,
from 10 to Is months, is 12G pounds
Weight Of fleece, 6 pounds The ewes are
capital breeders, and generally produce
onc-third twins.--They are best adapted
to elevated situations and bare pasturagc.
Among the nobility and fancy farmers
the are regarded as the elite of sheep.
II. HdmpsLie Do,cas-This valuable
sheep has been established from various
crosses, commencing with the century.
They present as great an uniformity in
wool, color and general appearance, as
their smaller but handsomcr cousins, the
Southdowns. They have risen into favor
rapidly. They are very hardy, and Of
good constitutions, and good wool-boarers,
the average fleece being 6 to 7 pounds, Of
early maturity, and have plenty Of lean
as well as fat meat, and will Craze to al
most any weight you may choose to make
them. The ewes are good breeders and
suckers
Ill. Leiceste@.-These originated with
Bakewclr. To this breed all other long
wooded sheep are indebted for their i'm
proved shape and greater disposition to
latten. Their chief characteristics are,
great aptitude to fatten with q COM
parativey small consumption of food, and
early maturity; fleece, 7 pounds carcass
at If Or 10 month, 140 pounds. They
are not very good breeders, and it is
rare thing to have more lambs than
ewes.
". The CoiswoW.-This is one Of the
oldest of the established breeds. They
were originally heavy coarse animals,wit
a thick heavy fleece, well adapted to the
bleak, uninclosed Cotswold hills.-Thcy
are now ray hardy, and will succeed well
in almost any situation, and produce a
great amount of wool and mutton at an
early age. They sometimes reach Sc
pounds to the quarter. The average
weight Of an ordinary flock when fit for
the butcher, at II or Is months old, is
about $50 pounds, and the weight Of
wool Of the whole flock would be about
I ID pounds each. Many of these sheep
are now being exported TO Australia, to
produce mutton for the miners.
V. LjAcol,sh6r.-As the Western part
of Great Britain is famous for its Cots
wolds, so is the Northeastern esteemed
for the heavy-woocd and largc-framcd
Lincolns, to which district they espcc-
tally belong and where for many years
they have held their own. They, like
the Cotswold, have been improved by an
admixturc of Leicester blood. The pres
ent improved Lincoln sheep partakcs
largely ofthc peculiarities OF the Cotswold
and Leicester, having the expansive frame
and nobility of appearance of the one,
with the quality Of flesh, compactness Of
form, beauty Of countenancc, and propen-
sity to fatten Of the other but they far
exceed either in weight of fleece. Three
year Odds sometime weigh 9G ID pounds
to the quarter, and ycarlings I pounds.
The weight Of wool Of an entire flock, UNI
der fair average management, is about
ID pounds each weight of carcass at Is
months, 100 pounds The Lincoln breed
ers consider the mutton excellent, having
less fat. and Il greater proportion of fine
grained, lean flesh, than the Leicester
The ewes are good breeders, but, like the
Cotswolds and Lcicesters, they are not
good suckers.
VI. ShDphHc.-Thcsc are crosses
Their merit consists in their superiority
over any other breed in their own coun.
try. They possess hardness ofconsttution
excellent quality Of mutton, and are pro.
life breeder: but they are not equal tc
other breeds.
VII. Orjodyiic UowHs.-This breed
Of sheep was produced u years ago, by
crossing the Hampshire and in some in
stances Southdown ewes, with Cotswold
rams, and then putting the crosses togoth-
er. They drop their lambs in February
and at thirteen or fourteen months old
they are ready for market, weighing on
an average, one hundredand forty pounds
each, with fleece varying from seven to
ten pounds. The ewes are good mothers
and produce great proportion of twins
We might add here, as these last two
breeds are crosses, that Mr.. Howard
stated, as the conclusion of his experience
and address, shat from judicous pair
ing Of croSs-brcd animals, it is practicable
TO establish new breed altogether" and
for some locations better fitted than most
of the existing breeds.
We have thus given our readers Il
sketch Of seven breeds of sheep South
down, Hampshire Downs, Lcicestcrs
Cotswods, Shropshires, and Oxford
shir's,--Lira .Ntoci Register.