Leicester sheep

“ Earl Spencer has observed, that this is fully shown in the pig, the sheep, the ox, and the horse, whose aptitude to fatten and smallness of lungs, are in the order enumerated.
This position is further illustrated by the different breeds of the same classes of animals. The Leicester sheep have smaller lungs than the South Down; and it has been found, that a number of the former, on a given quantity of food, and in the same time, reached 28 lbs. a quarter, while the South Downs with a greater consumption of food, attained in the same period, only 18 lbs. ”

“ In the fat-soiled valley-lands, some fifteen miles back of Ringwaak Hill, the farmers had a heavy, long-wooled, hornless strain of sheep, mainly of the Leicester breed, which had been crossed, years back, by an imported Scotch ram of one of the horned, courageous, upland, black-faced varieties. ”

“ It involves, however, more systematic attention than most farmers usually like to bestow, for it is necessary to employ a different ram for each [111] purpose; that is, a native ram, for a portion of the ewes to keep up the purity of the breed, and a foreign ram, to raise the improved cross-bred animals for felting, either as lambs or sheep. This plan is adopted by many breeders of Leicester sheep, who thus employ South-Down rams to improve the quality of the mutton. ”

“ But the greatest argument for the Bakewellian system is that the breeds that superseded the Longhorn were originated, and have been maintained, in the same manner. Besides, to say nothing of his horses, the blood of Bakewell's Leicester sheep, which were equally or more in-bred than his cattle, now flows in the veins of every "longwooled" sheep that trots, and is still alive in almost absolute purity in two breeds—the Leicesters and the Border Leicesters. ”

“ Youatt gives an excellent illustration of the effects of a course of selection which may be considered as unconscious, in so far that the breeders could never have expected, or even wished, to produce the result which ensued—namely, the production of the distinct strains. The two flocks of Leicester sheep kept by Mr. Buckley and Mr. Burgess, as Mr. Youatt remarks, "Have been purely bred from the original stock of Mr. Bakewell for upwards of fifty years. ”

“ He will not, however, too long confine himself to his own stock, unless it be a very numerous one. The breeding from close affinities has many advantages to a certain extent. It was the source whence sprung the cattle and sheep of Bakewell and the superior cattle of Colling; and to it must also be traced the speedy degeneracy, the absolute disappearance of the New Leicester cattle, and, in the hands of many agriculturists, the impairment of constitution and decreased value of the New Leicester sheep and of the Short-horns. ”

“ Sheep that have been shorn in midwinter or early spring often repay the inhumanity of their owners by dying of inflamed lungs. Southdown and Leicester sheep, sent from England to the north of Scotland, demand at first the greatest care to protect them against the increased rigor of the climate. ”

“ Cattle are reared in large numbers, while of sheep the New Leicester breed is well known. It was introduced by Robert Bakewell the agriculturist, who was born near Loughborough in 1725. He also improved the breed of horses by the importation of mares from Flanders.
The county is especially famed for fox-hunting, Leicester and Melton Mowbray being favourite centres, while the kennels of the Quorn hunt are located at Quorndon near Mount Sorrel. For this reason Leicestershire is rich in good riding horses. ”

“ The breeding of live-stock is profitable, and some of the finest specimens of shorthorned and polled cattle and of crosses between the two are bred. On the larger farms in the Laigh Leicester sheep are kept all the year round, but in the uplands the Blackfaced take their place. Large numbers of horses and pigs are also raised. ”

“ Its most notable success in recent years is on the Scottish and English borders, where, at the annual ram sales at Kelso, a greater number of rams is auctioned of this than of any other breed, to cross with flocks of Leicester-Cheviot ewes especially, but also with Border Leicesters and three-parts-bred ewes. It is supplanting the Border Leicester as a sire of mutton sheep; for, although its progeny is slower in reaching maturity, tegs can be fed to greater weights in spring—65 to 68 ℔ per carcass—without becoming too fat to be classed as finest quality. ”

“ Heavy sheep, such as the Leicester, South-Down, and Cheviot, supply the most thrifty neck-piece.
Relative qualities. The different sorts of mutton in common use differ as well in quality as in quantity. The flesh of the Leicester is large, though not coarse-grained, of a [188] lively red color, and the cellular tissue between the fibres contains a considerable quantity of fat. When cooked, it is tender and juicy, yielding a red gravy, and having a sweet, rich taste; but the fat is rather too much and too rich for some people’s tastes, and can be put aside. ”

“ The gross weight of our ordinary sheep averages thirty kilograms, representing about twenty kilograms net of meat. The Leicester sheep, as the perfected breed developed by Bakewell’s exertions is called, weighs from sixty to one hundred and sometimes one hundred and fifty kilograms; and its net yield in meat varies from fifty to one hundred kilograms; that is, at the very lowest, two and a half times as much meat as our common sheep produces, and at the highest, which is exceptional, I admit, five times as much. ”

“ At the present day, notwithstanding the great care which is taken to prevent it, particoloured lambs and some entirely black are occasionally, or even frequently, dropped by our most highly improved and valued breeds, such as the Southdowns. Since the time of the famous Bakewell, during the last century, the Leicester sheep have been bred with the most scrupulous care ”

“ They have been extensively crossed with the Leicester sheep—producing thus the modern or improved Cotswold—by which their size and fleece have been somewhat diminished, but their carcasses have been materially improved, and their maturity rendered earlier. The wethers are sometimes fattened at fourteen months old, when they weigh from fifteen to [53] twenty-four pounds to a quarter; and at two years old, increase to twenty or thirty pounds.
The wool is strong, mellow, and of good color, though rather coarse, six to eight inches in length, and from seven to eight pounds per fleece. ”

“ The full-blooded Leicester is in no respect a hardier sheep than the Merino, though some of its crosses are much hardier than the pure-bred sheep: indeed, it is less hardy, under the most [87] favorable circumstances. It is more subject to colds; its constitution more readily gives way under disease; the lambs are more liable to perish from exposure to cold, when newly dropped. Under unfavorable circumstances—herded in large flocks, famished for feed, or subjected to long journeys—its capacity to endure, and its ability to rally from sad drawbacks, do not compare, with those of the Merino. ”

“ In past times it did for the improvement of the shortwool breeds of sheep very much the same kind of work that the Leicester performed in the case of the longwool breeds. A pure-bred Southdown sheep has a small head, with a light brown or brownish grey (often mouse-coloured) face, fine bone, and a symmetrical, well-fleshed body. The legs are short and neat, the animal being of small size compared with the other Down sheep. The fleece is of fine, close, short wool, and the mutton is excellent. ”

“ Leicester, with all his wealth, was the poorest man in all the country-side. The few hands he engaged hated him, and, when they could, neglected his interests. Neighbours' dogs were ever scattering his sheep, selectors persisted in travelling over his huge paddocks, though he had fenced the road across with six-rail wall of wood. Bulls would break his fences, his paddocks be burnt oftener than any one's else, and none have the grace to come to his assistance. ”

“ The Dishley, or New Leicester, is distinguished from other long-woolled breeds, by clean heads, straight broad flat backs, round bodies, small bones, thin pelts, and a disposition to fatten at an early age. But more of this hereafter. The weight of three-year-old ewes is from 18 lbs. to 26 lbs. per quarter; and of two-year old wethers from 20 lbs. to 30 lbs. The wool averages from 6 lbs. to 8 lbs., and is thought by some to be inferior in quality to that of Cheviot sheep; but, from being fully fed at all seasons, they yield great quantities of it. ”

“ The short-woolled fleeces are, to a very considerable degree, unlike in fineness, elasticity, and felting property; the sheep themselves are still more unlike; but the long-wools have, in a great degree, lost their distinctive points—the Lincoln, for example, has not all of his former gaunt carcass, and coarse, entangled wool—the Cotswold has become a variety of the Leicester—in fact, all the long-woolled sheep, both in appearance and fleece, have almost become of one variety ”

“ Of sheep perhaps the most common breeds are the Leicester, Lincoln and South Down, and crosses between the Cheviot and the Leicester. Large numbers of pigs are kept at the dairy farms and fed mainly on whey. ”

“ They are longwool sheep, derived from the old Teeswater breed by crossing with Leicester rams. They have a tuft of wool on the forehead. The skin of the body is sometimes blue, whilst the wool has a bright lustre, is curled in small distinct pirls, and is of uniform staple. The rams are in much favour in Scotland and the N. of England for crossing with ewes of the various black-faced horned mountain breeds to produce mutton of superior quality and to use the cross-ewes to breed to a pure longwool or sometimes a Down ram. ”

“ Prior to this, farming leases had contained no covenants of this character, and the tenants had been at liberty to cultivate the land in any way they chose. With regard to sheep, after a trial of the new Leicester breed, and of the merinos, he eventually adopted the Southdowns; while, with respect to cattle, after persevering for many years with Bakewell's Leicester breed of Longhorns, he finally bred nothing but Devons. ”

“ I had to stop at length and try to poke the black soil off with a stick. In a hundred yards it was as bad as ever again. I often wish your black soil further, dad."
"You should not say that, my girl; God is good to give us a country like this."
"But what's the use of it? just to fatten so many more sheep for old Mr. Leicester."
Thirty years before, Mr. Leicester, the adjoining squatter, had camped beside the creek with the few sheep he had brought out into the wilderness. ”

“ There are numerous varieties of the domestic sheep, a ruminant quadruped of the genus Otis: wild sheep are found chiefly in mountainous districts. The principal breeds of English sheep are the Southdown, Leicester, Cotswold, Cheviot and the Welsh. Of the numerous foreign breeds, the fat-tailed sheep of Asia and Egypt, the Astrakan, the Cretan, the Iceland and the Merino, are the most noticeable, the last named originally belonging to Spain, but now extensively bred in other countries of Europe and in Australia and New Zealand, furnishing the valuable merino wool. ”

“ Sheep-breeding is also successful, and would be even more so if proper care were taken of the animals. Of the wool-producing kinds, those preferred are the Leicester, Merino, Oxford and Lincoln, the Oxford having already produced quite excellent results. ”

“ The degree to which the cross between the Cotswold and Leicester may be carried, must depend upon the nature of the old stock, and on the situation and character of the farm. In exposed situations, and somewhat scanty pasture, the old blood should decidedly prevail. On a more sheltered soil, and on land that will bear closer stocking, a greater use may be made of the Leicester. Another circumstance that should guide the farmer is the object which he has principally in view. ”

“ These stand, according to Marshall, thus:—A very long-woolled sheep, as the Lincolnshire, or Teeswater, for the richest grass lands, and finest worsted manufactures—the New Leicester, for less fertile grass land, and for rich enclosed arable land, on which the fold is not used; intended to supply coarser worsted, stockings, coarse cloths, blankets, and carpets—a middle-woolled breed, as the Wiltshire, the Norfolk, or the Southdown, for arable lands on which folding is practised, and for cloths of middle qualities—a fine-woolled, as the Ryeland, for the finest cloths ”

“ The sheep are principally black-faced on the hill farms, and in other parts Leicester and other long-woolled breeds. The flocks are usually heavy, and great numbers of pigs are kept. The shire has acquired some reputation for its horses, chiefly Clydesdale. ”

“ Southdown sheep carry most of their weight in the hind quarter, and the Leicester and other coarser sheep are heavier in front, and this also must be allowed for in quoting market prices, as the fore quarter is always cheaper than the leg and loin. ”

“ In autumn additional cattle are bought in to eat the coarse grass off the pastures, and these are usually retained during winter. The most common breed of sheep on the rich pastures is the improved Leicester, which is preferred on account of its length of wool ”

“ In its original form the breed is extinct, crossing with the Leicester having improved size and stamina at the cost of the fleece, and the chief breeds of sheep on Herefordshire farms at present are Shropshire Downs, Cotswolds and Radnors, with their crosses. Agricultural horses of good quality are bred in the north, and saddle and coach horses may be met with at the fairs. Breeders’ names from the county are famous at the national cattle shows, and the number, size and quality of the stock are seen in their supply of the metropolitan and other markets. ”