A Treatise on Sheep Part 5

Hedge-row plants may be observed to vary even in the limits of an ordinary walk, and to be continued as varieties so long as they remain in the same locality. The following striking example of the extent to which plants may be made to vary by altering their circ.u.mstances, is related by Mr Herbert in the _Horticultural Transactions_, vol.

iv:--"I raised from the natural seed of an umbel of a highly manured red cowslip, a primrose, a cowslip, oxlips of the usual and other colours, a black polyanthus, a hose-in-hose cowslip, and a natural primrose bearing its flower on a polyanthus stalk. From the seed of that very hose-in-hose cowslip, I have since raised a hose-in-hose primrose. I therefore consider all these to be only local varieties, depending upon soil and situation." "Fifty years ago," says Buffon (writing in 1749), "our pot-herbs consisted of a single species of succory, and two of lettuce, both very bad; but we have now more than fifty kinds of lettuce and succory, all of which are good. Our best fruits and nuts, which are so different from those formerly cultivated that they have no resemblance but in the name, must likewise be referred to a very modern date. In general, substances remain, and names change with times: but in this case names remain, and substances are changed. Our peaches, our apricots, our pears, are new productions with ancient names. To remove every doubt upon this subject, we have only to compare our flowers and fruits with the descriptions, or rather notices of them transmitted to us by the Greeks and Romans. All their flowers were single, and all their fruit-trees were wild stocks, and their species very ill-chosen. Their fruits of course, were small, dry, sour, and had neither the flavour nor the beauty of ours. These new and good species originally sprung from the wild kinds; but how many times have their seeds been sown before this happy effect was produced? It was only by sowing and rearing an infinite number of vegetables of the same species, that some individuals were recognized to bear better and more succulent fruit than others; and this first discovery, which supposes much care and observation, would have remained for ever useless if a second had not been made, which implies an equal degree of genius as the first required of patience--I mean the mode of multiplying by engrafting those precious individuals which unfortunately cannot propagate or transmit their excellent qualities to their posterity. * * * In the animal kingdom, most of those qualities which appear to be individual are propagated and transmitted in the same manner as their specific qualities. It was therefore more easy for man to have influence upon the nature of animals than upon that of vegetables. Particular races in any species of animals, are only constant varieties, which are perpetuated by generation. But in the vegetable kingdom there are no races, no varieties so constant as to be perpetuated by reproduction. In the species of the hen and pigeon, a great number of races have been very lately produced, all of which propagate their kinds. In other species, we daily rear and improve races by crossing the breeds."

(87.) _Breeding in-and-in._--Though there are several methods pursued by breeders for the improvement of flocks, the one most in vogue is, that of choosing individuals of the same family, and breeding _in-and-in_. It is however a plan requiring, for the safety of the flock, either very great skill in selecting the males and females, or only to be followed to a very limited extent. No subject ever called forth so much random controversy, and no evil has ever so clearly shown itself as such; yet it is only recently, that people have opened the intellectual eye to the dangers of a practice, against which the ablest pens were long and vainly blunted. The object of breeding _in-and-in_ is to strengthen good qualities and get rid of bad ones, as speedily as possible; and it is plain, that if we happen to select animals with slight imperfections, these imperfections will become hereditary, and will go on a.s.suming a worse and worse type till the breed be destroyed. Culley, however, was of opinion, that less risk is run by breeding _in-and-in_ than is generally supposed, and instances the wild cattle in Chillingham Park, in the county of Northumberland, which, having been confined for several hundred years without intermixture, must have bred from the nearest affinities, and yet are just as they were five hundred years since. With all due deference, however, to the opinion of the late Mr Culley, I must a.s.sert, that I cannot perceive in what manner wild cattle can be made to ill.u.s.trate the case in point, as it must be evident, that animals in a state of nature differ essentially from those in charge of man, in regard to the propagation of infirmities, as the former, if born with a radical defect, will, ten to one, never see the age which suits them for reproduction; while the latter, from the care bestowed upon them, will, even when very delicate, in many instances be bolstered up till they have entailed upon posterity an acc.u.mulation of their already aggravated maladies. The system of breeding _in-and-in_ proves, in fact, as destructive to flocks, as marriages of near relations to the human kind. We would not witness an every-day entailment of diseases, if people would forego their unnatural love of money, and cease their endeavours to keep it in "the family," by forming matrimonial alliances with those who are near of kin. The law of G.o.d forbids us to wed those who stand in certain degrees of propinquity; but, if we and our descendants avail ourselves of the limits of this law, and marry on its verge a certain number of times, misery must infallibly be the lot even of the tenth generation; and instead of being fathers of a mighty people, few and full of sorrow will be the days of our children; while in place of retaining in their possession our darling wealth, it will, ere long, pa.s.s into the hand of the stranger.

(88.) _Opponents of in-and-in breeding._--Different individuals at various times, and in widely separate places, have by their observations rendered the criminal absurdity of this system perfectly apparent to all, who, unbiased by party principle, are anxious for a knowledge of the truth. A few of these I shall mention. Ezra L'Hommedieu, Vice-president of the Agricultural Society of New York, collected, in the year 1800, a great many observations on the breeding of sheep, and came to the conclusion, that changing and crossing the breed of the animals is a matter of great importance, in preventing a dwindling and degeneracy of the flock. Dr Coventry, in his pamphlet on _Live-Stock_, gives it as his opinion, that "The most perfect race of animals may be debased by improper mixture, or injured by improper treatment. Indiscriminate matches in breeding, and inattentive management in rearing, are alike capable of producing a worthless progeny." Here the matter is made very plain, from comparing an evil, the progress of which is insidious, with the injurious consequences, which the most un.o.bserving can easily trace to a parallel neglect. Mr d.i.c.k of Edinburgh, so well known for the valuable and trustworthy information he has acc.u.mulated, has been informed by eminent farmers, "that cattle bred _in-and-in_, are very subject to _clyers_ in the throat after they have attained their first year." By clyers are meant enlarged lymphatic glands, which are a sure sign of what is termed a scrofulous habit, a breaking up of the const.i.tution, which, though produced by a variety of causes, is yet frequently the result of an "_owr sib_" connection. These are, I may say, the accidental opinions of men who had no point to make good, in which their credit was at all at stake, and who are not endeavouring to support the crude opinions of former years. For these reasons, they possess a value which ought to give them a proportional weight in an investigation like the present. Mr Bakewell succeeded in bringing his sheep to great perfection as regards form, and rapidity of fattening, by breeding in the same family for a great many years; but it was attended with considerable deterioration in the quality of the wool, and engendered a liability to disease, sufficient to deter any one from proceeding a similar length in the same track, to what is so dubiously called improvement. See what Mr d.i.c.kson says to this effect, in a recent number of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_. "The evil of breeding _in-and-in_, or in other words, producing too great refinement of tone, is manifested in the first instance by a tenderness of const.i.tution; the animals not being able to withstand the extremes of heat and cold, rain and drought. If the evil is prolonged through several generations, the forms of the animals become affected, the bone becomes very small, the neck droops, the skin of the head becomes tight and scantily covered with hair, the expression of the eye indicates extreme sensibility, the hair on the body becomes thin and short, and the skin as thin as paper; the _points_ continue good, and predisposition to fatness increases, but the whole carca.s.s becomes much diminished in size, though retaining its plumpness, and beautiful symmetry. The evil, however, does not terminate in the production of these symptoms. Internal diseases ensue, such as disorganization of the liver, or rot, polypi in the trachea, clyers, malformation of the bones of the neck and legs, and general deformity." This position, however, will be strengthened by drawing attention to insulated portions of our race, where the effects of such a system are exhibited on a considerable scale. The Members of the Society of Friends were, at one time, supposed to be of all others the least subject to insanity; but the very reverse is the case; being, from the limited nature of their sect, driven to frequent intermarriages, and to a consequent deterioration of the most active part of the human frame--the brain. It is for the same reason, that almost every royal family contains a large proportion of idiots, or, at the best, persons of very weak intellect; and, such will continue to occur, till legislators fall on some plan of striking at the groundwork of the mischief. If the laws of G.o.d and man define to us so clearly the evils of intermarrying with relatives; and if, as all animals are constructed on one grand plan, we admit the proximity of the sheep to the human race, it follows, that what is destructive, in this respect, to the one, is destructive to the other; and that we should seek, by a nearly similar, if not wider, range of rules, to obviate many of those diseases of which, when under our protection, they are so frequently the subjects.

(89.) _Breeding from different families of the same race._--Mr Culley, though believing that no great harm can result from breeding in-and-in, yet appears to have in a manner preferred the preferable practice of breeding from different families of the same race; as he, for many years, hired his rams from Mr Bakewell, at a time when other breeders were paying a liberal price for his own valuable animals.

This is of all methods deservedly the best, as the males, which are inter-changed, have always had shades of difference impressed upon them, by various soils and treatment, so that the defects of each family have a good chance to be counteracted by the perfections of the other. By this means the bad points are gradually exhausted, and their valuable properties as gradually heightened. Breeders have been much aided in the furtherance of this desirable plan, by the rearing of superior rams having become, of late years, a separate pursuit. The letting of them out to distant parts of the country has long been a branch of this speculation; diffusing some of the most valuable points of particular breeds, and leading to a spirit of compet.i.tion. The practice has been reprobated, but, I presume, rather hastily; for with all its attendant evils, such as leading to deception, by what is termed the _making up_ of rams, it possesses excellencies which will, I hope, lead to its continuance.

(90.) _Crossing._-The only other method of improving a breed is by crossing two distinct races, one of which possesses the properties it is desirable to acquire, and wants the defects we wish to remove.

This, however, is a measure not to be recommended, and only to be resorted to when neither of the others will do; for it is scarcely possible to obtain the desirable properties without at the same time imparting qualities sufficient to neutralize them; and with which, in fact, we would rather dispense. To cross, as Mr Cleghorn remarks, any mountain breed with Leicester rams, with a view to obtain a propensity to fatten at an early age, would be attended with an enlargement of size, which the mountain pasture could not support, and the progeny would be a mongrel race, not suited to the pastures of either of the parent breeds. The folly of such a proceeding is beautifully shown in the failure of the attempts made, some years ago, to better the fleece of the mountain sheep, in the South of Scotland. To effect this desirable end, rams were brought from the Cheviot range of hills, and the consequences were, as described by Mr William Hogg, of s...o...b.., in the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, just what a preliminary consideration of the existing circ.u.mstances would have proved to be unavoidable. "The independent habits of the mountain flocks were lost, and a mongrel progeny, of a clumsy figure, occupied the lowest and warmest of the pastures. As they were very improper subjects to breed from, they were often a drug in the market: _but the store-master had no other resource, but to struggle on against the opposition which the animal itself made to the change_, and, also, against the influence of bad seasons, in order to get the influence of the Cheviot breed fully established. * * * With its s.h.a.ggy coat the animal lost its bold independent look, its stout shape, its unvitiated taste, and its sound const.i.tution. A course of severe winters too occurred during the time of changing, while every property calculated to resist privation and fatigue was unconfirmed in the progeny; and, in consequence, the ravages by rot, and poverty, among the flocks that occupied soft pastures were immense." How did it happen, that the store-master had no other resource but to persevere in an unprofitable course? Was he obliged to strive against natural obstacles, which even a short experience might have taught him were, in that manner, insurmountable?

Why not recur _at once_ to the old mode of management, rather than injure himself by kicking against the p.r.i.c.ks. "Sundry store-masters were not aware," says Mr Hogg, "that their old breed would so obstinately resist the impression of the Cheviot blood, nor did they ever dream that the mongrel issue would be so easily subdued by the hards.h.i.+ps and cold of winter: thus finding their scheme opposed, at points where they antic.i.p.ated little resistance, they gave up the experiment ere it was _half completed_, and introduced mountain rams to the mongrel issue." Enough, however, has been said to prove that this plan ought not to be pursued: let me now say a few words as to the reasons which should deter us from its adoption. To take a familiar ill.u.s.tration:--How would one of the wors.h.i.+pful company of Aldermen, or a dignitary of the Church, manage to keep up an _appearance_, if suddenly transported from the luxurious plenty which surrounds him, to the meagre fare, and churlish climate, of our Highlands? Would their offspring, which ten to one would be p.r.o.ne to rapid growth, and, therefore, requiring at the least a large supply of porridge and milk; would they, I ask, arrive at a healthy maturity, if supported only on the oaten cake, and _whang_ of skimmed-milk cheese, of the hardy Northern? The answer is, they would not. They would, doubtless, bear the climate; but the habit of body imprinted on them, by the full living of the parents, would require a more nutritious food to bring it to the adult age, than what might be necessary for the sustenance of any child descended from the possessors of the soil.

If such then is the case with the young of an animal s.h.i.+elded from inclemency on every hand, how can we expect the progeny of a rather heavy variety of a defenceless creature like the sheep to thrive, in defiance of every thing ungenial, on a pasture which requires for its collection, in any quant.i.ty, a degree of experience and activity, the result of time and well-trained instinct. The mongrel is not unfitted for the locality, as Mr Hogg would have it, by a weakness resulting from "the constant and continued exertions of the two bloods, the one endeavouring to overpower the other," there is no war waging in the progeny between the blood of sire and dam; the secret lies in the animal being unsuited for the pasture where it is produced. Place it in a country possessing a herbage something between that of the Highland and Cheviot hills, and it will do pa.s.sing well; but do not ascribe the want of success to a natural hatred of the breeds. Again, do not fall into the error, that "the figure, wool, and other qualities, of the Cheviot ram, are most conspicuous (in this cross) in the smallest and feeblest of the progeny, while the properties of the mountain breed are more fully exhibited in the strongest and most robust lambs," a circ.u.mstance which, unfortunately, induced many of the store-farmers "to throw aside the best of the lambs, and select those to breed from, which had apparently most of the Cheviot figure;"

or, in other words, do not suppose, as Mr Hogg strangely enough infers, that only the weak animals took on the Cheviot form, and only the strong ones a.s.sumed the Highland character. The correct explanation is, that such as had most Cheviot blood were sure to become puny, from being unadapted to a herbage on which those that resembled the mountain stock throve tolerably well. Strength and feebleness were, in this instance, mere secondary matters.

(91.) _Things to be attended to in Crossing._--The fact is, that, if you wish to have a _particular kind_ of sheep, you must first of all be in possession of a pasture suitable for the new comers. You must consider the influence of the individual parents on the progeny, the size of the animals, their habits and dispositions, and their peculiarities in regard to the time of their maturity, and fattening properties; and, having antic.i.p.ated these apparently trifling affairs, you must see that the surface of your farm, its degree of exposure, and the quant.i.ty and quality of its productions, are calculated for the profitable maintenance of the animal in view. Far too little attention is bestowed, at the commencement of such an undertaking, on these all-swaying matters. Farmers enter upon this, the most arduous of all professions, with the settled conviction, that nothing is so simple as the engrafting of a race of animals on a particular part of a country. They have read, or heard, of others who have gained fame, and a fortune, by successful endeavours of the kind, and they think that nothing is easier than to follow their example; but they forget the thoughtful hours, and irksome duties, these men had to tolerate, before they could speak of any thing like success. No animal can be made to forego at once a long used food, an ancient locality, peculiarity of clime and season, and the instinctive habits that have been long nurtured by these, without both it and its progeny suffering from the change:--Nature cannot thus be made to bend to human intention; it will give way in the attempt.

In crossing there are several important things to be attended to. Well formed parents ought to be selected, and, if enlargement of the carca.s.s be wanted, the issue should be better fed than its originators, which ought to be of a size rather under, than above what the pasture is capable of supporting. The size of the parents should not be much disproportioned at first, as nature abhors sudden extremes, and does every thing in the most gradual manner. It is better, when some increase has been attained, to bring the breed to the required size by one or two crossings.[15] In choosing a breed, we should adopt that which affords the greatest quant.i.ty of market produce, in return for the food consumed;[16] and a particular breed ought always to be preferred to the sheep of a district. We must not imagine, that when, by dint of crossing, we have obtained the variety wanted, that it will remain in the condition to which we have brought it, without the slightest liability to alter. Many farmers believe they have done all that is required, if they subject their stock to three or four crossings with a breed of acknowledged excellence. They think that the improved animals they have obtained will support their acquired characters, uninfluenced by extraneous agency. Now nothing can be more faulty than this mode of management, as is proved by a comparison of stock so treated, with flocks which have uninterruptedly received that undeviating attention, which can alone ensure a continuance of the properties desired. Such men forget, that the climate is operating with as great certainty on the animals as on the rocks around; and that as the herbage is determined by the nature of the adjacent rocks, so are the peculiarities of the sheep influenced by the herbage; and that if they manage to change the characters of the breed, it can, in a majority of cases, be only for a time, unless the tendencies of the surrounding elements are counteracted, by a constant recurrence to the originators of the flock. "I am sorry,"

says Little, in his valuable practical observations, "to say, that there are too many examples of those, who thought themselves at the head of improvement in stock, relaxing their exertions, and keeping by their own stock; and the consequence has been, that such stocks have degenerated, become delicate, tender, and diminutive in size; and from no other cause but that the same pains have not been taken to preserve the improvement, that was taken to effect it. I could mention many improvers who were of the first cla.s.s formerly, but who are now only in the second." Changes, in fact, by crossing are not to be effected in a short s.p.a.ce of time; you must look forward to several years of constant exertion, before you can hope, in this manner, to alter your stock.[17] Then, again, we must be aware of the tendency which nature, in numerous instances, displays to perpetuate diseases, dispositions, and aberrations from the normal structure. Many qualities and diseases, are known, in man, to be hereditary; of the former, I may instance peculiarities in walking, and writing; a pa.s.sion for intoxicating liquors, and other habits too trivial to mention; and of the latter, gout, pulmonary consumption, and blindness from cataract, which are well known to hara.s.s a family for generations. Features, in like manner, may remain for ages of the same undeviating cast; thus the Jews of to-day are the very counterparts of the Jews of three thousand years back, and, in all likelihood, will so remain till the end of time. A predisposition to many diseases is engendered in the sheep, by too great a refinement in breeding, which tends to diminish the size of the animal, prevents them feeding to perfection, destroys their fecundity, and imparts great tenderness of const.i.tution.

Accidental deviations from the natural type may, also, be hereditary, as is seen in those races of dogs which have a supernumerary toe on the hind foot, and tarsal bones to correspond. In the human race also several generations of a particular family have been distinguished, by having six fingers and six toes, on their hands and feet. It is in like manner to an accidental malformation, that the Americans are indebted for their Otter breed of sheep. Mr Livingston, who wrote in 1811, thus describes them: "The Otter sheep were first discovered on some island, on the eastern coast, and have spread to the adjoining states. The sheep are long-bodied rather than large, and weigh about 15 lbs. a quarter. Their wool is of a medium fineness, and a medium length; but that which particularly characterizes these sheep is the length of their bodies, and the shortness of their legs, which are, also, turned out in such a manner as to appear rickety. They cannot run, or jump, and they even walk with some difficulty. They appear as if their legs had been broken and set by some awkward surgeon. They can scarcely exist in a deep country, and they cannot possibly be driven to a distant pasture or market." Dr Dwight, in his travels in New England, remarks of this curious variety, that the fore legs are remarkably short, and bent inward, "so as distinctly to resemble what are called club-feet."[18] I believe this to be the only instance where man has availed himself of a defect in the animal kingdom, and turned it to his advantage. Attention ought also to be bestowed on the order in which different parts of the animal are subjected to changes during crossing. These, according to Dr Sturm, the latest observer on this head, are first exhibited in those parts that possess a power of being reproduced, as the hair, horns, and hoofs. The fleshy parts change slowly, in proportion as the mother has much of the blood of the original race. The first changes take place in the head, and are gradually developed towards the hind quarters. Lastly, look to the condition in which your sheep are as regards fatness. If fat, they will be averse to becoming pregnant, and considerable annoyance will, in all likelihood, be experienced. A moderately low diet is most suitable for ewes, for some time before the ram is admitted, in the same way that fruit trees, when unproductive in a rich soil, are rendered fertile by placing straw and stones between their roots and the too nutritious earth. A rather poor diet, also, during pregnancy, will be found to obviate many of those risks which are sure to be incurred from repletion during this period.

[15] Dr Cline, in a communication to the Board of Agriculture, observes on this point: "Experience has proved, that crossing has only succeeded in an eminent degree, in those instances in which the females were larger, than in the usual proportion of females to males, and that it has generally failed when the males were proportionally large."

[16] It was owing to a peculiar view taken of this maxim, that so enormous sums were asked and given, for the hire of rams, at the time Mr Bakewell brought the new Leicester to perfection. That gentleman would never have obtained 1200 guineas for the hire of three rams if the speculators had not intended to procure nearly similar prices for the use of the offspring of these animals; and it may be pretty safely affirmed, that this traffic was ultimately the cause of much mischief to the breed in question, by inducing many to speculate on what was likely to prove a fas.h.i.+onable article, without caring much for the endurance of the really valuable points.

[17] Dr Sturm, professor of Agriculture, at Bonn, says, that a new race may be produced in the same number of years as are required for perfecting the teeth.

[18] Sheep are as liable to distortions of the skeleton as other animals. The Museum of Guy's Hospital contains a very good specimen of distorted spine taken from a sheep.

(92.) _Choice of Parents._--However faulty sheep may be, some are always to be found surpa.s.sing their fellows, and these it ought to be the aim of every breeder to discover. Without acknowledge of an animal's _points_, it is in vain that the breeder can hope for improvement. He may by accident make a lucky hit, but, unless he has studied his business from the bottom, he cannot follow up and avail himself of an advantage, which a more knowing individual would, from previous training, turn at once to a profitable account. Much may be done by letter-press description; and this I shall endeavour to achieve; but more will be accomplished by a close and attentive examination of a few well-selected animals, which it is now no difficult matter to get a view of, as, thanks to the spirited exertions of the Highland Society, valuable specimens are far from rare. In breeding and rearing rams, two divisions of these animals are recognised,--ram getters, and wedder getters,--the former, from their fineness, being kept for the procreation of animals like themselves, while the latter, from their coa.r.s.eness, are set aside as fitted only for parent stock for grazier's sheep, the mere grazier liking a ram no worse for having a ma.s.sy frame, and being less scrupulous about his form than the ram breeder, whose grand object is fineness, and who trusts to the ewes for giving the offspring size and substance. The princ.i.p.al ram-breeders are guided in the choice of their ram-lambs, more by blood or parentage, than by form, on which, at so early an age, little dependance can be placed. In the case of the Dishleys, they allow them every indulgence, from the time of weaning till that of shearing, as they push them forward with the intent of letting them the first season, while yet yearlings. It is this early arrival at maturity, which is, with truth, supposed by some to occasion their early falling off; for by a law of the animal economy, premature adult age is always succeeded by premature decay; life appearing to be dated from the time the animal enters on the fulfilment of the ends for which it was created.

According to Mr Bakewell, the shape which should be the criterion of a sheep, is that of a hogshead or firkin, truly circular, with small and as short legs as possible: upon the plain principle, that the value lies in the barrel, not in the legs; and all breeds the backs of which rise in the least ridge are bad. Their bodies should be as true barrels as can be seen, their backs round and broad, and their legs not much exeeeding six inches in length. The following is a measurement of a three-years' old ram of Mr Bakewell,

Feet. Inches.

Girth, 5 10 Height, 2 5 Breadth of Collar, 1 4 Breadth of shoulders, 1 11-1/2 Breadth across the ribs, 1 10-1/2 Breadth across the hips, 1 9-1/2

A most unusual proof of kindly feeding in the animals of this shape, is their feeling quite fat, just within their fore legs, on the rib; a point in which sheep are seldom examined, from common breeds never carrying fat there. They are particularly distinguished by the lightness of the offal, the bones being one-half smaller than in some other breeds, and the meat proportionally thicker, while the pelt is thin, and the head small--a thing of some consequence in most parts of England, where that Scottish luxury, sheep-head broth, is so cordially despised.

The best form for a cheviot ram is thus described by Mr Cully, in his excellent work on _Live-Stock_: "His head should be fine and small; his nostrils wide and expanded; his eyes prominent, and rather bold or daring; ears thin; his collar full from his breast and shoulders, but tapering gradually all the way to where the neck and head join, which should be very fine and graceful, being perfectly free from any coa.r.s.e leather hanging down; the shoulders broad and full, which must at the same time join so easy to the collar forward and chine backward, as to leave not the least hollow in either place; the mutton upon his arm or fore-thigh must come quite to the knee; his legs upright, with a clean fine bone, being equally clear from superfluous skin and coa.r.s.e hairy wool from the knee and hough downwards; the breast broad and well forward, which will keep his forelegs at a proper wideness; his girth or chest full and deep, and instead of a hollow behind the shoulders, that part by some called the fore-flank, should be quite full; the back and loins broad, flat, and straight, from which the ribs must rise in a fine circular arch; his belly straight; the quarters long and full, with the mutton quite down to the hough, which should neither stand in nor out; his twist deep, wide and full, which, with the broad breast, will keep his four legs open and upright; the whole body covered with a thin pelt, and that with bright soft wool. The nearer any breed comes up to the above description, the nearer they approach towards excellence of form." As an amusing contrast to this well drawn picture, I give an extract from the work of that ancient agriculturist Columella.

"Therefore, the way to judge and approve of a ram, is not only that of observing if he is clothed with a white fleece, but also if his palate and tongue are of the same colour with his wool; for when these parts of his body are black or spotted, there arises a black or speckled offspring. And this, among other things, the same poet I mentioned above, (Virgil, Georg. Lib. iii.) has excellently pointed out in such numbers as these:"

"Reject him, tho' the ram himself be white, Under whose ousy palate lies concealed A black or spotted tongue; for with black spots He'll stain the fleeces of his future race."

After some amusing remarks on the same subject, delivered in a very quaint way, he concludes his description with the mention of "twisted horns,"--"not because this last is more useful, (for a ram without horns is better,) but because horns that are twisted and bended inwards are not at all so hurtful as those that are set upright and expanded. Nevertheless, in some countries where the climate is wet and windy, we would wish for he-goats and rams even with the very largest horns; because, when they are high and extended, they defend the greatest part of the head from the storm."

It is thus that among some of his most beautiful remarks, we have generally a something occurring which upsets the gravity of the whole by its childish absurdity.

(93.) _Influence of s.e.x._--In early ages, the greater share of attention appears to have been bestowed on _male_ domesticated animals, on account of the more numerous offspring of which they would become the parents; and from this, as the Rev. Henry Berry, of Acton Beauchamp, Worcesters.h.i.+re, supposes, (in a valuable essay on the breeding of live stock, published in the _British Farmer's Magazine_,) has originated the prevalent idea, that the male has a more decided influence, than the female, on the form of the progeny. "The ideas entertained respecting the useful qualities of an animal would (in former times) be very similar, and lead to the adoption of a general standard of excellence, towards which it would be required that each male should approximate; and thus there would exist, among what may be termed fas.h.i.+onable sires, a corresponding form and character, different from, and superior to, those of the general stock of the country. This form and character would, in most instances, have been acquired by _perseverance in breeding from animals which possessed the important or fancied requisites_, and might, therefore, be said to be almost _confirmed_ in such individuals. Under these circ.u.mstances, striking results would doubtless follow the introduction of these sires to a common stock; results which would lead superficial observers to remark, that individual sires possessed properties as _males_, which, in fact, were only a.s.signable to them as _improved_ animals."

In general, the qualities of the male and female parents are visible to an equal extent in the offspring, as is well exemplified among horses, in the mixture of the blood and cart breed, where the great difference in form and character is nicely blended; but, occasionally, the peculiarities of the male, or female, are visible only on some particular part of the offspring, as in the crossing of the Merino ram with the Ryeland ewe, when the former affects the fleece, and the latter the carca.s.s.

Though there are many opinions as to the comparative influence of the s.e.xes on the progeny, yet, as before stated, the majority of voices represent the male as the more influential. Mr Boswell, in his essay on this subject, published in the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, and in the _Farmer's Magazine_, is decidedly of this opinion, "Being fully convinced of the power of the male on the offspring, I have always accounted it as a loss to put a bad male to a high bred female, and have never done so. I have, however, observed, where the country people have purchased high bred sheep at any sale of mine, and bred from them with the ordinary rams, that the breed very quickly got bad: whereas, when a Bakewell ram had been purchased, I have seen a most remarkable change on the quality of the sheep; and, in several instances, where the ewes (Highlanders) had been tolerable from which they had bred, the cross was so nearly resembling a new Leicester, as to deceive any one who was not a thorough judge." Bewick, the natural historian, supports this opinion when speaking of the original breed of wild cattle, still to be found in a few English and Scottish parks.

They are uniformly pure white, with black or red ears and noses. He says, that cows, when in season, used often to be turned into the park at Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, and that, when covered by the wild bull, _all their produce was uniformly white, with red ears and noses_. On the other hand, the female is, also, prevalently believed to have some share in the matter, and much may be adduced as evidence of its power over the form of the offspring, equally authentic with the former. Mr Ferguson, in a paper on live-stock, in the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, relates the following apposite and amusing story:--

"Naturalists are, I believe, nearly agreed, that the influence of the male exceeds that of the female in communicating qualities to the offspring, and a very providential arrangement it is, in respect that good points may be thus diffused with far more rapidity than could otherwise occur. The choice of the female is by no means, however, a matter of indifference, and it is only by due attention to both that perfection can be looked for. I recollect several years ago, at a distinguished breeder's in Northumberland, meeting with a shrewd Scottish borderer, (indeed, if report be true, the original and identical Dandy Dinmont,) who, after admiring, with a considerable _spice of national pique_, a very fine short-horn bull, demanded anxiously to see the dam. The cow having been accordingly produced, and having undergone a regular survey, Dandy vociferated, with characteristic _pith_, '_I think naething o' your bull now, wi' sic a caumb_;' and, unquestionably, the mould or '_caumb_' must have its own share in producing shapes, though in his haste to detract, (as he thought,) from the merits of the bull, poor Dandy totally overlooked the additional compliment paid to the judgment of the '_Southron_.'"

It is in general supposed, that if the female be by descent small, that the length of the legs of the issue will not be influenced by the male. The weight of the carca.s.s is a good deal affected by the male, but not so much as by the female. The impressions of one or other, especially of the male, do not cease on the birth of the fruits of a connection, for though he may have no further meeting with that female, yet are the succeeding offspring tinged with his peculiar colour, or modelled after his form. This is well ill.u.s.trated by a fact which came under the notice of the Earl of Morton. His lords.h.i.+p bred from a male quagga and a mare of seven-eights Arabian blood, a female hybrid, displaying in form and colour her mixed origin. The mare was then given to Sir Gore Ouseley, who bred from her first a filly and afterwards a colt, by a fine black Arabian horse, but both these, in their colour and in the hair of their manes, strongly resembled the quagga. This isolated fact would be, however, but of small value if unsupported by others, which are luckily now of common occurrence, among which the following tends strongly to its corroboration:--In the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1821, Dr Wollaston relates that D.

Giles, Esq., had a sow of the black and white kind, which, after littering by a chestnut boar of the wild breed, was put, some time after the death of this, to boars of quite a different variety, yet the offspring were covered with chestnut marks, so as closely to resemble the long-departed animal.

The progeny of most domesticated animals often bear a striking resemblance to the grandmother or grandfather, and it is well known that the desired changes cannot be effected on a breed, or that the desired breed cannot be produced, till the third, fourth, or even the fifth crossing, so that the importance of having few defects in a stock will be readily admitted, seeing their debasing consequences are carried through whole generations, and that though absent in one remove, yet that they may appear in the next. Both sire and dam should be chosen as free from defects as possible, a thing often neglected in rearing domestic animals, especially horses, where the opinion is in vogue, that no matter how debilitated and worn out may be the dam, yet that if coupled with a young and perfect sire, a healthy handsome offspring will be the issue; than which idea nothing can be more absurd, as such animals, if left to nature, would seldom or never come in contact, owing to the one party never attaining a decrepit age, but peris.h.i.+ng on its verge.

(94.) _The s.e.x of the progeny is supposed to be the result of the relative ages of the parents_; thus, issue from a young male and an old female will in general be feminine, while that from an old male and a young female will generally be masculine; and it has been proposed to turn this, apparently a law of nature, to account, in the management of flocks, as it must often be of consequence to obtain, at will, a considerable increase of the s.e.x most wanted. On this subject there will be found an interesting paper in the first number of the _Quarterly Journal of Agriculture_, ent.i.tled, "A method of obtaining a greater number of One s.e.x at the option of the Proprietor, in the Breeding of Live-Stock," and from this I extract the following:--

"In the _Annales de l'Agriculture Francaise_, Vols. x.x.xvii. and x.x.xviii., some very interesting experiments are recorded, which have lately been made in France, on the breeding of live-stock. M. Charles Girou de Buzareingues proposed, at a meeting of the Agricultural Society of Severac, on the 3d of July, 1826, to divide a flock of sheep into two equal parts, so that a greater number of males or females, at the choice of the proprietor, should be produced from each of them. Two of the members of the society offered their flocks to become the subjects of his experiments, and the results have now been communicated, which are in accordance with the author's expectations.

"The first experiment was conducted in the following manner:--He recommended very young rams to be put to the flock of ewes from which the proprietor wished the greater number of females in their offspring and also, that during the season when the rams were with the ewes, they should have more abundant pasture than the other; while to the flock from which the proprietor wished to obtain male lambs chiefly, he recommended him to put strong and vigorous rams, four or five years old. The following tabular view contains the result of his experiment:--

+----------------------------------+----------------------------------+ | Flock for female lambs. | Flock for male lambs. | +---------------------+------------+----------------------+-----------+ | Age of the mothers. |s.e.x of the | Age of the mothers. |s.e.x of the | | | Lambs. | | Lambs. | |---------------------+------+-----+----------------------+------+----+ | |Males.| Fem.| |Males.|Fem.| |Two years, | 14 | 26 |Two years, | 7 | 3 | |Three years, | 16 | 29 |Three years, | 15 | 14 | |Four years, | 5 | 21 |Four years, | 33 | 14 | | | -- | -- | | -- | -- | | Total, | 35 | 76 | Total, | 55 | 31 | |Five years and older,| 18 | 8 |Five years and older, | 25 | 24 | | | -- | -- | | -- | -- | | Total, | 53 | 84 | Total, | 80 | 55 | | | | |N.B.--There were three twin-births|N.B.--There were no twin-births | |in this flock. Two rams |in this flock. Two strong | |served it; one fifteen months, |rams, one four, the other five | |the other nearly two years old. |years old, served it. | +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+

"The general law, as far as we are able to detect it, seems to be, that when animals are in good condition, plentifully supplied with food, and kept from breeding as fast as they might do, they are most likely to produce females. Or, in other words, when a race of animals is in circ.u.mstances favourable for its increase, Nature produces the greatest number of that s.e.x which, in animals that do not pair, is most efficient for increasing the number of the race. But if they are in a bad climate, or on a stinted pasture, or if they have already given birth to a numerous offspring, then Nature, setting limits to the increase of the race, produces more males than females. Yet, perhaps, it may be premature to attempt to deduce any law from experiments which have not yet been sufficiently extended. M. Girou is disposed to ascribe much of the effect to the age of the ram, independent of the condition of the ewe."

CHAPTER V.

MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP.

(95.) Those who have attended to the subject are well aware, that the profitable management of livestock is the most difficult department in the business of a farm. So much depends on the nature of the locality where sheep are kept, and on its situation in regard to markets for the disposal of its produce, that little but what is of general application need be written on this head. Precise rules for agricultural conduct can seldom be laid down with any probability of their being followed, as it must necessarily vary less or more with the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the estate, and must, therefore, to a great extent, be trusted to the intelligence of the farmer. All, therefore, that I shall aim at in treating of this division, will be the giving an outline of the more important matters connected with sheep-husbandry, leaving the tyro to use it as circ.u.mstances may point out. For obvious reasons, a natural arrangement of the subject is the best; and to this, therefore, I shall, as much as possible, adhere.

(96.) _Putting Tups to Ewes._ The middle of November is the time at which this is usually done, but the season is antic.i.p.ated or delayed according as the spring provender is expected to be early or late, plentiful or scarce. When the sheep are spread over a wide track, one ram is in general allotted to thirty ewes; but when the latter are on a limited range of pasture, the proportion of one to fifty may be reckoned ample. The rams ought not to be left with the ewes above four or five weeks, as it does not do to have lambs dropped after the middle of May; indeed much trouble will be saved to the shepherd if he can contrive to have all the lambs yeaned about the same time, as the flock will, from its numbers being of a similar standing, be healthier, and every way easier to manage, than one in which there is a great diversity of ages. Such ewes, therefore, as have not evinced an inclination for the male, ought, before the above period has elapsed, to be driven into a barn or small inclosure, and made to run about till they have become a little heated, after which, when the ram is introduced, the desired effect will doubtless follow. Delay will in many cases be unavoidable, owing to the ewes being in too high condition; but this the shepherd should try to obviate, by administering one or two doses of Epsom salts, which, by reducing the plethora, will increase the activity of the animal, and render it in many ways more p.r.o.ne to pregnancy.

As it is an object of some importance to r.e.t.a.r.d the yeaning of gimmer hogs till the spring be well advanced, the rams are never sent to them till a fortnight after they have been put to the older ewes. Much nicety is always required in choosing the time at which rams mould be put to gimmers, as they are in general sorry nurses, and sure, in bad seasons, to lose many lambs.

When a farm is provided with suitable enclosures, careful selection of both ewes and rams should always be attended to, taking care to make the good points of the one remedy the defects of the other; but where a farm is dest.i.tute of such accommodation, the next best plan is to send the finest rams to the ewes for a few days before the rest of the males are admitted.

Great ewes ought always to be well looked after. The driest and best sheltered fields should be set apart for them, and turnips, when forming part of their food, should, when they are about to yean, always be carted to their pasture. When they roll _awald_, and cannot regain their feet, prompt a.s.sistance should be afforded them, else they will soon die. Death in this case occurs from suffocation, though the morbid appearances exhibited by the carca.s.s are frequently mistaken for those of braxy. Udder locking ought never to be attempted, as it often leads to abortion, and is, besides, not of the slightest utility.

(97.) _Early Lambs._ Though in the greater number of our breeds the arrival of the rutting season is fixed and regular, yet there are several in which pregnancy may, by proper management, be induced at any period. Of these the Dorsets.h.i.+re and Wicklow varieties are the most noted, and are on this account selected for the rearing of house-lambs in the vicinity of towns, the inhabitants of which are opulent enough to create a demand for so expensive an article.

The beginning of June is the time chosen for the admission of the rams, so that by the month of January the greater proportion of the ewes have yeaned. According to the plan pursued in Middles.e.x, "The sheep, which begin to lamb about Michaelmas, are kept in the close during the day, and in the house during the night, until they have produced twenty or thirty lambs. These lambs are then put into a lamb-house, which is kept constantly well littered with clean wheat straw; and chalk, both in lump and in powder, is provided for them to lick, in order to prevent looseness, and thereby preserve the lambs in health. As a prevention against gnawing the boards, or eating each other's wool, a little wheat straw is placed, with the ears downwards, in a rack within their reach, with which they amuse themselves, and of which they eat a small quant.i.ty. In this house they are kept with great care and attention until fit for the butcher.

"The mothers of the lambs are turned, every night at eight o'clock, into the lamb-house to their offspring. At six o'clock in the morning these mothers are separated from their lambs, and turned into the pastures; and, at eight o'clock, such ewes as have lost their own lambs, and those ewes whose lambs are sold, are brought in and held by the head till the lambs by turns suck them clean: they are then turned into the pasture; and at twelve o'clock, the mothers of the lambs are driven from the pasture into the lamb-house for an hour, in the course of which time each lamb is suckled by its mother. At four o'clock, all the ewes that have not lambs of their own are again brought to the lamb-house, and held for the lambs to suck; and at eight, the mothers of the lambs are brought to them for the night.

"This method of suckling is continued all the year. The breeders select such of the lambs as become fat enough, and of proper age (about eight weeks old) for slaughter, and send them to the market during December and three or four succeeding months, at prices which vary from one guinea to four, and the rest of the year at about two guineas each. This is severe work for the ewes, and some of them die from exhaustion. However, care is taken that they have plenty of food; for when green food (viz. turnips, cole, rye, tares, clover, &c.) begins to fail, brewers' grains are given them in troughs, and second-crop hay in racks, as well to support the ewes as to supply the lambs with plenty of milk; for if that should not be abundant, the lambs would become stunted, in which case no food would fatten them.