Stock keeping for amateurs : a manual on the varieties, breeding, and management of pigs, sheep, horses, cows, oxen, asses, mules, and goats, and the treatment of their diseases designed for the use of young farmers and amateurs / by W.H. Ablett.

  • Ablett, William H.
Date:
[1881]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Stock keeping for amateurs : a manual on the varieties, breeding, and management of pigs, sheep, horses, cows, oxen, asses, mules, and goats, and the treatment of their diseases designed for the use of young farmers and amateurs / by W.H. Ablett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    44/212 (page 38)
    LONG WOOL. Weight of Fleece Dead Weight in the Yolk of the Flesh AND UNSMEAEED. pee Qdaetee. lb. lb. lb. lb. Bampton, Notts, polled 7 to 8 .... 22 to 28 South. Ham ditto 8 „ 9 .... 18 „ 22 Cotswold ditto 7 „ 8 .... 26 „ 34 Komney Marsh ditto 6* „ 8 .... 22 „ 28 Disliley ditto 6 „ 7 .... 21 „ 25 Leicester and Lincoln ditto 8 „ 10 .... 24 „ 32 Teeswater ditto 7 „ 8 .... 26 „ 36 Irish 6| „ 7i .... 22 „ 26 The above table displays the average weight at two years to thirty months old of both ewes and wether ; and in Cotswolds, Leicesters, and Lincolns, were found both wool and meat; but their quality was so inferior as to be only saleable in the poorest markets, such as manufacturing centres; while the Southdown gave the very best quality of meat with but a small weight of wool. It was, therefore, desirable to have a cross, such as Shropshire or the Oxfordshire, with the Down Leicester sheep, which will be found to combine the qualities wanted. The Shropshire sheep, as a cross, have been found very valu- able in some of the western midland counties; while the Oxford, possessing characteristics of the long-wool species, are very suit- able to the arable soils of that county, and were originally derived from a cross of the Ootswold and Hampshire Down. They are hardy and moderately prolific, and come to maturity early, coming out at twelve to fourteen months old with 7lb. to 81b. of wool, and weighing 201b. per quarter. The old Norfolk black- faced sheep, which gave but a small yield of wool, are now seldom seen, but traces of their breed may be easily recognised in many cross-bred sheep that are commonly found in the eastern counties. These traces may be identified in the qualities of hardihood, large frame, and strength of constitution, combined with profuse milking powers. This original stock, grafted with Cotswold, improved Lincoln, or Leicester sheep (the latter im- proved from the original), produces valuable animals. There are two kinds of sheep which are generally regarded as aboriginal races—the Shetland and Welsh sheep. The former has some peculiar characteristics, being capable of supporting