The unimproved Leicester was a large, heavy, coarse-woolled breed of
sheep, inhabiting the midland counties of England. It was a slow feeder,
its flesh coarse-grained, and with little flavor. The breeders of that
period regarded only size and weight of fleece.
[Illustration: A COUNTRY SCENE.]
About the middle of the last century, Robert Bakewell, of Dishley, in
Leicestershire, first applied himself to the improvement of the sheep in
that country. Before his improvements, aptitude to fatten and symmetry
of shape--that is, such shape as should increase as much as possible the
most valuable parts of the animal, and diminish the offal in the same
proportion--were entirely disregarded. Perceiving that smaller animals
increased in weight more rapidly than the very large ones, that they
consumed less food, that the same quantity of herbage, applied to
feeding a large number of small sheep, would produce more meat than when
applied to feeding the smaller number of large sheep, which alone it
would support, and that sheep carrying a heavy fleece of wool possessed
less propensity to fatten than those which carried one of a more
moderate weight, he selected from the different flocks in his
neighborhood, without regard to size, the sheep which appeared to him to
have the greatest propensity to fatten, and whose shape possessed the
peculiarities which, in his judgment, would produce the largest
proportion of valuable meat, and the smallest quantity of bone and
offal.
He was also of opinion that the first object to be attended to in
breeding sheep is the value of the carcass, and that the fleece ought
always to be a secondary consideration; and this for the obvious reason
that, while the addition of two or three pounds of wool to the weight of
a sheep's fleece is a difference of great amount, yet if this increase
is obtained at the expense of the animal's propensity to fatten, the
farmer may lose by it ten or twelve pounds of mutton.
The sort of sheep, therefore, which he selected were those possessed of
the most perfect symmetry, with the greatest aptitude to fatten, and
rather smaller in size than the sheep generally bred at that time.
Having formed his stock from sheep so selected, he carefully attended to
the peculiarities of the individuals from which he bred, and, so far as
can be ascertained--for all of Mr. Bakewell's measures were kept
secret, even from his most intimate friends, and he died without
throwing, voluntarily, the least light on the subject--did not object to
breeding from near relations, when, by so doing, he brought together
animals likely to produce a progeny possessing the characteristics which
he wished to obtain.
Having thus established his flock, he adopted the practice--which has
since been constantly followed by the most eminent breeders of sheep--of
letting rams for the season, instead of selling them to those who wished
for their use. By this means the ram-breeder is enabled to keep a much
larger number of rams in his possession; and, consequently, his power of
selecting those most suitable to his flock, or which may be required to
correct any faults in shape or quality which may occur in it, is greatly
increased. By cautiously using a ram for one season, or by observing the
produce of a ram let to some other breeder, he can ascertain the
probable qualities of the lambs which such ram will get, and thus avoid
the danger of making mistakes which would deteriorate the value of his
stock. The farmers, likewise, who hire the rams, have an opportunity of
varying the rams from which they breed much more than they otherwise
could do; and they are also enabled to select from sheep of the best
quality, and from those best calculated to effect the greatest
improvement in their flocks.
The idea, when first introduced by him, was so novel that he had great
difficulty in inducing the farmers to act upon it; and his first ram was
let for sixteen shillings. So eminent, however, was his success, that,
in 1787, he let three rams, for a single season, for twelve hundred and
fifty pounds (about six thousand two hundred dollars), and was offered
ten hundred and fifty pounds (about five thousand two hundred dollars)
for twenty ewes. Soon afterwards he received the enormous price of eight
hundred guineas (or four thousand dollars) for two-thirds of the
services of a ram for a single season, reserving the other third for
himself.
The improved Leicester is of large size, but somewhat smaller than the
original stock, and in this respect falls considerably below the coarser
varieties of Cotswold, Lincoln, etc. Where there is a sufficiency of
feed, the New Leicester is unrivalled for its fattening propensities;
but it will not bear hard stocking, nor must it be compelled to travel
far in search of its food. It is, in fact, properly and exclusively a
lowland sheep. In its appropriate situation--on the luxuriant herbage of
the highly cultivated lands of England--it possesses unequalled
earliness of maturity; and its mutton, when not too fat, is of a good
quality, but is usually coarse, and comparatively deficient in flavor,
owing to that unnatural state of fatness which it so readily assumes,
and which the breeder, to gain weight, so generally feeds for. The
wethers, having reached their second year, are turned off in the
succeeding February or March, and weigh at that age from thirty to
thirty-five pounds to the quarter. The wool of the New Leicester is
long, averaging, after the first shearing, about six inches; and the
fleece of the American animal weighs about six pounds. It is of coarse
quality, and little used in the manufacture of cloth, on account of its
length, and that deficiency of felting properties common, in a greater
or less extent, to all English breeds. As a combing wool, however, it
stands first, and is used in the manufacture of the finest worsteds, and
the like textures.
The high-bred Leicesters of Mr. Bakewell's stock became shy breeders
and poor nurses; but crosses subsequently adopted have, to some extent,
obviated these defects. The lambs are not, however, generally regarded
as very hardy, and they require considerable attention at the time of
yeaning, particularly if the weather is even moderately cold or stormy.
The grown sheep, too, are much affected by sudden changes in the
weather; an abrupt change to cold being pretty certain to be registered
on their noses by unmistakable indications of catarrh or "snuffles."
In England, where mutton is generally eaten by the laboring classes, the
meat of this variety is in very great demand; and the consequent return
which a sheep possessing such fine feeding qualities is enabled to make
renders it a general favorite with the breeder. Instances are recorded
of the most extraordinary prices having been paid for these animals.
They have spread into all parts of the British dominions, and been
imported into the other countries of Europe and into the United States.
They were first introduced into our own country, some forty years since,
by Christopher Dunn, of Albany, N.Y. Subsequent importations have been
made by Mr. Powel, of Philadelphia, and various other gentlemen. The
breed, however, has never proved a favorite with any large class of
American farmers. Our long, cold winters--but, more especially, our dry,
scorching summers, when it is often difficult to obtain the rich, green,
tender feed in which the Leicester delights--together with the general
deprivation of green feed in the winter, rob it of its early maturity,
and even of the ultimate size which it attains in England. Its mutton is
too fat, and the fat and lean are too little intermixed to suit
American taste. Its wool is not very salable, owing to the dearth of
worsted manufactures in our country. Its early decay and loss of wool
constitute an objection to it, in a country where it is often so
difficult to advantageously turn off sheep, particularly ewes. But,
notwithstanding all these disadvantages, on rich lowland farms, in the
vicinity of considerable markets, it will always in all probability make
a profitable return.
The head of the New Leicester should be hornless, long, small, tapering
towards the muzzle, and projecting horizontally forward; the eyes
prominent, but with a quiet expression; the ears thin, rather long, and
directed backward; the neck full and broad at its base, where it
proceeds from the chest, so that there is, with the slightest possible
deviation, one continued horizontal line from the rump to the poll; the
breast broad and full; the shoulders also broad and round, and no uneven
or angular formation where the shoulders join either the neck or the
back--particularly no rising of the withers, or hollow behind the
situation of these bones; the arm fleshy throughout its whole extent,
and even down to the knee; the bones of the leg small, standing wide
apart; no looseness of skin about them, and comparatively void of wool;
the chest and barrel at once deep and round; the ribs forming a
considerable arch from the spine, so as, in some cases--and especially
when the animal is in good condition--to make the apparent width of the
chest even greater than the depth; the barrel ribbed well home; no
irregularity of line on the back or belly, but on the sides; the carcass
very gradually diminishing in width towards the rump; the quarters long
and full, and, as with the fore-legs, the muscles extending down to the
hock; the thighs also wide and full; the legs of a moderate length; and
the pelt also moderately thin, but soft and elastic, and covered with a
good quantity of white wool, not so long as in some breeds, but
considerably finer.