THE CHINESE SHEEP.

Southland Times, Volume 1, Issue 4, 21 November 1862, Page 3

THE CHINESE SHEEP.

Although 'ttot laVffo anM^'V.^y? arei, of fair average s«& L; '!Thbugh|om6«f them have 6nly been on shore two months, and have: hot 1 bad. more then that brief space to get over the effects of their long sea voyage, they are ail now In " excellent con-dition^-^afnet which speaks well for their hardiness. When landed, the wool was,* of course, in a very dirty and dilapidated condition ;andj as the weather «fis> then void, it was not deemed prudent to denude tliem.imnoediately of their shabby covering merely for the sake of appearances. A.dirty coat was certainty thought better than none'at all, especially to an animal which; had been; brought all the way from China As soon, however, as the operation of shearing was consrderea 'safe, it was duly performed, and the form in which the animals now appear is so good that tbe jndges of the Royal Agricultural Show have awarded to the Society, for the two pens which they are exhibiting at Battersea Park, two third prizes for short wooled sheep. They ■are peculiar, but not uncomely-looking animals. The long neck and singularly shrewdlooking face (which derives from, the Oriental curve j of the nose an expression which is anything but "sheepish,") would cause them to be remarked and where as a new and peculiar breed. The build of the body is good, and presents excellent opportunities for fattening — a process to which, as they are hearty and almost omnivorous feeders, they will, no doudt, take kindly. The lambs are pretty little creatures to our thinking — much more graceful and expressive-looking than the young of the common sheep. Upon their qualities as a breeding sheep we have already enlarged. Since leaving China eleven lambs have already been added to the flock, and ! several of the e»ves are now in lamb. At some of j the births which have alreydy taken place, three lambs have, been dropped; and it is reported by those who have had good opportunities of becoming acquainted with theyl habits that, when in good health and keep, the^^Ul' breed- twice a year, and produce sometimes four "and even five' lambs at a birth. Of couise', as thu. flock is 'all required at ' present for breeding £urpbse.iqvjagne; have been killed, as an experiment upon their edible qualifications. We have it, however, qn -the beet testi-, mony, that they are excellent in this respect. Having regard, therefore, to the : frequency of their breeding, it is not unreasonable to expect that they will supply good lambs: very nearly all the year round. To sum up, we think that these sheeD offer many attractive qualities to the stock breeded, and that they bid fair to surpass all others as a cottagers sheep. Their establishment here, under the care of the Acclimatisation Society, may now be regarded as accomplished, and we trust that in a few years, through the agency of the members of that society, this interesting animal will be spread all over the kingdom. A writer in the Times, rpporting on the show at .Battersea Park, applies the epithet " crop-eared " to the Chinese sheep. This is not accurate. Short-eared they may be ; but assuredly they have never been cropped.— Field.