112
ON THE LIVE-STOCK
and, when the new fleece has acquired about two months*'growth, the rough hairs, termed fors, spring up, and keeproot, until the proper season for pulling it arrives, when it isplucked off’ along with the wool, and separated from it atdressing the fleece, by an operation called forsing. Thescudda remains upon the skin of the animal, as if it were athick coat, a fence against the inclemency of the seasons,which provident nature has furnished, for supplying the wantof the fleece.’’ When the fine wool brings the price alreadystated, the coarse sells only at from 8 <1. to 10 d. a pound.
The wool is of various colours. The silver grey is thoughtto be the finest; but the black, the white, the mourat orbrown, is very little inferior; though the pure white is cer-tainly the most valuable for all the finer purposes in whichcombing wool can be used *.
To this account of the Hebridean and Shetland sheep, itmay be proper to add some description of this ancient breed,as it is found on the mainland of Scotland .
“ There can be no doubt but the native breed, if properlyattended to, would prove a much more valuable stock thanthe black-faced kind. If equal justice were done to them,they might probably be brought to an equal size ; if not, thesame ground would maintain so much the greater number.”“ Their wool sold at 16 s. a stone when the black-faced sold for7 s. or 8 s.” These sheep, by bad treatment, had become smalland ill formed, but in general they still retained a fine pile ofwool. “ The breed was white-faced, some of them orange-faced, a few of them polled, but generally horned. Many ofthem were black and grey, which were more favourite co-lours than white, as they saved the trouble of dyeing thewool. The fleece, like the carcase, was small, but fine andclose j-.”