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Ewart encloses a cheque for the ewes Elwes is sending him, and confirms the number of sheep that are being sent. He tried to cross a he-goat with some ewes but there was no progeny. He asks if Ewart would like to see Appel's book on sheep.

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Elwes writes that he has looked over the ram and proposes to send it to Edinburgh Zoo or to Ewart if he wishes to have it, as well as the horned white ram that he bought as an Icelander. He wonders if the Edinburgh Museum would like to have his best old Hebridean. He describes the sheep crosses he is planning to conduct.

Letter is undated but marked 'Sunday'.

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Elwes provides some details of the 'dun-faced sheep' and suggests that Ewart impress on Claud Alexander the importance of photographing the results of his cross-breeding experiments, rather than breeding indiscriminately. He mentions the research of Professor Keller on the Bündner sheep of Switzerland and R.F Scharff in Ireland. He hopes to visit Ewart before going to Shetland.

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Elwes writes that he will settle with the people of Shetland how many sheep to send and when. He also wants sheep from Fairisle and Foula. Balfour of Dawyck wants some sheep sent along with them, and Elwes asks Ewart if he knows of any place near Leith where the sheep could rest for a week en route. He writes that Wallace is hoping to get a grant to carry out cross-breeding experiments at the University and has suggested working together.

The letter is undated.

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Elwes is sending Ewart the fleece of a Cheviot-Shetland cross from Shetland and that he will also receive a fleece of a first-prize shearling Welsh ewe. He is also enclosing photographs of sheep showing four generations and asks Ewart's advice on what would be the most interesting cross out of them. He asks when Ewart and Wallace are going to examine the wools.

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Elwes thanks Ewart for the report, and requests that Watson returns the fleeces to him at once as he wants to show them to a cloth manufacturer as well as to Bateson, who will be visiting. He will send Ewart his Norfolk rams if he wants to try crossing them with some Cheviots. He has received few answers to the circular, and complains of 'the apathy of the average English landowner'.

The year is not written on the letter.

Scope and Contents Elwes writes that he has not seen anything of the paper on Scotch sheep which was to be published in The Scottish Naturalist and of which Ewart was to correct the proofs. He mentions a skull and skin of fat-tailed sheep from Central Asia which is now at the British Museum. He has spoken to Lydekker about stuffing other breeds which are not at present represented in the Domestic Animals gallery, but he has been told that there is not enough space and money. However,...

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Elwes writes concerning the restrictions on his sheep leaving England to be tupped, and urgently asks when Ewart can send his fat-tailed ram. He also enquires whether Ewart thinks a curly lamb could be produced by crossing a Wensleydale with a white Shetland sheep.

The year is not written on the letter.

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Elwes writes that the wool of the Ryeland sheep is probably the softest English-grown wool, that they make a good cross with the Welsh sheep and would probably improve the uniformity of the Shetland. He gives a negative review of Lydekker's book The Sheep and Its Cousins.

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Elwes writes that nearly all of his sheep have now lambed. He concludes that the Soay, Manx or Hebridean sheep are not worth keeping except for ornamental value, that the Welsh spotted and Shetland sheep are hardier and that the Cheviot lamb crosses are not as hardy as one would expect. Elwes wants a wool expert to report on his various sheep at clipping time. Next season he proposes to cross Herdwicks and Shetlands more largely and to get more of the spotted breed and some Wensleydales.