Elwes, Henry John, 1846-1922 (traveller and botanist)

Ewart writes that he has written about the 'Murrayshire' sheep which he heard about at the Board of Agriculture. Ten Shetland fleeces and some Soay-Southdown wool have been sent to Sanderson. He asks Elwes to return the Soay-Southdown and the Siberian fleeces sent to the Bristol show as they belong to the University.

Ewart writes that he is enclosing a report on the wool from Watson, Wallace's assistant, although he has not yet heard about the Iceland wool. He would like to have the Ronaldsay sheep, and understands that they live between a wall and the sea and feed mainly on seaweed.

Elwes writes that he is glad that Ewart does not object to joint work, and suggests starting the study with 'the Highland Society' before doing something more ambitious in a few years' time. He asks Ewart to seek out the papers of a society formed more than a 100 years earlier in Edinburgh for the improvement of sheep and wool.

The year is not written on the letter.

Elwes writes that he has received a sample of wool and asks if the sheep is from Siberia. He is sorry to hear that Wallace is opposing Ewart.

The year is not written on the letter.

Elwes writes that he has presented the three sheep skins collected by Carruthers to the British Museum on condition that they are mounted at once. He describes the wool of the sheep in the Calcutta Zoological Gardens and recommends that Ewart sees them when he goes. He has applied for a space at Bristol (the Royal Agricultural Show) the following year to exhibit a selection of his pure breeds and crosses, and asks Ewart to join him.

Elwes writes that he is ready to send his four fat-tailed ewes to Ewart, and that he is also sending some wool samples from Colonel Powney's sheep. He also encloses a letter concerning sheep which may be the Swiss Bundtner, and recommends that Ewart write to the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture to enquire where the Karakul sheep are to be seen.

Elwes says he will research some more about African sheep. Sanderson has told him that the first prize Shetland fleece at the Mid Yell Show is too fine for making good weaving material in cloth, and recommends that they stick to the Moorit colour.

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.