Scope and Contents

Elwes writes that he is sending Ewart a photograph of the 'so-called Cabul sheep' at Tetbury, which he thinks look like St Kildas. He asks Ewart to bring with him the Takin horns which he left in Ewart's house when he visits Elwes.

Scope and Contents

Elwes writes that he has heard that the sheep at Greystoke will be transported once the restrictions in Peebles are lifted. He recommends that Ewart take a photograph of the Foula ewes while they are alive. He is buying some of Lort's Manx and Manx-Soay crosses, and a black bull with a broad white belt. He would like to put his fat-tailed ewes to Ewart's fat-tailed ram.

The year is not written on the letter.

Scope and Contents

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.

Scope and Contents

Elwes asks Ewart to approve a short notice of their exhibit for insertion in press information. He believes it would be more interesting to show the Southdown-Soay cross and lamb instead of the Wensleydale.

Scope and Contents Elwes writes that he has been invited to the Blackface Sheep Breeders' Association meeting in Perth. He does not think wild sheep could be used in the improvement of British wool. He is also doubtful whether a cross between a Blackface and Soay sheep would be able to withstand the climate of the West Highlands, or whether the lower quality of their meat and wool would render the experiment worthwhile. He believes the Blackface-Cheviot or Blackface-Shetland cross would be preferable and would...

Scope and Contents

Elwes writes that the Zoological Society no longer wishes to keep his three-year old Soay ram, and he wonders whether the Edinburgh Zoological Society might like him. He asks whether Ewart knows of anyone who will make him cloth made from Moorit wool.

Scope and Contents

Elwes writes that he has been helping Wallace with his account of Shetland-Soay sheep in his new edition of Farm Live Stock and expresses his distress at the difference of opinion between Wallace and Ewart. Elwes reports that Wallace is willing to make amends and offers to help in any way he can. He concludes by remarking on his failing health and offers Ewart a book from his library as a keepsake.

Scope and Contents

Campbell enquires how many pure Soay sheep Ewart is thinking of putting on Ailsa Craig and provides some information about the island. He thinks that Lord Ailsa would consent to 20 Soays without any reduction in the goats that are already there, and believes that the Soays would be better suited to the weather conditions than the Blackfaces, all of which died.

Scope and Contents

Campbell wonders if Ewart could advise on where to get a pure Soay ram. He writes that when he was at Ailsa Craig the previous year, the Mouflon had seemingly got hold of the sheep there, as all the rams he could see were large and heavy with a distinct Mouflon crest of hair.

Scope and Contents

Mackenzie writes that it is now too late in the season to get 10 or 20 ewes from the island of Soay, but he would be able to issue instructions for the ewes to be removed in the summer of 1915. There is an embargo by the Board of Agriculture against the exportation of sheep from St Kilda due to scab, although Mackenzie asserts that scab has never existed on the island.