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Sheep:
Sheep have evolved and been adapted over the
centuries to suit different environments and types of farming.
There are still over forty native breeds of sheep in the British Isles,
and permutations of crossbreeds increase the number of varieties still
further. In the harsh conditions of some upland areas, it was only the
sheep, the hardier mountain types, that could thrive and make any kind
of farming possible. By contrast, on the lowlands, sheep developed as
an important component in the mixed farming system, consuming the fodder
crops that formed part of the rotation and returning to the soil manure
for the maintenance of fertility, whilst also producing meat and wool
for sale. The improvement of particular breeds to make the most of this
system was a feature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With
the more widespread use of chemical fertilisers in the twentieth century,
however, the value of sheep as 'walking manure carts' in this way diminished
markedly.
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Sheep
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