Report on the Exhibition of Live Stock at Plijmouth. 371 



ordinary sheep, of iinmensc size, and very closely shorn in every part, from the 

 same flock ; Mr. Canning taking the third prize with a very nice pen." 



If tlie Southtlowns are the aristocracy of the South country 

 sheep, the Hampshire Downs well represent the thriving yeoman 

 or farmer. They were certainly amongst the best and most pro- 

 fitable looking of all the sheep shown, and, under the careful 

 management of their present breeders, bid fair to shine in quality 

 quite as much as in usefulness. Size, substance, hardihood, and 

 quality are what flockmasters require in these days of dear 

 mutton, and the Hampshire Downs, as shown at Plymouth, seem 

 very likely sheep to furnish what is needed. 



Those who delight in curiosities must have been rewarded 

 by a sight of some of the local breeds of sheep ; the Exmoor 

 and Dorset horned rams, with their curling horns, were quite 

 magnificent. The Dartmoors were shown in the wool, strange 

 long-sided animals without horns, with inottled or white faces, 

 and unwashed fleeces like door-mats. But if the rams really 

 clip from 21 to 28 lbs. of wool each, and the shearling ewes 

 14 lbs., and these fleeces are obtained when they are running on 

 the moors, I do not know that the farmers there could find a 

 more useful breed. The three breeds of Dartmoor, Dorset, and 

 Exmoor were well represented, and certainly very interesting. 

 But by far the worst sheep shown were the South Hams ; they 

 were diverse, one pen like very bad Cotswolds, another like 

 thin-skinned bad bred Leicesters ; and the 2 rams were worse 

 than the ewes. I hope the South Ham farmers will have learned 

 something from the show, and that when we visit the West country 

 again, we may see more of their useful cows and none of their 

 bad sheep. 



The Stewards suggest that the date of clipping sheep should 

 be altered to " after the 1st of May," rather than the 1st April. 

 The growth of wool on highly-kept sheep in these months is so 

 great, that there is much difficulty in arriving at a conclusion 

 whether sheep have been fairly shorn. At present the duties of 

 the inspectors of shearing are attended with much difficulty, and 

 though the glaring cases which attracted attention at Worcester 

 have been checked, still we feel that we have not yet arrived at a 

 satisfactory position. I have good reason to believe that very 

 nearly all the sheep in one class had a good share of wool taken 

 off their flanks and other points, one evening after the inspectors 

 had seen them and proposed to pay them another visit. Indeed, 

 the marks of the shears and the different shade of wool were very 

 visible even to an unpractised eye. 



PIGS. 



The show of pigs was generally acknowledged to be a very 

 good one, the entries numbering 119 as against 13G at Newcastle, 



