LECTURE LIII. 



HAMPSHIRES. 



Origin, History, and Development. 



The original Hampshires date back to the time when the 

 Romans occupied Britain. It was, no doubt, these sheep that 

 1'urnished wool for the factory which the Romans established 

 at Winchester. Their home was in the counties of Hants, 

 Berkshire, and Wiltshire. 



These sheep are described as having a large, bony, narrow 

 carcass. The head was large and possessed a prominent Ro- 

 man nose. The face of the Hampshire sheep was white, while 

 that of the Berkshire Knob and Welts was dark or speckled. 

 All were horned with large, rough, curly horns. They were 

 high at the withers, narrow and sharp ridged along the back. 

 They were , withal, the largest short-wooled sheep in exist- 

 ence. It must be said, too, that these sheep were active, 

 vigorous, and possessed strong constitutions. They were fit 

 subjects on which to effect improvement. 



This improvement began about the beginning of the nine- 

 teenth century. The first move was to rid them of their horns 

 and mark them with black faces and legs, and give them the 

 desirable mutton form. To this end the breeders, of whom 

 there were many, brought in the short-legged, broad-backed, 

 thick-set, close-wooled Southdown rams, the very antitype of 

 the Hampshires. This method was followed for a number of 

 years, perhaps thirty to forty, with fair results, but owing to 

 a lack of unity on the part of the breeders, there was a great 

 diversity of types, and the end uniformity seemed yet far 

 distant. It was not till 1845 that Mr. Humphrey came for- 

 ward with time and money to spend in the interests of this 

 breed, which he thought gave promise of good things for the 

 farmers of south central England. Mr. Humphrey did for the 



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