LECTURE LV. 



SOUTHDOWNS. 



Origin, History, and Development. 



A long line of chalk hills runs northwest and southwest 

 from Dorchester to Norfolk. A spur of these hills shoots off 

 into Sussex with a length of sixty miles and a breadth of 

 six to seven. These hills are designated the Southdowns to 

 distinguish them from a similar formation a little to the north 

 running parallel and terminating on the east at Dover. The 

 Southdown hills from time immemorial have been the home 

 of a breed of sheep long called after the hills, the South- 

 downs. 



The Southdowns are the purest breed of sheep known. So 

 far as can be ascertained there is no reason to believe that 

 any foreign blood has been resorted to in their development. 

 Their improvement has been affected by careful breeding, 

 selection, and feeding and management. 



When Arthur Young first saw them in 1788, before improve- 

 ments had begun under Mr. Bllman, he describes them as 

 follows: "The true Southdown, when very well bred, have 

 the following points: no horns, a long speckled face, clean 

 and thin jaws, a long but not a thin neck, no tuft of wool on 

 the forehead, which they call owl-headed; not any frize of 

 wool on the cheeks; thick in the shoulder, open-breasted, and 

 deep; both fore and hind legs stand wide; round and straight 

 in the barrel; wide upon the loin and hips; shut well in the 

 twist, which is a projection of flesh on the inner part of 

 the thigh, that gives a fullness when viewed behind, and 

 makes a Southdown leg of mutton remarkably round and 

 short, more so than in most other breeds; thin speckled legs, 



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