THE MUTTON BREEDS OF SHEEP 



331 



pecially in Kentucky and Tennessee, they were for many 

 years the prevailing breed, and are still popular. 



378. Description. It is the smallest of the Down 

 breeds that are prominent in America at this time, but it 

 is the model in form toward 

 which all other breeds are 

 tending. Its compact form 

 and short fleece, however, 

 give it a weight greater than 

 its appearance suggests. 

 Mature ewes weigh up to 150 

 pounds, and rams up to 200, 

 although average weights are 

 somewhat less (Figs. 65, 66). 

 In 1788, Arthur Young 

 wrote: " The true South- 

 down, when very well bred, 

 has no horns, a long speckled 

 face, clean and thin jaw, a 

 long, but not a thin neck, no tuft of wool on the fore- 

 head, which they call owl-headed, nor any fringe of wool 



on the cheeks, thick in the 

 shoulder, openbreasted, and 

 deep; both fore- and hind- 

 legs stand wide; round and 

 straight in barrel; wide on 

 the loin and hips ; shut well 

 in the* twist, which is a pro- 

 jection of flesh on the inner 

 part of the thigh that gives 

 a fullness when viewed be- 

 hind, and makes a Southdown leg of mutton remarkably 

 *ound and short, more so than other breeds ; thin speckled 



FIG. 65. Southdown ram. 



FIG. 66. Southdown ewe. 



