THE WESTERN 595 



as they will eat, about J Ib. to J Ib. per head per day, with 

 generally some peas. With such keep they are in a good 

 season fit to turn out about the first week in April. The 

 lambs born in October and November receive good feeding, 

 and are generally ready for the butcher at from ten to 

 twelve weeks old, when they average from 10 Ibs. to 14 Ibs. 

 per quarter. They then make from 405. to 505. each in the 

 London market. The off-going ewes are fattened off as 

 well as the lambs, and, when they have been highly kept, 

 are ready for market at the same time. They average from 

 22 Ibs. to 28 Ibs. per quarter. Shearing generally takes place 

 in June, when both the lambs and ewes are shorn. The 

 lambs yield from 2\ Ibs. to 3 Ibs. of wool, and the ewes from 

 5 Ibs. to 7 Ibs., and yearling rams from 10 Ibs. to 14 Ibs. 

 The wool of the Horn lamb is much prized on account of 

 its whiteness and the fine point it possesses, whilst the fleeces 

 command better prices than those of most other English 

 breeds." The breed usually divides with the Ryeland the 

 premier awards for fine white short wool at the Royal Show. 

 The chief market for the breed is Dorchester Poundbury 

 Fair, held on the last Thursday of September. It was 

 established in 1848, and twelve to sixteen thousand sheep are 

 there annually exposed for sale. 



The special peculiarity of the breed is, that the ewes 

 take the ram as early as April or May, and breed " house- 

 lamb " for Christmas. They are ready to take the ram again 

 soon after lambing, and two crops in a year may be got, 

 although the practice is not one that can be recommended 

 for general adoption. The ewes are often tupped for the last 

 season by a Southdown ram, so that the lambs possess dark 

 heads with no horns, and become ripe sooner. Downs or 

 Down crosses are usually supposed to give the best quality of 

 mutton, and hence the run upon dark faces and legs. 



The Western sheep is a remnant of the old slow- 

 maturity, white-faced horned Wiltshire breed, described by 

 Low as the " largest of the fine-woolled sheep of England. 

 Its fleece was not only light (about 2j Ibs.), but its belly was 

 destitute of wool." This he attributed to the warm, dry, chalky 

 soil of the area. Like the old Hampshire, which it strongly 

 resembled, it was rapidly supplanted or crossed out by the 



