242 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



culling rather than to carry certain individuals that do not 

 measure up to desired standards. Close scrutiny should be made 

 of heads, necks, breasts, shoulders, backs, ribs, rumps, quarters, 

 and legs. Form, size, quality, constitution, muscling, and* 

 smoothness of outline should receive much consideration, the 

 requirements for which have been set forth in preceding chap- 

 ters. One word more, however, may well be added on heads 

 and necks. The following by Prof. John Wrightson,* of the 

 Royal College of Science, London, England, is much to the point: 



"Nothing looks better than good heads, and, strange as it 

 may seem, a sheep's head, which is only worth 9d. at the butcher's 

 is worth a lot of money when carried on a good ram or ewe. A 

 muscular neck indicates strength of constitution and good mus- 



Fig. 73. A Prize- Winning Flock. 



Champion Shropshire flock at the 1913 International, owned by A. 

 Broughton & Sons, Albany, Wis. 



cular development, and I have never known a sheep breeder 

 who did not strongly object to a shabby neck. Mr. Ellman, 

 the father of the Southdown breed, insisted on the importance 

 of this point. Mr. James Rawlence, of Bulbridge, one of the 

 oldest of our noted breeders, would not keep a weak-necked 

 ewe, and no man who values his flock would buy a ram with 

 this fault. The neck ought to be muscular, arched, tapering, 

 and neat." 



Uniformity in shape, size, color markings, and general ap- 

 pearance is a valuable attribute in any flock. When the pro- 

 duce is intended for the open market, this insures a uniform lot 



* Sheep, Breeds and Management, p. 126. 



