THE DEVON LONGWOOLS. 317 



Some of these are now deceased, or retired from business ; but 

 many others have since taken up the running. Among the 

 younger flockmasters of repute are Messrs. C. Norris, of Motion ; 

 J. Franklin, of Huxham; and N. Cook, of Chevithorne, 

 Barton, all in Devon ; and Mr. Alfred Bowerman, of Capton ; 

 and Mr. A. C. Skinner, of Bishop's Lidiard, in West Somerset. 



Mr. E. Corner, of Torweston, Williton, did much to improve 

 the breed, and he inherited a very good flock from his father, 

 who, it is said, made 70 guineas of a ram more than sixty 

 years ago. On another occasion, Mr. Corner, senior, made 

 100 guineas of a ewe and two of her offspring — a four- 

 months old lamb and a ram sixteen months old. Rams were 

 annually sold from the Torweston flock for over sixty years, and 

 in 1872 Mr. E. Corner let his best sheep for 70 guineas, and in 

 the following year others were let at 60, 40, 38, and 31 guineas ; 

 the respectable average of 191. 8s. l^d. being obtained for 

 thirty. 



Mr. Eobert Farthing, of Farrington, has held annual auctions 

 for his rams in Taunton market for over thirty years, and the 

 thirty-four shearlings offered in July, 1886, were described at 

 the time in the Field as a superior lot, " among which there 

 were magnificent sheep with grandly-formed, rotund barrels, 

 stylish heads, depth and fulness at their breasts, thick even 

 packing at their shoulders, and their legs of mutton generally 

 well developed." The flock of Sir J. H. Heathcoat-Amory was 

 started in 1868, and was soon brought to very high perfection — 

 indeed, so much so, that since 1875 twenty-one first prizes, 

 together with a considerable number of second prizes, have 

 been won at the shows of the Bath and West of England 

 Society alone. Mr. Greenslade, who has had the sole manage- 

 ment of the flock from the commencement, recently stated that 

 he has won not less than 21s. per week for it in premiums since 

 he commenced showing. The annual ram lettings and sales of 

 the Knightshayes Court rams excite great interest, and realise 

 tolerably good prices even in the present depressed times, the 

 averages varying from 10 to 15 guineas per sheep. The most 

 magnificent of the rams bred at Knightshayes Court was 

 probably the champion prize-winner Comet, which combined so 

 much grand character and style with high quality that he was 



