CHAPTER XYI. 



OXFORDSHIRE DOWN SHEEP. 



By Messrs. A. F. M. DEUCE and C. HOBBS. 



BEEEB of sheep has grown more into public 

 favour, or has more rapidy extended in numbers, 

 within the last fifteen or twenty years, than the 

 Oxfordshire Down. It is now about sixty years 

 since Messrs. Druce of Eynsham, Gillett of Southleigh, Blake 

 of Stanton Harcourt, and Twynham of Hampshire, under- 

 took the construction of a new breed of sheep, that should 

 in great measure possess the weight of the Longwool with the 

 quality of the Down. Probably the advantage of such a breed 

 was first apparent in the offspring of a cross occasionally 

 resorted to in the case of draft ewes, but from pursuing which 

 farmers had hitherto been deterred by the tendency of the 

 offspring to breed back to either side ; and for many years after 

 the breed had become recognised as distinct, the want of uniform 

 character was a source of criticism. Some shght admixture of 

 Sussex Down may have been introduced by those early breeders ; 

 but we are of opinion that the Cotswold grey-faced ram and the 

 Hampshire Down ewe were the chief, if not the only, materials 

 which by judicious blending and careful selection have resulted 

 in a class of sheep which, under suitable conditions, are pro- 

 bably as profitable as any that can be mentioned, both on 

 account of size, weight of wool, aptitude to fatten, hardy 

 character, and valuable meat. The success of the early pro- 

 moters of the project led many others into the field. It was 

 not until 1850 that they were styled the Oxfordshire Down, 

 the county of Oxford being their stronghold ; previous to this 



