DOESET HORNED SHEEP. 401 



was then Id. per lb. more valuable than Down, added : " The 

 wool of the horn lamb is very much sought after for its peculiar 

 whiteness and the fine point it has." 



Beyond the chalk range we find in western and northern 

 Dorset an undulating surface, with low, flat, or rounded eleva- 

 tions, formed of some of the lower members of the oolitic series, 

 interspersed occasionally with patches of greensand. The soil 

 is tolerably fertile, and is redundant of moderately good upland 

 pastures. Further on are the rich, inferior oolite sands and 

 loams of southern Somerset, where the pastures yield a mild 

 succulent herbage, and are ever green. The Dorset horns 

 occupy the whole of this region, and, so far from being ever 

 expelled therefrom, are rather extending themselves further into 

 Somerset, in competition with Devonshire longwools, cross-breds, 

 and Down sheep. The subjoined testimony, rendered for the 

 first edition of this work, refers to locality adaptation. Mr. 

 Abraham Bond said: **I think them very well adapted to the 

 light-land com farms on either side of the Quantock Hills, 

 taking in a district on the Bridgewater side from West Monkton 

 to Stowey, and on the Taunton side from the same point to about 

 Cothelstone. I think the climate would be too hot for them 

 on the Somerset lowlands, as they are peculiarly liable to attacks 

 of fly in the summer months." Mr. Henry Mayo wrote : ** They 

 will do, I may say, on nearly every land, but most profitably on 

 good pasture land. They are considered to do much better on a 

 high sour farm than Down sheep, will generally breed more 

 lambs, and fewer losses are experienced in lambing than from 

 Down flocks." Professor Buckman,who farmed on the borders 

 of Dorset and Somerset, stated : '' The soil of this part of 

 Dorset is mostly an inferior oolite, the lighter on the inferior 

 sands. Hampshires and Dorset horns prevail, but South- 

 downs are not unusual, and all do well. Both Hampshires and 

 Dorsets are very early and usually prolific. I fancy that for 

 the past two years Dorsets have paid best, but Down mutton 

 is to be preferred." 



The turn of the tide has also re-established Dorsets into favoui 

 on many farms in the chalk country. Larger sheep than South- 

 downs are now required for the profitable management of even 

 the hill farms, the Downs having been so generally broken up 



