92 



to its resemblance, in some respects, to Welsh Mountain sheep, 

 a Welsh origin has been claimed for it. The name of the breed 

 for many years was the Dorset and Somerset Horn, but the 

 shorter name was adopted by the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' 

 Association established in 1891. 



Characteristics of the Breed. Dorset Horns may be regarded 

 as a semi-mountain type, and they thrive well on grassy hills and 

 inferior pasture which would be too poor for many other lowland 

 sheep. They, however, respond well to better treatment and do 

 excellently on arable land or where " house-fed " as when kept for 

 producing early lambs in Northern Counties. They are hardy 

 active sheep, somewhat long-bodied, but possessing fair symmetry 

 and style. The head is well carried and the horns of both rams 

 and ewes are strong, with uniform and graceful curves. 



The wool covers the crown and comes close up round the 

 horns and ears and on to the jaws, and forms a dense tuft on 

 the forehead. The wool is closely set, dense and level on the 

 surface. Shearing generally takes place in June, when both lambs 

 and ewes are shorn. The lambs give from 2-^ to 3 Ib. of wool, ewes 

 5 to 7 Ib., and yearling rams 10 to 14 Ib. The wool of the lamb is 

 specially valued. The Dorset Horn usually shares with the Ry eland 

 breed the premier awards for fine short white wool at the Annual 

 Show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. 



One of the special features of the breed is the fact that the ewes 

 come in season as early as April or May and can consequently 

 breed "house lamb" for Christmas, weighing 10 to 12 Ib. per 

 quarter at 10 to 12 weeks old. They will take the ram again 

 soon after lambing, and are thus able occasionally to produce 

 two crops of lambs in a year, although the practice is not one to be 

 recommended. When lambs are bred from cast ewes (often by a 

 Down ram producing hornless grey-faced crosses) the mothers are 

 fattened off with the lambs and weigh when fat from 22 to 28 Ib. 

 per quarter. 



For crossing purposes the ewes are more widely used than the 

 rams but to some extent the rams are used for crossing with Welsh, 

 Hampshire Down, and other ewes. 



Dorsets have been introduced in great numbers to the United 

 States and Canada, and also to New Zealand and South Australia, 

 where they are popular and widely distributed on account of their 

 prolificacy and excellent grazing capabilities, which fit them for 

 open country and somewhat inferior conditions. 



Dorset Horn Classes at the Smithfield Shoiv, 1902-1911. 



