THE SOUTHDOWN. 47 



producing mutton and wool of the finest quality, with great 

 constitution, invaluable for crossing purposes. It is a well- 

 known saying in Hereford market that ' no sheep will get fat 

 lambs like a Ryeland ram.' I often hear old breeders lament- 

 ing over giving up their Ryeland flocks. Within the last ten 

 years, however, the disposition to breed them up again has 

 considerably increased the flocks of this county (Hereford- 

 shire), and, in Brecknockshire especially, Ryelands are fast 

 on the increase. One thing greatly in their favour is they 

 seldom suffer from foot-rot. The Ryeland of to-day is a much 

 heavier sheep than was the case some thirty or forty years 

 ago, and arrives earlier at maturity compact in form, straight 

 back, sides and underline, on short, well-set legs, the last 

 white, as also the face, thick scrag, and head well covered 

 with wool. I notice in the Journal of the Royal the judge's re- 

 port of Ryeland wool at Windsor is anything but reliable. If 

 readers of the Journal conclude by such report that Ryeland 

 wool in general is as stated there, they are very much mis- 

 taken. No better wool is grown on any sheep. I admit the 

 failure, however, at Windsor. There were only three ex- 

 hibitors. My own wool ought never to have gone. In the 

 first place, all my lambs were shorn the previous year, so that 

 I had no teg wool, and in 1889, as an experiment, my sheep 

 were unwashed ; both these things would, no doubt, tell con- 

 siderably against it in competition. I have on several occa- 

 sions beaten the Shropshires in open competition, and as a 

 hardy farmers' rent-paying sheep I have no hesitation in 

 giving the preference to the Ryeland." 



THE SOUTHDOWN. 



Having had the privilege of knowing the late Mr. Ellman, 

 and hearing from his own lips the story of the rise and 

 progress of the Southdown sheep, and of the points and 

 special merits of the breed, I feel as though brought into 

 connection with its earliest annals. Upwards of a quarter 



