SHROPSHIRE SHEEP. 71 



breed its due, and as far as possible to enter into the feelings 

 of the various breeders. We entirely concur in every word 

 Mr. Preece uttered, and regard the Shropshire as one of those 

 valuable additions to the flocks of the country which have come 

 forward during the last thirty or forty years. The Shropshire 

 sheep was indeed the first breed which broke through that 

 singular classification of " Short-woolled sheep which are not 

 Southdowns," which used to be considered satisfactory in the 

 earlier shows. In 1860, or perhaps earlier, they were awarded 

 a class, and, two years later, the same privilege was extended 

 to Oxfordshire and Hampshire Downs. They now form a 

 principal feature at all the " Royal " meetings, and their 

 breeders seem less afraid of the show-ring than those of any 

 other class of sheep. As an example of this I will take 

 Windsor, when there were of 



Leicesters 41 entries. 



Border Leicesters ... ... ... 31 ,, 



Cotswolds ... ... ... ... 60 



Lincolns ... ... ... ... 58 ,, 



Oxfordshires ... ... ... ... 82 



Shropshires ... ... ... ... 212 



Southdowns ... ... ... ... 123 



Hampshires ... ... ... ... 78 



As a rule the Shropshire breed heads the list in point of 

 numbers at the Shows of the R.A.S.E. The breed has found 

 enthusiastic supporters in and around its native county, and 

 its dominion extends over Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worces- 

 tershire, Herefordshire, and into North Gloucestershire, while 

 there are also flourishing flocks in Scotland and Ireland. It 

 appears to have had a mixed origin, and the fusion of the 

 various elements into the compact form of a modern Shrop- 

 shire sheep has been a work of much ability and time. They 

 were formerly spoken of as Shropshire Downs, but lately the 

 term Down has been dropped ; first, because Shropshire boasts 

 no "downs" in the sense in which the term is used in Wilt- 

 shire, Hampshire, and other chalk districts ; secondly, because 

 the breed is scarcely of Down character. 



