270 HAMPSHIRES. 



remarkably padded with an excellent quality of mutton. The fleece is 

 longer than that of the Southdown, and of a quality somewhat coarser ; 

 but as a rule, considering the greater size of the breed, the Hampshire 

 Downs do not shear so heavy a fleece ; an average clip for high-class 

 flocks might be placed at five to seven pounds. 



The prominent characteristic of the Hampshire breed lies in the 

 remarkable precocity of the lambs, which frequently increase from 15 

 or 16 pounds at birth to 140 or 150 pounds at seven or eight months ; 

 and their excellence in this respect has led to the use of Hampshire 

 rams in producing early lambs for city market. 



The Hampshire Down Breeders' Association of America John I. 

 Gordon, secretary, Mercer, Pa. has adopted the following Scale of 

 Points : 



Head size and shape, 5 ; ears and eyes, 2 ; color, 5 ; legs and feet, 3 15 



Neck shoulders and breast neck, 5 ; shoulders, 10 ; chest and breast, 15 .... 30 



Body back and loin, 15 ; ribs, 5 20 



Quarters length, 10 ; width, 10 ; twist, 5 25 



Wool forehead and cheeks, 2 ; belly, well covered, 3 ; quality, 5 10 



Perfection 100 



Secretary Gordon writes that "Vol. II. Flock Record will be 

 published in January, 1893, and will contain the pedigrees of something 

 over 1,200 animals." 



