72 SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



It is difficult to imagine that the massive carcases, carrying 

 a "leg at every corner," and covering so much ground, were 

 derived in the first place from a diminutive breed described in 

 1792 as the Morfe Common sheep. These sheep were then 

 considered to be a native race, black or brown or spotted 

 faced, and carrying horns, the wethers weighing from n Ibs. to 

 14 Ibs. per quarter, and the ewes 9 Ibs. to 1 1 Ibs. after being fed 

 with clover and turnips. The fl eeces weighed 2 Ibs. This appears 

 to have been the parent form, and the work of improvement 

 consisted in crossing with the Leicesters, Cotswolds, and the 

 Southdown. These various crosses produced in the first 

 instance a somewhat uncertain type, but as early as 1853 we 

 find them commended in the following language in the report 

 of the Gloucester meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society : 

 " The new class of Shropshire Downs was very successful, 

 and it is to be hoped that the Society will recognise them as a 

 distinct breed." They were at that time described as without 

 horns, "with faces and legs of a grey or spotted colour; the 

 neck thick, with excellent scrag ; the head well shaped, rather 

 small than large, with ears well set on ; breast broad and 

 deep ; back straight, with good carcase ; hind-quarters hardly 

 so wide as the Southdown, and the legs clean with strong 

 bone. They are very hardy, thrive well on moderate keep, 

 and are readily prepared for market, tegs weighing on an 

 average 80 Ibs. to 100 Ibs. each. The fleece is longer and more 

 glossy than the other Shortwools, and weighs on an average 

 7 Ibs." Thus the Shropshire sheep, as contrasted with the 

 maternal ancestor which grazed upon the Longmynd Hills, 

 had during sixty years doubled its carcase weight, and in- 

 creased the weight of its fleece threefold! Writing in 1858, 

 Professor Tanner says : " Only a few years since any mention 

 of the Shropshire Down sheep raised an enquiry, even among 

 intellectual agriculturists, as to their character, and few, com- 

 paratively speaking, knew anything of them." The Stafford- 

 shire breeders, forty or fifty years ago, traced the descent of 

 their Shropshires from the native Cannock Chase breed a 

 dark faced, long legged, slowly maturing sheep. 



