SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP. 



SOUTH-DOWN SHEEP FORM AND QUALITIES. 



We shall endoavor to preseut to the patrons 

 of " The Fanners' Library and Monthly Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture," the true forms and proper- 

 ties of the various species of Domestic Animals 

 — not with an air of exaggeration as a fancy 

 sketch of the perfection to which they might be 

 brought, hut as a genuine picture of the best, 

 such as skill and care have actually made them, 

 in countries where they are supposed to have 

 attained their highest degree of improvement. — 

 The object is, that the farmer may have before 

 him a standard of attainable excellence, up to 

 which eveiy man of proper pride will endeavor 

 to bring his own ; for as little can be hoped for 

 fi'om a farmer -svithout pride, as li'om a soldier 

 without ambition, or a housewife without clean- 

 liness or diligence. 



The selection, for the first number, of portraits 

 of South-Do\%Ti Sheep, was not to indicate any 

 partiality for that over other breeds ; it was 

 rather a matter of chance. All other breeds, 

 which may be regarded as \vell adapted to the 

 peculiar circumstances of any considerable dis- 

 trict of our country, will, in turn, be in like 

 manner illustrated, and their properties impar- 

 tially described. 



The portraitures given in this number are 

 found in an English work of authority and 

 great research on ^Vool, Woolens and Sheep, 

 \\here they are given to represent tln-ee South- 

 Down Wethers of Mr. Grantham, exhibited at 

 the Show at the Smithticld Club hi 1835. 



In the work before us, it is stated that the 

 average dead v«-cight of the South-Down Weth- 

 er varies fi-ora 8 to 1 1 stones ; but Mr. Grantham 

 exhibited a pen of three in the Show of the 

 Smithfield Club, in 183-5, one of them weighing 

 20 stone 3 lbs., a second 20 stone 6 lbs., and a 

 tliird 21 stone. 



From the same work we take, as cliaracteris- 

 tic of this breed of Sheep, as follows: — 



" The next is the hill .sheep, adapted to more 

 elevated situations and shorter feed in the natu- 

 ral and permanent pastures ; able also to tra^•el 

 without detriment a considerable distance to the 

 fold and to the Downs. Tiiere can be no hcfJ- 

 tation in fixing onl.hc ^ou/h-Dow nasthc model 

 here. 



" The following is the substance of the de- 

 scription of this sheep by Mr. Ellman, wh.o, if 

 he may not be con.sidered like Mr. Bakewell 

 with regard to tlie Leicester, as founder of the 

 breed, yet contributed more than any other man 

 to its present iniprovemont and value. 



" The head small and hornless ; the face 

 speckled or grey, and neither too long nor too 

 (83) 



short. The lips thin, and the space between 

 the nose and eyes narrow. Tlie under iaw, or 

 chap, fine and thin ; tiie ears tolerably wide, 

 and well covered with wool, and the torchead 

 also, and the whole space betv/ecn the ears well 

 protected by it, as a defence from the fly. 



" The eye full and bright, but not prominent. 

 The orbits of the eye— the eye-cap, or bone- 

 not too projecting, tliat it may not tbnn a fatal 

 obstacle to lambing. 



"The neck of a medium length, thin towards 

 the liead, but cnlaiging towards the shoulders, 

 where it should be broad and high, and straight 

 in its whole course above and below. The 

 breast should be wide, deep, and projectin°- for- 

 wards between the fore legs, indicating a'good 

 constitution, and a disposition to thrive. Cor- 

 responding with this, the shoulders should be 

 ou a level with the back, and not too wide 

 above ; they should bow outwards from the top 

 to the breast, indicating a springing rib beneath, 

 and leaving room for it. 



'• The ribs coming out horizontally from tlie 

 spiiie,j8,nd cxtenduig far backward, and the last 

 nb {trojectiiig more than the others ; the back 

 flat from the .shoulders to tlie setting on of the 

 tail ; the loin broad and tiat, the rump long and 

 broad, and the tail set ou high and neariy' on a 

 hue with the spine. The hips wide, the space 

 between them and the last rib ou either side as 

 narrow as possible, and the ribs eeuerally pre- 

 senting a circular form like a baiTel. 



•■ The belly is straight as the baclc. 



•' The legs neither too long nor too short. The 

 fore legs straight from the breast to the foot ; not 

 bending inwards at tlie knee, and standing fur 

 apart both before and behind, the hocks having 

 a direction rather outward, and the twst, or the 

 meeting of the thighs behind, being particularly 

 full ; the bones fine, yet having no appearance 

 of weakness, and of a speckled or dark color. 



" The belly v.^ell defended with wool, comin" 

 down before and behind to the knee and to tlie 

 hock ; the wool short, close, curled, and line, and 

 free fiom spiry projecting fibres." 



Of Mr. ^Vebb g sheep, referred to by Mr. Ste- 

 venson, and of the very ram ho brought home 

 with liiin, and which, unfortunately, it seems he 

 has lost, -wo find the following notice by Mr. 

 Allen in the Agi-iculturist, vol. 1, page 104, 

 founded on personal knowledge and obsei-va- 

 tion : — 



"To give an ideaof the weight of Mr. Webb's 

 annuals, the buck selected for Mr. Eotch, though 

 only six montlis old, weighed 152 lbs. on the 

 scales; Bishop Mead's, eighteen months old, 

 248 Ib.s., and Mr. Steven.son's. ."auioage 2."i4 ibs.' 

 while a wether, exhibited at Cambridge oil 

 Chri.stmas-day, 1840, weighed, dre.ssed wnh the 

 head on, 200 lbs., aside fi-om yielding 28 lbs. of 

 rough tallow. The average weight of his weth- 

 ers, however, at eighteen to t\\-entj- montlis old 

 IS but about 30 to 3.5 lbs. per quarter. Tiie bucks 

 shear from 9 to 11 lbs., and the average sheai-ii 



