CHAPTER L 



THE OXFORD DOWN 



The native home of the Oxford Down sheep is in the county 

 of Oxford in south-central England, the southern boundary of 

 which is some sixty miles from the sea. Oxford contains about 

 750 square miles, and the city of Oxford, the county seat, where 

 the famous Oxford University is located, has a population of ap- 

 proximately 200,000. It is a fine agricultural county, with much 

 fertile soil, where cereals, roots, and grasses especially thrive, and 

 sheep do well. 



The origin of the Oxford Down sheep is comparatively recent. 

 About 1833 Mr. Samuel Druce of Eynsham, Messrs. William 

 Gillett of Southleigh and Blake of Stanton Harcourt, all in 

 Oxfordshire, and Mr. Twynham in Hampshire began to develop 

 a new breed, though Mr. Druce was the leader in the movement. 

 In 1859 Mr. Druce wrote to Mr. Pusey 1 : 



The foundation of this class of sheep was begun about the year 1833, by 

 using a well-made and neat Cots'wold ram with Hampshire Down ewes. At 

 the same period several breeders of sheep in this neighborhood also tried the 

 experiment; consequently there has always been an opportunity of getting 

 fresh blood by selecting sheep which suited different flocks and thereby main- 

 taining the uniform character which is now established. 



Although Twynham may perhaps have a claim to priority in 

 crossing the Hampshire Down ewe with the Cotswold ram, writes 

 Spooner, 2 yet from various causes, probably because the Hampshire 

 hills were scarcely adapted for such large sheep, they failed to 

 establish themselves in this locality. Druce and Gillett also used 

 Southdowns to some extent in the early days of their crossbreeding. 

 In establishing this cross Mr. Druce wrote in 1853 that he found 

 no difficulty in keeping the form and size of the animal as it should 

 be, and the wool of a valuable quality and not deficient in quantity. 



1 Journal of Royal Agricultural Society of England, Vol. XX, p. 309. 



2 Ibid. p. 309. 



566 



