568 SHEEP 



have been shown at the various meetings, but their career has 

 been most noticed in the yard of the Smithfield Club Show, 

 where Oxford Down fat wethers " again and again astonished the 

 public." Oxford Downs were first given a class at the Royal Show 

 in 1862 at Battersea, and from this time on, for some years, the 

 lack of uniformity in breed character and type caused consider- 

 able unfavorable comment by the judges, which resulted in marked 

 improvements into a more fixed type. 



The introduction of Oxford Down sheep to America first occurred 

 in 1846; when " New Oxford or Cotswold crossbred sheep " were 

 imported to the United States by Clayton Reybold of Delaware. 

 In 1853 W. C. Rives, then in England, sent to his home in 

 Virginia I ram and 5 ewes. In September, 1853, R. S. Fay of 

 Lynn, Massachusetts, imported a ram and 10 ewes. The Ohio 

 Cultivator of August 15, 1853, reports that Messrs. Baldwin 

 and Boardman of Columbiana County, Ohio, sold Oxfordshire 

 bucks and Southdown bucks 20 head for $800. Late in 1853 

 J. T. Andrew of West Cornwall, Connecticut, established a flock 

 which became famous, as did also that of Mr. Fay. Lawrence Smith 

 of Middlefield, Massachusetts, must have established a flock about 

 this time, or even before, for in 1860 Charles L. Flint states 1 that 

 Mr. Smith " has bred them for over eight years." Smith has also 

 been credited with buying 27 head in 1857 from J. T. Andrew, 

 who also sold a flock to C. L. Whiting of Granville, Ohio. This 

 breed seems to have attracted considerable attention, and even as 

 early as 1859 a flock was owned in Texas by Colonel C. G. Forshay, 

 who had purchased from J. T. Andrew. The Civil War caused a 

 break in Oxford Down interests, and not until years afterward did 

 this breed again come into prominence. Along in the nineties 

 importations again became active, and for many years considerable 

 numbers of Oxfords were brought to America, W. A. Shafor of 

 Ohio, R. J. Stone of Illinois, George McKerrow of Wisconsin, 

 and Robert Miller of Ontario, Canada, being prominent in this 

 work. In recent years Oxfords have not been brought to the 

 United States in important numbers. 



Characteristics of Oxford Down sheep. This breed, at a super- 

 ficial glance, closely resembles the Shropshire. It is hornless, has 



1 Eighth Annual Report Secretary Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture. 



