5/0 SHEEP 



As the remark has been made by a practical man that the Oxfordshire and 

 Shropshire sheep are so alike that when classed together at earlier meetings 

 of the Royal, "many considered them one kind of sheep," I will point out the 

 characteristic difference which close inspection will reveal. The Oxfordshire 

 head is longer, and the profile is bolder and slightly more Roman and fine ; 

 the Oxfordshire ear is long and thin, whereas the Shropshire has a shorter 

 and rounder ear. The Oxford carries himself a little more gaily and sprightly, 

 and his wool is rather longer and looser than the Shropshire. The wool on the 

 head of the Oxford is longer, and more of the flowing nature of a fore lock. 

 That of the Shropshire sheep is closer, fitting like a continuous cap or helmet. 



The size of the Oxford Down places it in the first rank. Rams 

 have been shown that weighed above 400 pounds, and 275 pounds 

 for the mature male is a weight easily attained. Mature ewes 

 should weigh close to 200 pounds or more. In a statement in 

 the Breeders' Gazette in 1889, on Oxford weights, Mr. George 

 McKerrow, a prominent breeder, gave the following figures : 

 2 rams two years old averaged 303! pounds each ; 4 yearling 

 rams averaged 203 pounds each ; 4 aged ewes averaged 2 1 5 

 pounds each; 5 yearling ewes 177 pounds each; and 8 March 

 and April lambs, about September I , averaged 1 1 8 pounds each. 

 These were not fat sheep. In the American Sheep Breeder an 

 Ohio man writes that in September, 1890, his ewes from one to 

 five years old averaged 193 pounds and his rams 325 pounds. 

 The standard of excellence places the weights of mature rams at 

 250 to 350 pounds and ewes at 180 to 275 pounds. Coffey places 

 the weights at 275 to 300 pounds for rams in breeding condition 

 and ewes at 200 pounds or more. 



The Oxford Down as a feeder ranks deservedly high. Iteing 

 quiet of temperament and of considerable size, the breed easily 

 thrives under conditions of restraint and fattens rapidly to large 

 size. In the Iowa fattening wether-lamb test the Oxfords in one 

 trial gained a daily average of .52 pound and in a second trial 

 .40 pound, requiring in the first trial 740 and in the second 

 1031 pounds of dry matter for each 100 pounds of gain. The 

 Oxford carcasses did not dress out as well as most of the other 

 breeds, those in the first trial rating 55.2 per cent and in the 

 second 50.08, and bringing $4.50 per hundredweight live weight 

 in the first trial and $5.40 in the second. The Iowa records 

 give the Oxford about an average rating in feeding results. In 



