582 SHEEP 



head, being equaled by no other Down breed but the Suffolk, 

 which is credited with .70 pound. The lambs do not finish off 

 for killing much before reaching 75 to 80 pounds live weight. 



The Hampshire Down for crossing or grading is valued by 

 lamb producers in particular. In England it is customary to draft 

 from the flock the old ewes and sell them at fairs, after which 

 Cotswold or light-faced rams are bred to them. The result of the 

 cross fatten rapidly and, if kept till yearlings, produce a large 

 amount of mutton and wool. It is said that large numbers of 

 Hampshire Down rams are sold into Lincolnshire, where they are 

 bred to old Lincoln ewes for producing fat lambs or wethers. The 

 Hampshire Down also crosses well on the Leicester. The Hamp- 

 shire Down ram used on grade Merinos or pure-breds produces 

 the dark face and superior mutton type of early lamb. This is 

 one of the most popular crosses in America for using Hampshire 

 Down blood. The demand for Hampshire Down rams on the 

 Western range has been strong for some years on account of the 

 value of the crossbred. A combination of pure-bred rams on grade 

 Delaine Merino or Rambouillet ewes results in a class of lambs 

 eagerly sought in the market, heavy weighers and profitable killers 

 under fair conditions. 



The Hampshire Down as a grazer has recognized merit in Eng- 

 land, where flocks are generally grazed in summer within hurdles, 

 a condition to which they are well suited. They graze together, 

 often in semicircles, and pasture closely. In Hampshire and 

 Wiltshire a large number of sheep are maintained upon the land. 

 Wrightson notes that his summer flock on the College Farjn of six 

 hundred acres at Downton, with a favorable lambing season, con- 

 sists of from 1250 to 1300 sheep and lambs, besides a dairy of 

 30 cows and young stock, a very superior showing. This method of 

 feeding has greatly increased the fertility of the lands where they 

 are kept. In America the pure-breds do best on the more fertile 

 lands of the corn belt, where feed is abundant ; or under conditions 

 in the Far West, where alfalfa and grain, rather than the open 

 range, is made use of. The Hampshire Down cannot be regarded 

 as a class of sheep equally qualified with the Merino or Cheviot 

 to rustle for its food. A large, heavy type of sheep of this sort is 

 naturally better adapted to arable lands than to less fertile areas. 



