

THE SOUTHDOWN 383 



yearling ewes, 134^ pounds each; March lambs, ioi pounds 

 each. The heaviest yearling weighed 161 pounds and the 

 heaviest lamb no pounds. These weights however are much 

 above the usual. 



The Southdown for mutton, since its early improvement, has 

 held premier place in the best markets. There is no excessive 

 fat on the average fed carcass, the flesh is of the finest flavor 

 and grain, the offal is comparatively small, and the bone is fine. 



The Southdown as a feeder is superior, maturing rapidly and 

 making a large gain for food consumed. In feeding experiments 

 at the Iowa experiment station Southdown wether lambs in one 



FIG. 172. A pen of three Southdown ewe lambs, first prize in class at the 

 Royal Agricultural Society of England Show, 1901. Bred and exhibited 

 by C. Adeane, Babraham, Cambridge, England. Photograph from F. N. 

 Webb, Agent, Cambridge 



trial gained a daily average of .45 pound, and in a second .35 

 pound, it requiring 738 pounds dry matter for 100 pounds gain 

 in the first trial and 989 pounds in the second. In percentage of 

 dressed carcass the lambs in the first trial dressed 5 5 .4 per cent, 

 and in the second 5 5. 26 per cent, averaging higher than any 

 other of 10 breeds, while the carcass also brought in each trial 

 the highest price per 100 pounds. At the Ontario Agricultural 

 College the average weight of the best fat shorn Southdown 

 grade wethers at 445 days was 185 pounds, the mean weight of 

 all the Southdown wethers 167 pounds, while the daily gain per 

 head was .33 pound. Wallace reports that fat wethers rising 

 two years old, belonging to the Earl of Bathurst and sold in 



