392 



SHEEP 



Flock Book the author found 13,659, or 59.2 per cent, of single 

 birth ; 9053, or 39.2 per cent, registered as twins; and 315, or 1.3 

 per cent, as triplets, this record covering the years 1890 to 1899. 



The Shropshire as a grazing sheep ranks but fair. It is espe- 

 cially adapted to regions where the pastures are superior, but 

 it is not so well adapted to hilly land nor to sparse pasturage as 

 the Merino, Southdown, or Cheviot. It is distinctly suited to the 

 corn belt of America, where it is most abundant. It is also well 

 suited to the better Canadian pastures, and in New England 

 satisfactory results have been secured. 



The early maturing qualities of the Shropshire are pronounced, 

 ranking in the first class. Lambs at four months old will easily 

 weigh 40 pounds and at twelve months old weigh over 100 pounds. 



FIG. 179. The champion pen of Shropshire yearling ewes at the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society of England Show, 1897. Bred and exhibited by T. Bowen- 

 Jones, Shrewsbury, England. Photograph by the author 



Wallace gives 20 to 22 pounds per quarter the dead weight at 

 twelve months old. The early-maturing, easy-fattening character 

 of the breed or its cross or grade is what makes it so popular 

 among feeders. Further, for years dark-faced mutton has been 

 more popular in the market than the white-faced. 



The Shropshire as a wool producer ranks very well. The 

 average fleece of unwashed wool will probably not much exceed 

 eight pounds. Wallace places 7 or 8 pounds a good average 

 weight for the fleece of an ordinary ewe flock, while Professor 

 Thomas Shaw gives 9 to i o pounds for the ewes and 1 2 to 15 

 pounds for the rams as the average of a "good flock." The 

 staple of the Shropshire is rather compact, of better than medium 

 quality, and in good specimens is of superior fineness and crimp 

 and is about three and one half inches long, distinctly longer 



