4 06 SHEEP 



as the early lamb buyer has long preferred the dark face, the 

 Hampshire especially supplies this demand. 



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 rams are sold into Lincolnshire, where they are 

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

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

 shire 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 blood. 



The Hampshire Down as a wool producer does not rank high. 

 The fleece is of medium length but lacks either Southdown or 

 Shropshire quality, and for the size of sheep shears rather light, 

 yielding about seven pounds of unwashed wool per head for 

 the flock. 



The Hampshire as a grazer has recognized merit in England, 

 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 Farm of 

 six hundred acres at Downton, with a favorable lambing season, 

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

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



The fecundity of the Hampshire, while not of the highest, is 

 distinctly superior. In 1903 the English association kept a 

 lambing record of 37 flocks comprising 15,482 ewes. These 

 reared 18,462 lambs, or 119.17 per cent, while only 2.21 per 

 cent of the lambs dropped were lost. In a similar record for 

 1902 the percentage raised was 116.82. This speaks well for 

 the fecundity and maternal character of Hampshire ewes. 



The distribution of the Hampshire is widespread. In 1903, 

 for example, exports were made from England to the United 

 States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Australia, 



