CHAPTER LVI 



THE SUFFOLK DOWN 



The native home of Suffolk sheep was in southeastern Eng- 

 land, in the counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and Kent, on 

 the chalk hills and undulating clayey lands. 



The original stock of the Suffolk Down sheep was the old 

 Norfolk and Suffolk heath sheep. These had a long, slender 

 carcass, says Youatt, long legs, horns, and a black face. The 

 fore quarters were deficient, the shoulders low, and the 

 withers sharp. The hind quarters were fairly well developed. 

 The fleece was short and fine and weighed light. The breed was 

 hardy and prolific. These sheep were crossed with Southdown 

 and Hampshire rams, although English Suffolk Down breeders 

 assume the breed to have been maintained fairly pure since 

 1810. The Southdown blood bred off the horns, improved the 

 form, and gave a better carcass and earlier-maturing, easier- 

 fattened sheep than the Norfolk, while the Hampshire blood 

 gave size and weight. Mr. George Dobito of Ludgate, Suffolk, 

 was one of the most important improvers of the Suffolk Down 

 in the last century. The breed was first exhibited under this name 

 in 1859 at the show of the Suffolk Agricultural Association and 

 was not recognized by the Royal Agricultural Society until 1886. 



The introduction of the Suffolk Down sheep to America is 

 very recent. In 1888 Mr. M. B. Streeter of Brooklyn, New York, 

 made an importation of prize-winning stock, and the same year 

 Mr. B. D. Sewell of Frederickton, New Brunswick, imported 

 20 ewes. In 1892 the Iowa Suffolk Sheep Society imported 

 2 rams and 20 yearling ewes and placed them on the farm of 

 G. W. Franklin, the secretary of the society, at Atlantic, Iowa. 

 These three importations were from the flock of Joseph Smith 

 of Hasketon, Suffolk, England, and contained numerous valu- 

 able prize winners. 



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