436 Saddle and Sirloin. 



Bucks and Cheshire. Foreigners, and even Norwegians, 

 are fond of them, but in Scotland they have made no 

 head. The damp soil of Ireland suits them to a 

 nicety, and generally at the sales, if no one else will 

 give 61. for a ram, an Irishman is there to snap him. 

 Sometimes a breeder crosses the Channel, and runs a 

 cargo of rams. Australia and Canada occasionally 

 purchase ; but the flockmasters at the Antipodes con- 

 sider them a little too large for their purpose. Five- 

 and-twenty years ago 5/. was thought a great price 

 for a ram, and so was io/. within fifteen years ; but of 

 late they have taken quite a spurt, and no one has 

 done battle so hard and so successfully to give them 

 a position as Mr. Preece. At the Royal meetings 

 they have gradually crept ahead. In 1855 they had 

 special local classes at Colonel Clive's expense at 

 Glo'ster; in 1859, at that of the Warwick Committee; 

 and the following year they took up their ground at 

 Canterbury, and have ever since had separate classes. 

 Except it is an aged sheep, a Shropshire ram is safe 

 to sell, and the Midland men especially bear testimony 

 to their certainty as lamb getters. The Moores and 

 Williams are great middle-men, and buy them all 

 through the county. 



A Roman nose is not liked, and it seldom indicates 

 a nicely-covered sheep. Some of the breeders attri- 

 bute it to a cross with Hampshire, and others with 

 Cotswold. The true Shrop ewes should have pro- 

 minent hazel eyes, short faces rather hollow in the 

 forehead, with not too much whisker, but well covered 

 with short, soft wool, and " speaking " ears rather wide 

 apart. " The muffle is a great catch " with some 

 buyers ; but where it exists, the back is often not so 

 well covered, and narrow loins and a deficiency on the 

 top of the rump often accompany it. As in many 

 other breeds, transparent ears, light scrag, and delicate 

 head indicate fat on the back and along the sides. 

 Irish buyers like the faces dark, while the home 



