MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 53 



wether and the first prize lamb in the carcass competition were got 

 by a Southdown ram. In 1905 the champion wether and wether 

 lambs were both Southdowns. In 1906 the champion wether and 

 wether lamb were both Southdowns; the first prize wether carcass 

 was a pure-bred Southdown ; the first prize wether lamb carcass was 

 from a pure-bred Southdown, and the champion carcass was a pure- 

 bred Southdown. Southdowns also won the grand champion sweep- 

 stakes for the best carload lot of not less than fifty lambs. 



This breed has made its home in Germany, France, Kussia, 

 Spain, Sweden, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Argentine 

 Republic, Mexico, Japan, Switzerland, Jamaica, Finland, British 

 Columbia, Australia, Tasmania, Chili, Peru, Norway, and Uru- 

 guay. It would seem that Southdowns, when taken from their 

 native heath and placed on rich lowlands, change considerably 

 and very rapidly both in regard to frame and fleece. A striking 

 proof of this is given by Coleman in his work on th,e sheep of Great 

 Britain. He says on this question : 



"We would refer the reader to the different types of sheep 

 which were shown by the late Mr. Ellman of Glynde, and Mr. 

 Jonas Webb or Lord Walsingham, for example, and which led the 

 nephew of the former to protest against the decision of his col- 

 leagues at one of the meetings of the Eoyal Agricultural Society, 

 on the ground that the sheep were not characteristic. But we can 

 see, in the conditions to which each was subjected, sufficient cause 

 for modification without the introduction of foreign blood. The 

 Sussex Down of old time, and to a certain extent at the present 

 day, is the manure carrier from the open downs to the arable 

 land; consequently, after running out all day, the sheep were 

 driven into a fold on the arable land, and there left for ten or 

 twelve hours without food. Small frames and great hardiness 

 were necessary for such a life. Contrast this with the culture as 

 carried out by the foremost lowland feeder lambs allowed every 

 advantage from birth, accustomed to pick at the best of artificial 

 food, receiving frequent changes of diet, 'having the supply at 

 hand and not to be sought for. Regular feeding insures increased 

 size." 



To Mr. Ellman is largely due the credit of giving us this 

 beautiful and useful breed of sheep a breed which evidently is 

 taking a firmer hold on the American sheep breeding public than 

 for some time past. Youatt credits Mr. Ellman with the follow- 

 ing interesting description of his favorite breed : 



"The head small and hornless ; the face speckled or gray, and 

 neither too long nor too short ; the lips thin, and the space between 

 the nose and the eyes narrow; the under jaw or chops fine and 

 thin; the ears tolerably wide and well covered with wool, and the 

 forehead also, and the whole space between the ears well protected 

 by it as a defense against the fly; the eye full and bright, but not 



