64 MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



breeder, some time ago told the writer that one of his imported 

 ewes had given triplets three years in succession. 



An English sheep breeder, a short time ago, reported that a 

 half-bred ewe bred to an Oxford ram dropped a lamb which at birth 

 weighed 21 pounds. 



The first Oxford Down sheep to appear at a Eoyal Show was 

 at the Windsor meeting of 1851. At Warwick, in 1859, this breed 



McKerrow & Sons' Type of Oxford Ram. 



totaled no less than 37 entries. In 1862, they were accorded, by 

 the Royal Society, distinct classes in the prize list, for which 

 there were 62 entries. In the same year the Smithfield Club 

 gave separate classes for the breed. For 12 years 1862-1873 

 this club offered a silver cup for the best pen of wethers in the 

 show, either Oxford Downs, Shropshires or crossbreds, and this 

 was won five times by the Oxford Downs, once by the Shropshires, 

 and six times by crossbred sheep of various descriptions. 



