72 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



held an annual sale of the Watercombe sheep extending back to 

 over thirty years, which attracted buyers from all over the country. 

 The author is indebted to Mrs. William Hooper, Newburch 

 Farm, Dorsetshire, Eng., for the following interesting letter in reply 

 to an inquiry regarding this new, and what promises to be, famous 

 breed of sheep. His thanks are also due to this lady for the fine 

 illustration of Dorset Down ewes and lambs used in connection with 

 this sketch of the breed. Mrs. Hooper's letter reads as follows : "In 

 reply to your letter I am enclosing pictures of six-months'-old ram 

 lambs and 100 of our off-going ewes which made three shillings 

 ahead of any others at Dorchester Fair last year. The photos were 

 only taken by an amateur, the sheep and lambs being untrimmed 

 at the time. The flock is an old established one. The Dorset 

 Down breed has many exceptionally good points, being especially 

 adapted for thick stocking and noted for its fecundity. The 

 sheep are of a very resourceful character, being capable of produc- 

 ing either sucking lamb at ten weeks' old of the primest quality or 

 at eight months old a well-finished carcass of the very best quality 

 mutton. They also possess a hardy and robust constitution and 

 are very adaptable, being equally at home in open grazing or be- 

 tween the hurdles. With regard to their history, the origin of the 

 Dorset Down breed can be traced to about, eighty years ago, when 

 Mr. Saunders of Watercombe achieved remarkable showyard fame 

 in the short-wooled classes of their day and did so much to im- 

 prove the Down sheep then bred in this country. At the present 

 time they are closely related and possess the principal features of 

 the Hampshire Down, but are of finer bone and lighter color and 

 are supposed to supply the present want of smaller joints and 

 primer mutton. Our flock is directly descended from the late 

 Mr. Saunders' flock." 



THE DORSET-HORN. 



The Dorset-Horn is one of the oldest of the English mutton 

 breeds. As its name implies, it originated in Dorsetshire a very 

 long time ago, some writers claiming two thousand years. Although 

 it originated in Dorsetshire, this breed is also found in large num- 

 bers in the adjoining county of Somersetshire, where it is highly 

 esteemed as an early lamb raiser and to it the Christmas and 

 Easter hothouse lamb markets owe much for the wonderful quality 

 of this choice article which it supplies. Although the two counties 

 mentioned contain more Dorsets than any other counties perhaps, 

 it is not to these counties alone that the Dorset is confined, as they 

 are bred in several other counties, in a greater or less number, 

 some very choice flocks having been found in the Isle of Wight, 

 and what might be called out-of-the-way places. The Dorset 



