74 MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



quently is a pure-blooded sheep in the strictest sense of the word. 

 This breed of sheep seems to be holding its ground better than some 

 breeds of sheep on their native heath. A recent annual report of 

 the English Dorset-Horn Sheep Breeders' Association shows a 

 total membership of 176 members, and the total number of sheep 

 entered in Vol. 15 as 65,790, divided as follows : 45,203 breeding 

 ewes, 19,649 ewe hoggs (yearling ewes), and 839 rams, a total 

 increase of 1,148. The number of new flocks registered during 

 the year was thirteen. 



Mr. Claridge, in his report on Dorsetshire to the British 

 Board of Agriculture in 1793, said : "The original breed of Dorset 

 sheep is very scarce to be met with, as most of the farmers have 

 crossed their flocks with either Hants, Wilts, or Somerset sheep, 

 which certainly improved them in size." 



Mr. Parkinson, an ardent admirer of the Dorset, writing in 

 the early part of the last century, said this of the Dorset : "I look 

 upon the Dorset ewe as the best horned ewe in the kingdom, those 

 of Somerset excepted, and they are so near alike that few people, 

 unless the natives of the two counties, know the difference. The 

 best of the Dorset ewes are more correct in their shape than many 

 of the improved breeds of sheep. Mr. Bridge says: 'They have 

 been much improved of late years; they used to be long-legged, 

 which is by no means the case at present.' He further describes 

 them as being 'straight in carcass, deep in body, with rump much 

 larger than in most sheep, the horns thin and rather bending 

 backward, the eye quick and lively, the face thin, the mouth small, 

 the head standing up well, the 'neck very proper, the scrag neither 

 thin nor clumsy, the leg well let. down toward the shank, set full 

 on the shoulder, which gives flesh on the back and is .an indication 

 of flesh in every part.' He further adds : 'The ribs are not so 

 high or round in the upper part as in some improved sheep, which, 

 when as high promoted by Mr. Bakewell, proves a fault, and 

 diminishes the weight.' '' 



David Lowe, writing in 1841, describes them as "a hardy race 

 of sheep, docile, suited to the practice of folding, and capable of 

 subsisting on scanty pastures; their mutton being excellent." 



That great authority Youatt gives .us the following description 

 of this famous race of early lamb raisers : "Most of them, at least 

 of the pure breed, are entirely white ; the face is long and broad, and 

 there is a tuft of wool on the forehead ; the shoulders are low but 

 broad, the back straight, the chest deep, the loins broad, the legs 

 rather beyond a moderate length, and the bone small. They are, 

 as their form would indicate, a hardy and useful breed; they are 

 good folding sheep, and the mutton is well flavored ; they average, 

 when three years old, from 16 pounds to 20 pounds a quarter." 



Spooner, in his work on sheep, remarks: "They take the ram 

 as early as May and June, and their lambs are usually dropped in 



