284 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



of the skin in those parts where fat is most desired. This, then, 

 is to ascertain whether the receptacles for fat exist, and if they do, 

 the farmer may be pretty confident that they will become filled 

 when he proceeds to fatten the animal." 



Some of our best judges of sheep are found among our 

 common everyday shepherds, as is natural, when we consider that 

 they are handling and comparing the different individuals of the 

 flock more or less every day in the year. The change in type of 

 some of the breeds during the past few years is such that only 

 those continually handling would seem justified in judging them 

 in fairness to the exhibitors. 



Entirely too often are judges appointed to judge classes of 

 sheep of which they know very little or nothing. A Shropshire 

 should not be judged through an Oxford breeder's eyes. Why 

 such conditions prevail in this twentieth century is a little mys- 

 terious. 



TYPE. 



While type is not everything in a breed, it is the first thing 

 to be considered in passing upon a ring of purebred sheep. Let a 

 class of sheep be arranged so that only their heads are visible 

 to the judge and if he really is a judge he will tell at a glance where 

 the tail-enders are, for without type we have nothing. 



When we speak of type we mean primarily bred type in contra- 

 distinction to mutton type or general mutton conformation. For 

 instance, in regard to the Shropshire we want Shropshire type 

 or an animal that has distinct and unmistakable facial and other 

 characteristics that marks it as a representative animal of this 

 popular breed. While not unlike some of the Downs in the 

 novice's eye, this breed has distinct characteristics from the South- 

 down, Hampshire or Oxford, especially where first-class speci- 

 mens of the breed are concerned, and no one, with ordinary sheep 

 sense could possibly confound it with the less covered, larger-eared 

 and somewhat longer-faced, but no less meritorious, Hampshire or 

 Oxford. So far as mutton conformation or type is concerned, 

 there is little or no difference in the required makeup of the 

 body of any of the mutton breeds. In every breed is sought the 

 short, thick neck, long body, straight top and under line, broad, 

 smooth crops and loins, heavy twists, thick flanks, spring of rib, 

 and accompanying heart girth. 



ON FOOT AND ON BLOCK. 



It would seem that the judging of fat sheep on foot or on 

 the block is an entirely different proposition. Tabulated results 

 of the carcass and ring awards at a recent Smithfield show, show 

 that on the block five prizes out of twelve went to animals that 



