SECRETARY'S REPORT. 113 



rapidly coming into notice and repute in England, they arc 

 essentially cross-bred, and made up from hardy mountain breeds 

 through which they inherit an excellent constitution. 



These Salop sheep were bred from the " Clun Forest," a short- 

 legged, square-framed symmetrical sheep with dark-brown face 

 and legs, and the Ryeland, a larger animal with white face and 

 finer wool ; these having been bred together, were again crossed 

 with the Sussex, Hampshire, and South Dowlis, making the 

 present breed of Shropshire, a large, symmetrical animal, bearing 

 no resemblance to the original Shrop or Salop, except in the 

 dark color of the face and legs. The Shropshire possess hardi- 

 ness of constitution, an excellent quality of mutton, and are 

 prolific breeders and good nurses ; they have good shape and 

 symmetry, well-formed, good dark-brown heads, deep chests, 

 famous legs of mutton, with a good dock set high on a straight, 

 long spine ; the wool is of thick pile, and good length of staple, 

 weighing from 5^ to 7 pounds per fleece. Wethers dress from 

 25 to 30 pounds per quarter. In a letter to the chairman of 

 this Committee, Mr. Henry Smith, Jr., of Shiffnal, a celebrated 

 breeder of Shrops, says : " for early maturity and weight of 

 carcase and wool, with the least amount of food, I believe they 

 are not to be surpassed by any breed, especially if their non- 

 liability to disease, and fecundity, be duly taken into consider- 

 ation." 



OXFORD DOWNS. 



Resembling these though perhaps in some points superior to 

 them, are the Oxford Downs, formerly called the " Cotswold 

 Downs ;" but in 1857 a convention of the breeders of these 

 sheep, holden at Oxford, decided upon giving them the name 

 they now bear. 



These too are cross-bred sheep, the cross having been com- 

 menced in 1833 by putting a Cotswold ram with Hampshire 

 or sometimes South Down ewes, the Hampshire Downs being 

 themselves cross-bred. By putting these crosses together, and 

 by constant attention and breeding, a most successful result has 

 been accomplished, producing a kind of sheep that possesses 

 with uniformity of character, and hardiness of constitution, 

 large frames, good fleeces, aptitude to fatten, and mutton of a 

 superior quality. The people of this Commonwealth are 



