A HISTORY OF DORSET 



fallen to 418,945, but the next year saw a rise to 438,567. In 1893 occurred the drought which 

 was, however, not responsible for the figures of that year being down to 410,134, but in 1894 we 

 get its full effect, there being nearly 30,000 sheep less, the figures standing at 383,693. In 1899 

 there was a failure in the turnip crop and a cold and backward spring which inflicted great hardship 

 on the sheep. Its ill effects are particularly shown in 1 900 when the figures were 360,491, and it 

 is an important fact to notice, especially when remembering the fecundity of Dorset sheep, that in 

 the Returns for 1900 there were only 135,580 lambs as against 174,732 ewes. Compare this 

 with the figures for 1906, viz. 334,605, out of which 177,576 were under one year old, and it 

 needs little deduction to see in what sore straits the sheep were in 1900. 



Of the breeds in Dorset, for the purpose of this article only two, those directly connected 

 with the county, need be considered. These are the Dorset Horn and the Dorset Down sheep. 

 There are numerous flocks of Hampshire Downs in the county, as also one or two flocks of 

 Southdowns. 



Of the two breeds that of the Dorset Horn is numerically stronger within the county. The 

 Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association was established in 1891, and this society has affiliated to 

 it the American Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association and the Continental Dorset Club, both 

 with head quarters in America. The favour in which this breed is held extends not only to the 

 adjoining counties of Somerset and Devon but also as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, 

 and the United States. 



The history of the Dorset Horn sheep goes back to the earliest records. In the Observations 

 of Husbandry, published in 1757, Edward Lisle remarked on the fecundity of the Dorset Horn 

 sheep. William Ellis in his Shepherd's Guide, published in 1749, speaks of the Dorset variety 

 as ' being especially more careful of their young than any other.' In Professor D.ivid Lowe's work 

 on The Domestic Animals of the British Islands, coloured illustrations of Dorset Horn sheep were first 

 <Tiven. These were in the possession of Mr. Michael Miller of Plush, who owned the last pure 

 flock of original Dorset Horn sheep in the kingdom. They were characterized as a breed of sheep 

 which, from time immemorial, had been naturalized in the county of Dorset. They had white 

 legs and faces ; their wool was fine and it weighed about 4 lb. the fleece. Their limbs were some- 

 what long, but without coarseness ; their shoulders low, and loins deep and broad ; their lips and 

 nostrils black, though with a frequent tendency to assume a fleshy colour. They were a hardy 

 race of sheep, docile, suited to the practice of folding, and capable of subsisting on scanty pastures ; 

 their mutton was excellent. 



The property of Dorset Horn sheep which remarkably distinguishes them is the fecundity of 

 the females and their readiness to receive the male at an early season. They produce from 130 to 

 180 per cent, of lambs, and have been known, like the sheep of some warmer countries, to produce 

 twice in the year. They will receive the male as early as the months of April and May, so that 

 the lambs are born in September or October, and ready for the butcher by Christmas. Within the 

 last thirty years they have supplanted the Hampshire and Southdowns, especially in the neighbour- 

 hood of Dorchester and on those farms that are on the chalk and have good water meadows or 

 pastures. They have within the past few years, owing to the larger area of turnips grown, and the 

 use of cake and corn, together with careful selection, largely increased in size, proof, and weight of 

 wool. The improved breed now comes to maturity quite as early as the best Downs, and may be 

 described as straight and deep in the body, the ribs well arched, the loin broad, and the neck well 

 set on. They are full in the shoulders, without coarseness, and the hind limb well let down 

 towards the shank, forming a good leg of mutton with small bone. The general features are pleasing, 

 the head standing well up, the horns thin with a symmetrical curl, the eye quick and lively, the face 

 rather long and thin, and the lips and nose pink or Hesh-coloured. They are excellent nurses, good 

 folding sheep, and the mutton is well-flavoured ; although they have been so much improved they, 

 nevertheless, retain their hardiness and fecundity. 



The general management of the breed in Dorset is as follows : — about one to one-and-a-half 

 ewes are kept to the acre, according to the quality of the land and the amount of water-meadow 

 pasture. They require plenty of room, and are generally allowed to roam the pasture in the 

 day-time, being brought onto arable at night. The general lambing time for flock ewes is about 

 Christmas and up to the middle of January. The off-going ewes are sold in lamb in September 

 and October and lamb down in October and November. The flock ewes generally lamb down on 

 the grass ; they are then sent on to roots, the lambs being allowed to run forward. The lambs 

 remain with the ewes till some time in May, and then go on to sound grass till the fodder crops, 

 rye, vetches, or trifolium, are fit to feed. They remain on vetches till about the end of June. As 

 most of the lambs are fattened, they receive as much cake and corn as they will eat, to fatten them as 

 quickly as possible. The general allowance is about ^ to J lb. of cake or corn per day, with some 

 peas. In a good season, with such keep, they would be ready to turn out about the first week in 

 April. Lambs born in October and November receive good feeding and are generally ready for the 



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