A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



2j lb. up as high as 2 Ib. 7^ oz., which must have been thought extraordinary 

 in those days for an ordinary flock, as in 1793, when there was an average 

 clip per sheep of 2 lb. 5 oz., there is a remark, ' a wonderful average.' 



This flock-book gives details of the sheep kept, of the ewe flock, of the 

 dry flock (wethers and wether lambs), prices for shearing, added to which was 

 always a bottle of Geneva, lambs sent out to keep, &c., clip of wool, average, 

 and prices. The flock at shearing time often ran up to over 2,500, including 

 the lambs which were shorn, as in Ellman's case. The wool fetched from 

 \od. per lb. in 1774, the lowest price, to 2J. per lb. in 1792, noted as a 

 wonderful rise, and in 1796 to 2s. zd. The lambs clipped about J lb. of 

 wool, which was sold at 6d. The lambs put out to keep in this case cost 

 2s. yd. to 5-r. per head. It is interesting to note that John Dudeney, known 

 as ' the Sussex poet,' was shepherd to the owner of this flock. 



In the case of this farm, part of the land farmed was Tenantry Down. 

 Apparently several other owners with rights over the Down had small lots of 

 ewes in the flock, the flock, however, being managed by the largest owner. 



During the last hundred years a great improvement has taken place in 

 the Southdown sheep ; better farming has increased the size of the sheep with- 

 out affecting the quality of the wool, an increased demand for Southdown sheep 

 all over England, and also for export, has put the breeders on their mettle, 

 and much greater care is taken not only to produce lambs that will meet the 

 views of buyers to turn into mutton, but to supply with the raw material, in 

 the shape of ewes and rams, the large numbers of flockmasters, at the head of 

 which is His Majesty the King, with his well-known flock at Sandringham. 



There is, we think, no doubt that when the breed is taken off their 

 native hills they do to a certain extent lose some of their character, and it is 

 to Sussex that the breeder must return for purity of type. It is from the 

 South Downs that the best specimens are to be obtained. To give the names of 

 the Southdown breeders in Sussex would require more space than we have at 

 our command. They are to be found in the Southdown Flock Book, which has 

 been established some years. Amongst the oldest flocks in the county we 

 may mention that of Admiral the Hon. T. S. Brand, whose flock at Glynde 

 goes back to John Ellman's blood. A flock has been kept at Stanmer on the 

 Earl of Chichester's home farm for many years, and we may mention the old 

 flocks of Mr. R. R. Verrall at Palmer, and Mr. Allan Cooper at Norton. 

 In West Sussex, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon has at Goodwood a 

 very old flock, known wherever Southdowns are known. This flock, we 

 believe, goes back to the end of the eighteenth century. Mr. E. Hobgen of 

 Shripney, Bognor, with Mr. F. N. Hobgen of Appledram, and many other 

 names both in East and West Sussex, will occur to those who know the 

 county, and amongst those breeding rams should not be forgotten the name 

 of the Pagham Harbour Company. 



We may add that wool, like many other farm products, has found its 

 way to the auction sale room, and is now sold by auction at Chichester and 

 Lewes, the former open wool fairs at these towns having fallen through. 



The number of sheep kept on the Downs has of late years largely 

 diminished, as previously mentioned ; there has been a falling-off in Sussex 

 from forty years back of some 150,000 sheep, and this has largely taken 

 place on the Hill. The large towns on the sea-coast have extended, whilst 



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