THE DORSET BREED. 125 



properties which it possesses in so eminent a degree. The 

 purest of the race are now to be found in a district round 

 Dorchester. 



The Dorset Breed extends to the rich and beautiful county 

 of Somerset, where it is now reared in greater numbers than 

 in Dorsetshire itself. It here exhibits, however, some differ- 

 ence of character. It is distinguished from the true Dorset 

 by the colour of the nose, which is of a fleshy or pink colour, 

 resembling that of the Merino. The Pink-nosed Somerset 

 is larger than the Black -nosed Dorset, and of lanker form. 

 The wool is somewhat longer, but nearly of the same fine- 

 ness. The wethers, when fattened, attain to greater weight, 

 and the lambs are larger. The Dorsets, however, are consi- 

 dered as exhibiting the characters proper to the females in 

 greater perfection. In the case of the Somersets, the usual 

 period of admitting the males to the females is about the 

 10th of May, so that the ewes may lamb in September or 

 early in October. 



In both of these counties, especially in Dorsetshire, the 

 Southdowns have been making continual progress, being 

 either substituted for the native races, or employed to cross 

 them. They are better suited than the Leicesters to mingle 

 with the Dorset race, producing well-formed animals, and in- 

 creasing the value of the fleece. 



The numerous varieties of the same group which inhabited 

 the older commons are now nearly extinct, although traces 

 of the characteristic form may still be observed in certain 

 places. One variety, however, is still to be found in a state 

 of purity. It inhabits the Isle of Portland, where it has been 

 kept unmixed for an unknown period. These little Sheep 

 have horns in the male and female. They are gentle, and of 

 good form. They have a tinge of dun on the face and legs. 

 Their wool, like that of the Dorsets, is of medium fineness, 

 weighing about two pounds the fleece. They are washed, 

 before being shorn, in the salt pools left on the shores by the 

 returning tide. Their mutton is exceedingly delicate, and 



