Kent and Hampshire counties, England, and are covered with short, 

 fine grass, and largely underlaid with chalk are called Downs. Hence 

 the designation, "Down breeds," for the dark faced breeds of sheep 

 that have reached high excellence for mutton purposes in those regions. 

 Thirty-nine distinct breeds of sheep are recognized by the Royal Show, 

 the leading live stock exhibition of England, but only five are gen- 

 erally bred and popular in Idaho. These are the Shropshire, Hamp- 

 shire and Oxford, medium wooled or Downs and the Cotswold and 

 Lincoln belonging to the long wool type. Other breeds found in many 

 parts of the West, but not generally popular in Idaho are the South- 

 down and Dorset Horn. 



The medium wooled breeds are low-set, deep, thick, com- 

 pact sheep, with broad heads, short faces, short necks, deep 

 shoulders, wide sprung ribs, thick loins, full rumps, full legs and deep 

 twists. The vigorous thick meated sheep with little evidence of 

 roughness and waste, adapted to yielding the highest percentage of 

 high priced cuts is the one sought for in the mutton breeds both for 

 the market and for the show ring. Wool is important, but a secondary 

 consideration to meat. 



THE SHROPSHIRE 



The Shropshire comes from the Midland counties of England, and 

 is descended from an old very hardy type known as the Morfe Com- 

 mon. The breed is widely distributed over the world and does well 

 under such variety of conditions as to have been designated as the 

 "cosmopolitan breed." Next to the Southdown the Shropshire nearest 

 meets the ideals of the mutton type. Sheep of this breed are medium 

 in size, the rams averaging 225 and the ewes 150 to 160 Ibs. The body 

 is generally and should be long and deep and squarely set on short 

 legs. The head is wide, the ears small, and the face refined in the ewes. 

 The neck is short, blending smoothly into the shoulders. The back 

 and loins are wide and well covered and the leg of mutton thick and 

 plump. Well-bred specimens are wooled to the toes and tip of the nose, 

 and the fleece is compact and of considerable length averaging the best 

 combination of quality and quantity of any of the strictly mutton 

 breeds. Rams shear 12 to 15 pounds and the ewes 8 to 12 pounds. 

 The face and legs are brown and the fleece clear white. Well covered 

 faces and legs are preferred, because they are usually associated with 

 heavy fleeces of fine texture. 



The Shropshire has a wide reputation as a farmer's sheep. This 

 is due to {he excellent combination of mutton form, fleece and pro- 

 lificacy, the ewes averaging at least one and one-half lambs, and to 

 early maturity. Gains are not so great as with some breeds, but both 

 frame and flesh grow together bringing the lambs to marketable size 

 and condition at an early age. The farmer can hardly go wrong in 

 selecting Shropshire sheep. 



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