CHAPTER XII 

 THE HAMPSHIRE 



History. The Old Stock. The Hampshire breed originated 

 on the rolling, chalky, light land of south central England in the 

 county of Hampshire, the southern border of which touches the 

 English Channel. Early in the nineteenth century the Southdown, 

 as improved by Ellman, was extensively used by the farmers in the 

 general region of Hampshire for crossing on the old Wiltshire and 

 Berkshire Knot breeds. The old Wiltshires have been described as 

 white-faced, large, imposing looking animals with long legs, high 

 withers, sharp spines, big heads, Roman noses, and curling horns. 

 Their wool was moderately fine and the fleeces from ewe flocks 

 averaged from two to two and one-half pounds. Originally they 

 were kept primarily for their wool and dung. They were well 

 adapted to folding on the arable land and to travelling out several 

 miles each day for their feed on the closely cropped downs. Before 

 the introduction of Southdown blood, the Wilts farmers were in- 

 creasing the size and improving the conformation of the Wiltshire 

 to such extent that they were accused of breeding for beauty and 

 not for utility. With the exception of dark faces and legs, the 

 Berkshire Knots resembled the Wiltshires (Fig. 77). 



In many cases pure Southdowns replaced the native sheep of 

 both Wiltshire and Hampshire and crossing with Southdowns be- 

 came so general that the native types were merged into the old 

 Hampshire, which was a sort of modified Southdown but not suffi- 

 ciently uniform in type to deserve the distinction of being called a 

 breed. According to James Eawlence the last flock of the old 

 Wiltshire horned breed disappeared about 1819. Probably the 

 Southdown, with its superior quality and attractive character would 

 have entirely replaced the old breeds had it not been that Wiltshire 

 and Hampshire farmers awakened to the indispensable value of 

 the hardiness, early maturity, and large size which the flocks carry- 

 ing some of the blood of the old sheep possessed. The value of 

 these characteristics became apparent not long after the down lands 

 were enclosed, treated with artificial manures and planted to such 

 crops as turnips, rape, vetches, clover, rye, and Italian rye grass. 



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