SHROPSHIRE SHEEP 209 



white-faced ewes to produce early and rapidly-maturing 

 lambs, and they have a marked prepotency and stamp 

 their characteristics upon their offspring. Our host 

 catered for the very highest class of trade in pedigree 

 stock, his flock having a continuous history of success 

 in the show ring since the breed was established, and 

 certainly both the ram lambs for sale and the ewes of 

 the flock itself were very impressive animals. Of 

 course, they were grown on in a way the ordinary 

 farmer does not attempt, and at first sight might be 

 objected to as very artificial products ; but the breeder 

 who has to keep himself before his special public must 

 not only win a position in the show-ring but must 

 maintain his flock almost in show condition. The 

 flock-owner engaged in grading up the quality of a 

 country flock wants animals with a long and carefully 

 selected pedigree, because they alone transmit their 

 excellences and impress themselves upon a commoner 

 run of sheep, but when buying he is apt to be more 

 taken by the present performance of a shearling ram 

 his size and symmetry than by any cold record of his 

 pedigree. Seeing these Shropshires in quick succession 

 after Oxfords and Hampshires, one could not help 

 feeling that up at the top all the great breeds of the 

 various Down races have arrived at much the same 

 result. Size varies somewhat, so does face colour and 

 general aspect, but all the breeds agree in the essentials 

 the closest possible fleece, a symmetrical frame with 

 the weight put on the best joints, and a power to grow 

 and mature rapidly on arable land. The differentia, 

 however passionately insisted upon, are becoming 

 fancier's points, and the danger is that the restricted 

 breeding which results from the multiplicity of pure 

 breeds may lead to loss of constitution and of 

 adaptability to varied conditions. 



