DOMESTIC BREEDS OP SHEEP. 19 



Points. 



4. Fleece and skin 10 



Fleece of good length, elastic to the touch, medium fine and slightly 

 crimped, free from black fiber and hairiness. Ram's scrotum to be well 

 covered with wool. 



Rams should shear 8 to 15 pounds of wool and ewes 7 to 11. 



Skin to be a bright cherry or clear color and comparatively free from dark 

 spots. 

 Objections : 



Long, narrow head, with long ears and neck; long legs; black wool on head 

 to any noticeable extent; failure of wool to meet closely at the junction of 

 face-wool and on checks; white spots on face and legs; crooked spine; light 

 flanks, with long, weak pasterns; spotted skin; narrow chest, showing lack 

 of constitution. 

 Disqualification for registry: 



Such lack of type as to render it doubtful to a breeder what the breed is; 

 horns or stubs, not scurs. Heads quite bare of wool. 



THE HAMPSHIRE. 



The native home of the Hampshire sheep is in the county of the 

 same name, which is located ki south England, bordering upon the 

 English Channel. 



The breed was evolved about three-quarters of a century ago and 

 for a time was known as the West County Downs. They were first 

 exhibited at the Royal Show at Oxford in 1837 under this name. 

 They did not receive a class of their own until the show was held at 

 Salisbury in 1857. 



The Hampshire of to-day is the result of the amalgamation of two 

 native types, into which had been introduced the blood of one or 

 more improved breeds. These two types were known as the Wilt- 

 shire and the Berkshire Knots. 



The Wiltshire sheep were native of North Devon, Somersetshire, 

 Buckinghamshire, and Berkshire. They were the largest fine-wool 

 sheep of Britain. They were white-faced, horned, slow-maturing 

 sheep of rather inferior mutton qualities. They undoubtedly had 

 been in existence for centuries, for it is said that the old Roman woolen 

 mills at Winchester were supplied with wool from these sheep. They 

 were also known as a crooks," because of the peculiar shape of their 

 horns. 



The Berkshire Knots were also a horned type, very rugged and 

 hardy, but with black faces and legs. 



The two native types were crossed and recrossed with Southdowns. 

 Along with the improvements introduced, this decreased the size, 

 which was remedied by selecting the largest ewes and rams for breed- 

 ing purposes. Some Cotswold blood was also introduced by at least 

 one early breeder, Mr. John Twynham. 



By 1835 the native types had been largely covered up in a "modi- 

 fied type of Southdown," though they still retained some of the 

 characteristics of the older breeds, especially in size and quality of 



