DOMESTIC BEEEDS OF SHEEP. 25 



There are very few Dorset flocks west of the Mississippi. Dorset 

 wethers lack the finish characteristic of the lambs. Their fleece is 

 not as heavy as is desirable. The lack of higher development in these 

 two respects will probably prevent their ever becoming popular upon 

 the range. 



The Dorset Horn is a medium-sized, somewhat rangy, white-faced 

 breed, both sexes being horned, as the name would indicate. There 

 is considerable variation in the size of American Dorsets, but rams 

 in breeding condition should weigh from 200 to 225 pounds; ewes 

 from 150 to 175 pounds. Their fleeces lack somewhat in weight, but 

 are of excellent quality. The fiber is very white, and discolorations 

 are practically unknown. Ewes produce from 6 to 7 pounds and 

 rams from 8 to 10 pounds of wool. Twenty-five samples of Dorset 

 fleece were graded upon the Philadelphia market, for the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, 15 of which were three-eighths 

 blood combing and the other 10 quarter blood combing wools. 



The Dorsets are probably the most fertile of all the mutton breeds 

 of sheep, ewes frequently producing twins and triplets, and occasion- 

 ally quadruplets. American breeders report from 140 to 175 per cent 

 lamb crop. The ewes will breed either in the spring or fall, and it is 

 claimed that they will produce two crops of lambs per year, but it is 

 unlikely that this can be successfully accomplished, as most American 

 breeders of prominence condemn the practice as being injurious to 

 the ewes. The ewes are excellent mothers and usually have ample 

 milk for their lambs, whether they be singles, twins, or triplets. In 

 the United States a large percentage of the ewes lamb in the fall, 

 many breeders having the entire crop dropped at this time. In their 

 native shire the ewes were formerly used for dairy purposes. 



The breed matures early, the lambs growing rapidly and exhibiting 

 a bloom that they often do not retain during the wether stage. 



Dorset ewes are very highly regarded for the production of "hot- 

 house" lambs, and the grades are considered even better for this 

 purpose than the purebreds. The East, with its large cities and con- 

 sequent favorable market facilities, is especially adapted to the 

 production of this product, which explains the distribution of the 

 breed in this section. 



The light shearing qualities and the fact that the Dorset is a hard 

 feeder are the main objections to this breed. Dorset lambs are as a 

 rule excellently fleshed, but the criticism has been made that the 

 wethers are deficient upon the shoulders and back. The breed is 

 also criticized for being deficient in heart girth. This is especially 

 true of the rams. 



The Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association of England was 

 founded in 1891. The American Dorset Horn Breeders' Association 

 was founded the same year, but has been inactive of late years. The 

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