396 



SHEEP 



putting a half-bred ram to the ewes that were about right — a 

 Cotswold to the small ones and a Down to the coarser sheep." 

 In 1862 the then fairly well established type was given a special 

 place at the Royal Agricultural Society Show at Battersea, under 

 the name of Oxfordshire Down. 



The introduction of the Oxford Down to America began over 

 a half century ago. In 1846 "New Oxford or Cotswold cross- 

 bred sheep " were first imported to the United States by Clayton 



Reybold of Delaware. In 

 1853 W. C. Rives, then 

 in England, sent to his 

 home in Virginia one ram 

 and five ewes. In Sep- 

 tember, 1853, R. S. Fay 

 of Lynn, Massachusetts, 

 imported a small flock. 

 Soon after J. T. Andrew 

 of West Cornwall, Con- 

 necticut, established a 

 flock which became very 

 famous. In 1857 Andrew 

 sold the Messrs. Smith of 

 Middlefield, Massachu- 

 setts, 27 head, and in Sep- 

 tember the same year sold 

 a flock to C. L. Whiting of 

 Granville, Ohio, the first 

 Oxfords to enter that state. This breed seems to have attracted 

 considerable attention, and even as early as 1859 a flock was owned 

 in Texas by Colonel C. G. Forshay, who had purchased from 

 J. T. Andrew. The Civil War caused a break in Oxford Down 

 interests, and not until years afterward did this breed again come 

 into prominence. Fifteen to twenty years ago W. A. Shafor of 

 Ohio, R. J. Stone of Illinois, George McKerrow of Wisconsin, 

 and Robert Miller of Ontario, Canada, imported many superior 

 Oxfords, including prize winners at the leading English shows. 



Characteristics of Oxford Down Sheep. This breed, at a super- 

 ficial glance, closely resembles the Shropshire. It is hornless, has 



Fig. 181. Bryan's No. 9, 31747, giand-champion 

 Oxford ram at the Louisiana Purchase Expo- 

 sition, 1904. Owned and exhibited by R. J. 

 Stone of Illinois. Photograph by the author 



