THE MUTTON BREEDS OF SHEEP 38381 
pecially in Kentucky and Tennessee, they were for many 
years the prevailing breed, and are still popular. 
378. Description. — It is the smallest of the Down 
breeds that are prominent in America at this time, but it 
is the model in form toward 
which all other breeds are 
tending. Its compact form 
and short fleece, however, 
give it a weight greater than 
its appearance suggests. 
Mature ewes weigh up to 150 
pounds, and rams up to 200, 
although average weights are 
somewhat less (Figs. 65, 66). 
In 1788, Arthur Young 
wrote: “The true South- 
down, when very well bred, 
has no horns, a long speckled 
face, clean and thin jaw, a 
long, but not a thin neck, no tuft of wool on the fore- 
head, which they call owl-headed, nor any fringe of wool 
on the cheeks, thick in the 
shoulder, openbreasted, and 
deep; both fore- and hind- 
legs stand wide; round and 
straight in barrel; wide on 
the loin and hips; shut well 
in the twist, which is a pro- 
\ jection of flesh on the inner 
ae Gace i pe part of the thigh that gives 
a fullness when viewed be- 
hind, and makes a Southdown leg of mutton remarkably 
round and short, more so than other breeds; thin speckled 
Fia. 65.— Southdown ram. 
