THE MUTTON BREEDS OF SHEEP 345 
409. Organizations and records. — The first English 
flock-book was published in 1886, by the Suffolk Down 
Sheep Society organized in that year. Some twenty vol- 
umes have been issued since. In America, the American 
Suffolk Flock Registry Association, organized in 1892, 
has issued the third volume of its flock-book. 
Dorset-Horn Sneep. Figs. 68, 69. 
By H. P. Miller 
410. The Dorset is an English breed that takes its name 
from the county in which it originated. It is a mutton 
breed, specially valuable for crossing to produce early 
lambs. It is characterized by gracefully curving horns 
in both male and female. 
411. History in England. — The Dorset is one of the 
oldest distinct breeds in England, no other race having 
been mingled with it originally, within the time of any 
records referring to it. It was first mentioned in 1707, 
when it was reported to have yeaned in December and 
againin June. The two counties of Dorset and Somerset 
seem to have been the home of two races, differing some- 
what, which became mingled in the present Dorset. The 
original stock of Dorsetshire was small, light in the 
shoulders, with white face and legs and a black nose. Both 
males and females bore horns. The stock of Somerset 
was larger, coarser, longer-wooled, with flesh-colored nose 
and better form. The Dorset seems never to have had a 
devotee with the genius of Bakewell or Ellman, and at 
one time came near losing its identity through admixture 
of the improved breeds of the day. Its ability to produce 
lambs earlier than any other breed seems to bave saved it. 
