British Breeds of Sheep 77 



ment. Mr. Arthur Young, in speaking of the South- 

 down sheep in 1788, admired their hardy constitu- 

 tion, their usefulness in manuring the land, and the 

 fine flavor of the mutton. In 1794, when continu- 

 ing those essays, which all the world has admired, 

 he speaks of the Southdown sheep as natives, which 

 for many years had existed on the Southdown slopes. 

 At the first show of the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of England, in 1839, there was a class for South- 

 downs, and at each show since then they have con- 

 tributed in a large degree to the merit of the sheep 

 exhibits." 



Improvement of the breed. — The original South- 

 downs were first described by Arthur Young in his 

 essays published in 1794 as being of hardy con- 

 stitution and noted especially for the fine quality 

 of mutton they produced. Another writer states 

 that before the era of improvement began, the South- 

 downs were of small size and far from possessing 

 good points ; being long and thin in the neck ; nar- 

 row in the forequarters ; high on the shoulders; 

 low behind, yet high on the loins ; sharp on the back ; 

 the ribs flat, drooping behind, and the tail set very 

 low ; good in the leg, though somewhat coarse in the 

 bone. 



Work of John Ellmann on the Southdowns. — 

 These were the sheep that John Ellmann of Glynde 

 began to improve about the year 1780. He gave 

 fifty years of skillful attention to their breeding, and 



