British Breeds of Sheep 97 



as a useful breeding sheep. They are neither large 

 nor small, for in comparison with the smaller South- 

 downs and the larger Oxford, they may be said to 

 be of medium size. The typical Shropshire is hardly 

 equaled in style, as the head is held in easy poise by 

 the neck, which rises erect from the shoulder, and not 

 stuck straight forward as on some other breeds. 

 The body runs straight from the turn of the neck 

 to the top of the tail, and in best representatives, 

 the back is flat and solid, and not narrow and sharp. 

 The length and depth of the hind quarter is a fea- 

 ture of the carcass that has improved greatly within 

 recent years. The inclination to be short and 

 sharp behind has been corrected by careful attention 

 in breeding. A feature that has contributed to 

 the style of the Shropshire is the manner in which 

 the legs support the body. In the most attractive 

 type, instead of the legs standing under the body, 

 they are squarely placed at the four corners of it. 

 The closely knit frame of a typical and vigorous 

 Shropshire, wrapped in a fleece of dense and fine 

 fiber, from the bridge of the nose to the hind heel, 

 presents a picture of as much indifference to the 

 storm's course as it would seem possible to make 

 from all the attributes of sheep life. In the ram the 

 head should be strong in features, without coarseness, 

 wide between the eyes, comparatively short, and 

 also wide in the muzzle. The eye should be large, 

 and as near as possible the crystal clearness of 



