British Breeds of Sheep 105 



quality, both in respect to frame and fleece, and in 

 nearly all other characteristics they occupy a simi- 

 lar position. Medium development in many direc- 

 tions makes them sheep of exceptional combinations, 

 and these add to the profit they make, for the markets 

 of to-day demand a finished carcass of medium 

 size. Not only does the Shropshire represent a 

 desirable combination from the market point of view, 

 but they also show a union of many useful qualities 

 from the breeder's standpoint. While not as highly 

 developed in the direction of quick gains in fatten- 

 ing as some breeds, they have become the stronger 

 for it in the qualities that are sought for in brood 

 ewes. Exceptional development in the ability to 

 take on flesh rapidly is somewhat antagonistic to 

 free milking attributes in all animals, and in the na- 

 ture of the Shropshire the latter leads ia importance 

 and profit to the flock. 



The Hampshire (Fig. 25, PL IX) 



In a description of the farming of Hampshire 

 in England, an early writer says that with the ex- 

 ception of an outlying block of land to the north- 

 west (which he estimates at 325 square miles) the 

 mainland of the county of Hampshire approaches 

 in form to the parallelogram, the sides of which face 

 the four cardinal points. The area is 970,470 acres 

 and the number of farms 3048, and most of these are 



