62 



SHEOPSHIEE DOWN SHEEP. 



during the summer months, which produce ■wool of superior 

 quality. They are considered a native breed — are black-faced 

 or brown, or a spotted faced, horned sheep, little subject to 

 either rot or scab — weighing, the wethers from 11 to 14 lbs., 



SHEOPSHIEE EAM. 



and the ewes from 9 to 11 lbs. per quarter, after being fed 

 with clover and turnips ; and clipping nearly 2 lbs. per fleece, 

 exclusive of the breeching, which may be taken at one-seventh 

 or one-eighth part of the whole.' * * This appears 

 to have been the original stock from which the present breed of 

 Shropshire Downs has sprung. As the county advanced, and 

 the breeds became valuable for their carcasses as well as for 

 their wool, the Morfe Common sheep were crossed with other 

 breeds, but more particularly with the long-wooled Leicesters 

 and Cotswolds, or the short-wooled South Downs. The 

 admixture of such different blood has produced a corresponding 

 variation in the characters of the present breed of Shropshire 

 Downs, and has tended materially to sustain the hesitation 

 which still exists to allow them a place as a distinct breed.* 



* This was written in 1856. 



