206 Animal Husbandry 
best sheep he could buy, regardless of price. He built, on Ellman’s 
foundation and produced the best known type of mutton sheep, 
improving the general symmetry, increasing the size, promoting 
the early fattening tendency, and improving the quality of the flesh. 
The Southdown was the first of the Down or mutton breeds to 
be improved, and has been used in the development of the other 
mutton breeds, more particularly the Shropshire, Hampshire, and 
Oxford. It early became the favorite breed of the English royalty 
and aristocracy, and remains so to the present time. 
329. Description of the Southdown sheep. — In size this breed 
is inferior to the other mutton breeds. Notwithstanding this, 
the form is so meritorious that the animals are very heavy for 
their size. The head is of medium size and hornless, with the fore- 
head and cheeks well covered with wool. The neck is short and 
thick; the shoulders are broad and full; the back is broad and 
straight, with ribs well arched and long, giving capacity ; the rump 
is broad, square, and full; and the hindquarters long, with the twist 
extremely deep and full. The skin should be a bright pink in color. 
The entire body should be covered with a compact fleece of moderate 
length, which should be white in color and which should carry some 
oil or yolk (Fig. 75). 
330. Shropshire mutton sheep. — This breed was developed in 
the counties of Shropshire and Stafford, England. The origin 
of the breed is obscure. The name, as applied to sheep, is men- 
tioned in English literature as far back as the fourteenth century, 
there being at that time a grade of wool designated as Shropshire. 
The improvement, however, is of comparatively recent date, for 
Plymley, writing on the agriculture of Shropshire in 1803, describes 
the native sheep as possessing horns and black faces, and clipping a 
fleece of about two pounds. 
The Shropshire owes much of its present improvement to Sam- 
uel Meire, of Berrington and Harley. He sought to reduce the 
general coarseness, to remove the horns, to improve the levelness 
of the back, to increase the spring of ribs, and to improve the mut- 
