THE PRESENT-DAY SHROPSHIRE 115 



is very different from the most typical specimens that appeared at the 

 English shows between' 1850 and 1870. Speaking of the show- 

 yard celebrities of that period, Mansell says : " They were for the 

 most part brown with speckled legs, fine in the bone and devoid of 

 wool, with bare bellies, and too often sickle-hocked, and crooked 

 spines were the rule rather than the exception. The head of the 

 males lacked masculine strength and character, and carried little 

 or no wool on the poll, and the sheep generally stood on much 

 longer legs than the modern Shropshire. Little attention at this 

 early date had been paid to the wool, which was generally of a soft 

 open character and greatly lacking in that density, length of staple 



Fig. 71. — Fitted Shropshire ewes adorning the pastures of J. C. Andrew, West Point, 



Indiana. 



and fineness which is now one of the leading attributes of breed " 

 (Fig. 71). 



The Present-Day Shropshire. — Form and Weight. — The 

 Shropshire is similar to the Southdown in build of body and length 

 of legs, but considerably different in various other features. The 

 neck is longer and more arched ; the head is carried higher and is 

 proportionately broader between the ears and eyes, slightly longer 

 and stronger in face profile ; the ears are attached a little lower down 

 on the sides of the head and are not quite so nearly erect; the hair 

 on nose, ears, and legs is a darker shade of brown, being called a 

 deep, soft brown, and the wool is longer, not as fine, and extends 

 farther over the face and legs. Shropshires are larger than South- 



