DESCRIPTION 



127 



Description. — Form and Weight. — The Modern Hampshire is 

 a bold, massive, thick-fleshed, hornless sheep with a long, deep, 

 symmetrical body, heavy bone, and striking head features. Mature 

 rams in breeding condition weigh from 250 to 300 pounds; ewes 

 from 180 to 225 pounds. The head is large and the face profile is 

 slightly Roman in females and .distinctly so in males; the ears are 

 long, fairly wide and thick and attached so as to fall slightly out- 

 ward and forward when the animal is at attention. The neck. 



Fig. 81. — Hampshire ewe. The ears are typical of the breed — rather long, set almost 

 horizontal to the head with the inside turned frontward. 



although rather long, is thick and muscular and set to the shoulders 

 so as to permit the sheep to carry the head above the body rather 

 than horizontal with it. The legs, being of medium length are 

 properly proportioned to the large body that they support. 



A fault rather common in the Hampshire about twenty years 

 ago was a falling away behind the shoulders, but this defect has 

 been almost eliminated. 



Wool. — Hampshires, when properly cared for, yield approxi- 



