OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 223 
DREAMS OF “THE DOWNS” THAT CAME TRUE 
87. Wherever the revivifying influence of carcass making 
sheep have gone, there can be traced the blood of one or the 
other of the two founts of mutton improvement, the Dishley 
Leicester or the Southdown of Sussex. The changing demands 
of earlier maturity and small retail cuts with the highest pos- 
sible thickness of rich red flesh has gradually given a prepon- 
derant influence to the sheep of the chalk hills of Sussex. Two 
men builded largely in the founding of this strain; Joun ELL- 
MAN of Glynde in its formative years, and Jonas WEBB of Babra- 
ham in the days of its ascendancy. 
The Southdown is perhaps the purest type that has come down 
to modern sheep husbandry. Not a step in its improvement can 
be traced to the influx of alien blood, while it has been a con- 
tributory force to Shropshire, Oxford, Hampshire and almost 
every other Down breed that has marked individuality today. 
By careful selection and breeding systems based on the BAKE- 
WELL formula, the Southdown achieved its wondrous carcass 
worth. It is to modern sheep husbandry what the Berkshire 
is to swinedom, the Thoroughbred to the turf, and the old Flem- 
ish stock to modern beeves. 
For years Babraham was the source of improvement of hun- 
dreds of flocks in old England, and royalty and tenant alike 
patronized Jonas Wess to benefit from his monumental achieve- 
ments. Extension and distribution of the breed were fostered 
through the exhibition of choice specimens at district and national 
shows, and wherever they went the Babraham pens received the 
bulk of attention. Successes at the earlier Paris Universal expo- 
sitions were inevitable and one particularly fine group attracted 
the attention of EMpEror NapoLeon Tuirp. Mr. Wess chanced 
to be on hand and to the enthusiastic request of the French ruler, 
as to their ownership, he diplomatically replied, “Yours, your 
Majesty, if you will accept them.” The gift was graciously 
