540 



SHEEP 



The introduction of the Southdown to America without doubt 

 dates back to colonial days, and it has been assumed that the best 

 sheep of Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut were of this breed. 

 In 1803 a Dr. Rose of Fayette, Seneca County, New York, is 

 said to have commenced with a small flock of Southdowns which 

 did remarkably well. In 18 13 these were crossed with Spanish 

 Merinos. In 1823 Sidney Hawes of New York imported some 

 Southdowns and sold 36 ewes, 2 rams, and 10 wethers to C. N. 

 Bement of Albany, who kept up his flock many years. In 1834 

 Francis Rotch of Otsego County, New York, imported 6 ewes 



Fig. 243. A pen of three Southdown ewe lambs, first prize in class at the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England Show, 1901. Bred and exhibited by C. Adeane, 

 Babraham, Cambridge, England. From photograph, by courtesy of F. N. Webb 



and a ram from the flock of T. Ellman, the son of John. Follow- 

 ing this he made several other importations from the most noted 

 English flocks. In 1834 Isaac Maynard of Coshocton County, Ohio, 

 brought some Southdowns to that state, while in 1844 J. F. King 

 of Warren began breeding from Jonas Webb stock, imported by 

 J. M. IJesless of Trumbull County, Ohio. Good examples of 

 Southdowns were shown in 1851 at the Green County Fair, 

 according to the Ohio Cultivator (October 15, 1851). With the 

 depreciation in Merino interests Southdowns grew in favor east 

 of the Mississippi, and many flocks were established. 



The characteristics of the early Southdown, as bred in Ellman's 

 time are interestingly set forth by Arthur Young,i the noted English 

 authority on agriculture of a century and more ago. 



' Annals of Agriculture, Vol. XI (1789), p. 198. 



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