THE SOUTHDOWN 



549 



to bring lo guineas (^50) was sold by Ellman to Lord Walder- 

 grave. In 1794 the Earl of Egremont gave Ellman about $10 

 each for 50 ewes. In 1796 this same breeder sold a ram for 50 

 guineas, or ^250. Later the Emperor of Russia and the Duke 

 of Bedford each took two of Mr. Ellman's rams at 1 50 guineas 

 ($750) per head. In 1829, when the Ellman flock was dispersed, 

 36 rams averaged about ^125 each. At the dispersal sales of 

 Jonas Webb in 1861 and 1862 there were sold 1404 sheep at an 

 average of ^11 17^. -^d., almost ^58 each, the highest price, 260 

 guineas, or ^1300, being for a ram. In 1889 and 1900, at the 



Fig. 251. The reserve Southdown ewes on pasture at Babraham. From photo- 

 graph taken in 1914 by the author 



sales of Henry Webb in Cambridgeshire, 745 rams and ewes aver- 

 aged about ^60 each, the top pricebeing 210 guineas. In earlier 

 days higher prices ruled for ^^(Rowns in America than now. 

 In 1856, at the sale of L^jyprorris, at Fordham, New York, the 

 ewes averaged $ 1 5o,^™(^imported ram brought ^400. The ram 

 Archbisbdp, bre^,M|^ias Webb, was imported by G. H. Brown 

 an^^ $ 1 2 i,ommo remarkable prices have been paid for South- 

 downs in rajjpc years. The American trade is conservative on 

 prices, and the British is very much the same. In the dispersal 

 of the famous flock of W. M. Cazalet, Fairlawn, Kent, England, 

 in 1916, the leading sale for the year, 306 head brought about 

 ^10,500, averaging approximately ;^33.SO per head. Twenty-eight 



rams averaged about ^100 each, one fetching ^500. 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



