S62 



SHEEP 



8 pounds. Wallace places 7 or 8 pounds a good average weight 

 for the fleece of an ordinary ewe flock, while Professor Thomas 

 Shaw gives 9 to 10 pounds for the ewes and 12 to 15 pounds 

 for the rams as the average of a '" good flock." Cofl^ey gives the 

 average weight of fleece at 8 to 10 pounds, and Shaw and Heller 

 refer to a flock of 200 ewes where fleeces averaged 10.31 pounds. 

 The staple of the Shropshire is rather compact, of better than 

 medium quality usually, and grades as three-eighths combing in 

 the wool trade. In good specimens it is of superior fineness and 



crimp and ranges from 

 two and one-half to 

 three inches long, dis- 

 tinctly longer than the 

 Southdown but shorter 

 than Oxford or Hamp- 

 shire. When the fleece 

 is opened it frequently 

 shows a considerable 

 yolk for medium wool 

 and has a most attrac- 

 tive fiber. A good spec- 

 imen of Shropshire 

 should be well covered 

 with wool over the belly 

 and down the legs to 

 below knee and hock. 

 Dark wool should not 

 occur, unless in a slight degree below the hocks, but dark or black 

 locks occasionally appear in a small way, more especially about the 

 poll. In the pure-bred flock it is not only important to use a ram 

 that has a fleece of good quality and weight but the color should 

 be a pure white. 



The prices paid for Shropshires, while not comparable with 

 some of the other breeds, such as the Merino and Lincoln, have 

 attained very high figures. In 1881 Mr. A. B. Allen wrote: 

 " I notice from late sales reported in the English papers the 

 choicest are bringing high prices, 10 to 100 guineas (^50 to ^500) 

 each, and one ram has been sold for the extraordinary sum of 



Fig. 260. Corston, the home of T. A. Buttar at 

 Cupar-Angus, Scotland. Mr. Buttar is perhaps the 

 greatest breeder of Shropshires living to-day (1920), 

 and his sheep are famous for their excellence. From 

 photograph by the author 



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