564 SHEEP 



212 to Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand; 45 to South 

 Africa, Algiers, Algoa Bay ; 61 to Russia, Germany, France, 

 Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Jamaica, Finland, Greece, 

 Portugal, a total of 2314 head. Since 19 14 the number exported 

 has greatly diminished, but 368 head were shipped to different 

 countries in 19 16. Shropshires are popular in England, especially 

 in the county of its nativity, in Australasia, Canada, and the United 

 States. In 1908 it was reported by J. B. Spencer ^ that of I9,S4S 

 head of pure-bred sheep in Canada 6000 were Shropshires, lead- 

 ing all other breeds but the Leicester. In the United States, 

 where this is the favorite mutton breed, they are found from the 



Fig. 261. Shropshire ewes on pasture at Corston, Cupar- Angus, Scotland. From 

 a photograph by the author in 1914 



Atlantic to the Pacific and from the northern to the southern 

 boundaries. However, the breed is most abundant in New York, 

 Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and 

 Iowa. This wide distribution gives evidence of the adaptability 

 of the breed. The ideal conditions are found in a country with 

 rolling surface, well grassed, and not too hot and dry. The great 

 Shropshire shows in the United States are* at the International 

 Live-Stock Exposition and the state fairs of Ohio, New York, 

 Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 



The official promotion of Shropshire sheep has been in very 

 efficient hands. In 1882 the English Shropshire Society was 

 established, and the first volume of its flock book published in 



1 '^ Sheep Husbandry in Canada," Bulletin i2. Dominion of Canada Department 

 of Agriculture, igo8. 



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