THE OXFORD DOWN 573 



Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, a famous prize winner 

 there and in England, which he hired of A. F. M. Druce of 

 England for ^425. The annual Oxford Ram Fair in England 

 shows something of prices current for this breed. In 1900 at this 

 sale the highest price paid was 42 guineas (^210) for a yearling 

 ram, and fifty yearlings from the flock of Worley & Son averaged 

 slightly over ^50 per head. In 1903 sixty rams sold by George 

 Adams averaged $40. The same year, at the sale of J. T. Hobbs, 

 the average was in excess of ^75 per head, one ram bringing 

 $290. At the 1916 ram sale at Oxford a lamb consigned by 

 R. W. Hobbs and Son sold for ^360, and thirty lambs averaged 



Fig. 265. Oxfords on pasture on the farm of George Adams, Faringdon, England. 

 From photograph by the author 



about ^iio a head. In the United States, Oxford Downs have 

 not come under the high-priced classification, and the better-class 

 sheep change hands at reasonable and modest values. 



The distribution of the Oxford Down is very widespread. 

 Originally confined to Oxfordshire, it is now found in about a 

 score of counties in England, as well as in Scotland, Wales, and 

 Ireland. So greatly has the breed grown in favor in recent years 

 that it has become very widely distributed, flocks now existing in 

 Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, 

 Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, and else- 

 where. In this country there are Oxfords in many states, although 

 Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, and New York have noted 

 flocks, as well as Ontario, Canada, where the breed has long met 

 with favor. In 1908 it was estimated that there were four thousand 

 head of pure-bred Oxfords in Canada, and to-day it may be fairly 

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