THE DORSET HORN 591 



these gains the Dorset Horn surpassed the lighter Down breeds 

 but did not do so well as Suffolk, Hampshire, or Oxford. 



The Dorset Horn as an early-lamb producer has great distinc- 

 tion, having long been famous in this regard over other British 

 breeds. The ewes will breed during much of the year, so that 

 they have a special value for producing Christmas lambs. It has 

 long been customary in England to breed the ewes in June and 

 July to lamb in November and December, furnishing early lambs 

 for the London market. In the United States, owing to the hot 

 summers, the ewes are more readily bred from the middle of 

 March into May. The lambs fatten rapidly and soon attain good 

 weights. In England November or December lambs are generally 

 sold fat in March and April, when they weigh 40 to 44 pounds 

 in the dressed carcass, according to Thomas Chick, long a well- 

 known Dorset breeder. Dorsets were first introduced to America 

 for hothouse lambs, and in the late eighties J. S. Woodward of 

 Lockport, New York, was shipping these lambs to New York. 

 This industry has continued more or less in the eastern United 

 States ever since. Mr. Fred Huyler writes ^ that recently he 

 received a letter from one of the largest sheep breeders in the 

 country, in which he says : 



We have slaughtered over 400 hothouse lambs since January first, and 

 expect to slaughter about 100 more before the warm weather sets in. These 

 were all Dorsets, or a cross with Southdown ewes and a pure-bred Dorset 

 ram. The average price received for them was $16 apiece, with an average 

 weight of 55 pounds. Most of the lambs were dropped since October i, 191 7. 



Mr. Huyler states that in his own experience six lambs dropped 

 in his flock October 15, 19 17, at the end of five months weighed 

 an average of about 130 pounds, showing a daily gain of almost 

 I pound each. 



The Dorset Horn for grading or crossing has a special value 

 if mutton production is the thing sought. Shropshire or South- 

 down rams on old Dorset Horn ewes will produce very high-class 

 lambs with dark faces, just what the market wants. A grade 

 or cross from Merino stock meets with favor in America. In 

 discussing this subject Messrs. Wing and Miller state that a 



1 American Sheep Breeder, May, 1918. 

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