1922.] 



Suffolk Sheep. 



881 



The annual carcass competitions of tiie London Smithfield 

 Club are the supreme test of the meat-producing vahie of the 

 various British breeds, and the results are of world-wide 

 importance. The primary aim of the Club is "To encourage 

 the selection and breeding of the best and most useful animals 

 for the production of meat and to test their capabilities in 

 respect to early maturity."* At that Show in 1890 the first 

 prize Suffolk wethers showed the highest percentage of carcass 

 to gi'oss live weight of any breed, and from that time onwards 

 the breed lias made steady and uninterrupted progress and has 

 a record of successes in those competitions as mutton producers 

 which to-day place it ahead of all other British breeds. Since 

 the commencement of the competitions Suffolks and Suffolk 

 crosses have won half the championships and reserves for 

 championship: Suffolk lamb? have, since 1900, won two-thirds 

 of all the prizes in the short-wool lamb class: and Suffolks^ 

 crossed with no less than ten different breeds have won half the 

 total awards in the crossbred classes. 



Factors in Improvement. — One of the first steps taken to bring 

 about the improvement of the breed, and at that time a unique 

 one. was the institution of flock competitions. Breeding flocks 

 compete for challenge cups according to their size. The 

 Bristol champion challenge cup is awarded each year for the 

 best flock in the competition and another cup for the best ewe 

 lambs. All flocks are inspected prior to first registration and 

 every fourth year subsequently. This has done a very great 

 deal to raise and maintain the general standard. No sheep is 

 recognised as a purebred Suffolk unless it has the Society's 

 registered mark and registered flock number of breeder tattooed 

 in the left ear. 



Popularity. — From the first the Suffolk has given evidence of 

 its value as a good coloniser. As early as 1895, rams, lambs 

 and ewes bred in France won first and special prizes at the 

 Boulogne Agricultural Society's Show in open competitioti with 

 other breec*;i^ Reports from Canada and North America, 

 Australasia, C^ile, Peru, Brazil, South Africa and other places 

 all testify to the remarkable way in which this breed adapts 

 itself to its environment. Its adaptability to varying soils and 

 climates — due to its inherent hardiness — is exemplified in the 

 way it has spread over the whole of the British Isles, there 

 being to-day registered flocks in no less than fifty-four counties. 

 The Society's show and sale record points to the lively interest 

 exhibited in these sheep all over the country: not only at the 



B 



