48 



Shropshire Sheep. 



[Apr., 



from 20 guineas to 40 guineas. The best class of ewe will now 

 cost from 12 guineas to 15 guineas, and a very useful class of 

 ewe from 7 guineas to 8 guineas. 



Type. — The best type of Shropshire should possess (particu- 

 larly in the male) a well-developed head, with clean and striking 

 expression of countenance, a muscular neck well set on good 

 shoulders, the body symmetrical and deep, placed as squarely 

 as possible on short strong legs, due regard being paid to 

 grandeur of style, the face and legs should be a nice soft black 

 (not sooty) the head should be nicely covered, and the wool 

 generally should be fine, of great density and length of staple. 



The skin should be nice cherry colour and the belly and 

 scrotum (in the males) should be v^ell woolled. 



Objections. — Horns in ram; speckled face, ears or legs; long 

 heavy ears ; thin open wool. 



In all breeds there are more or less two types, and it is to 

 a certain extent the case with Shropshire Sheep. Some favour 

 the short-legged, symmetrical, deep, lean-fleshed sheep, covered 

 with a dense heavy fleece, while others prefer the longer-legged 

 animal with more size, and possibly a little more bone. Per- 

 sonally I have always considered the Shropshire Sheep as a 

 medium-sized sheep of good quality with a robust constitution, 

 maturing early at small cost, admirably adapted as a general 

 purpose sheep. What I wrote some years ago I again repeat, 

 and it fully expresses my views on medium versus large sheep. 

 Som.e farmers prefer a big, coarse sheep on long legs, but I am 

 quite convinced of this, that the best rent-paying class is the 

 moderate-sized sheep of good quality, because the butchers can 

 sell them the more readily and at better prices, and a greater 

 weight per acre can be raised than where the larger and coarser 

 sheep is resorted to, for 100 ew^es in the former instance require 

 as much kind for their support as 130-140 well-bred moderate- 

 sized ewes. 



Fecundity. — 150 to 175 lambs per 100 ewes is the usual 

 average. A census which the writer took some years ago from 

 11.666 ewes gave a return of 168 lambs per 100 ewes, and in 

 addition to this Shropshire ewes are excellent mothers and great 

 milk yielders. 



Adaptability and Hardihood. — The breed flourishes in every 

 county in England, the humid cHmato of Ireland, the Highlands 

 of Scotland and the mountainous districts of Wales, at altitudes 

 up to 1,000 feet above sea level, and it is equally at home in 

 every country in the world. 



