i9i i.] The Paris Fat Stock Show of 191 i. 129 
This breeder is said to have created the finest flock of South- 
downs in France, and has done much to establish the breed 
in the favour of his compatriots. The champion pen of 
Southdowns at the Show was exhibited by MM. Dodat freres, 
the breeders who secured all the championships in the 
cattle classes. The Prix d'Honneur for "the best group of 
fifteen animals " was also secured by the Southdowns, these 
being exhibited by M. Thome. These sheep weighed 14 cwt. 
2. qr. 16 lb. at 10J months. The other Prix d'Honneur for 
""the best sheep entered in the class for French breeds " went 
to a pen of three Charmois, which weighed 3 cwt. 2 qr. 11 lb, 
•at 11 months. 
The Charmois is a most interesting breed of sheep. It is 
probably the best mutton-producer of all the French sheep, 
and it is a triumph of the breeder's art. The credit of its 
origin is due to M. Malingie, who fixed the type after a 
long and expensive series of cross-breeding experiments at his 
farm, La Charmoise, in Loir-et-Cher. The Charmois is the 
outcome of a cross of the Merino, the Tourangeau, the 
Solognot, and the Berrichon with the "New Kent" breed. 
It is half English, inasmuch as it is formed of an eighth of 
the blood of each of the four breeds mentioned above with 
four-eighths of the "New Kent" blood. The symmetry of 
this breed is excellent ; it has a small head, and a broad and 
compact body with shortish legs, well covered with mutton. 
It is noted for its precocity and its capacity for producing 
good mutton. It is able to adapt itself to flat or mountainous 
country, and is consequently found in every part of France, 
in Algeria, in the Congo, in Argentina, and in Roumania. 
Another breed of English origin, the Leicester, or Dishley, 
as it is called, is much appreciated in France for crossing 
with native breeds; in fact, there is considerable argument 
between the votaries of the Dishley and those of the South- 
down as to which breed is the better for grading-up purposes. 
The examples of some of these crosses to be seen at the 
Paris Show included crosses of the Dishley with the Limousin, 
the Charmois, the Merino-Charmois, the Merino-Berrichon, 
and the Berrichon, and of the Southdown with the Berrichon, 
the Limousin, and the Bizet. 
A Dishley-Berrichon and a Southdown-Berrichon secured 
K 
