712=446 
Pastoral Husbandry. 
la 
The pure Leicester steep is not so generally kept as formerly 
the midland counties, but is largely kept in Yorkshire and 
the lowlands of Scotland. A coarser, more hardy variety 
this breed is also kept largely in the hilly districts of Derbyshi 
and the north of England, under the name of the Teeswater, t 
, Border Leicester, or the Limestone Leicester. 
The Do^vn The Southdown is a small gray-faced sheep, with very clc 
sheep. gjjg wool, and mutton of very superior quality. It is speciai 
adapted for warm situations and short dry pasturage. ( 
ordinary farms it is not so profitable as larger-framed sheep. 
The Hampshire Down is larger framed and coarser in boi 
with a black face and short fine wool. It is only kept in t 
south of England. The wether sheep are generally fatten 
at an early age. 
The Oxford Down is a handsome breed of sheep, origina 
due to a cross of Cotswold with Hampshire Down. It has l 
been a distinct breed, and has been cultivated to great pe; 
tion. With generally a dark-gray face, rather long wool 
somewhat soft-handling mutton, it partakes most of the charac ' 
of long-wool sheep. It is kept largely in Bedford, Bucks, a 
Oxfordshire. Mr. Treadwell's 69 Oxford Down rams at ; 
sale averaged more than 201. each. 
Siies^'°^" The Shropshire breed of sheep is the one which probal , 
more than any^ other, is being kept in increasing numbers. 
Originally, doubtless, a cross-bred sheep, it has been cu - 
vated with great care, and has become a most valuable brt , 
thriving, like the Shorthorn cattle, almost anywhere. Ts 
breed occupies, to the exclusion of other breeds, a continu; f 
widening district in the midland counties. With a good fie e 
of close thick-set fine wool, and a carcass long, wide, and d« s 
it has plenty of lean flesh, aptitude to fatten and robustnesi if 
constitution. The ewes are more prolific than those of y 
other breed, and are good sucklers. The colour of the faci s 
black or gray, and the head is well covered with wool. ' e 
mutton is of excellent quality, and in all the towns in * 
midlands, where it is easily to be obtained, the coarser wl > 
faced mutton is only saleable at a reduced price. 
A very large number of rams of this breed are kept for si k 
purposes. At the annual sale held last year, Mr. R. H. Ma n 
sold 58, at an average price of 221. 8s., and Mr. Evans sold 3, 
at an average of 23/. 4s. ; whilst at the sale of the noted ert« 
flock of Mrs. Beach, 34 rams made an average of 33/. 12s. e 3, 
and the whole flock of 452, nearly half of which were la M 
under seven months old, made an average price of 13/. 4.'( <t 
each. 
The Dorset-horned sheep have a special faculty of produ 
