234 The various Breeds of Sheep in Great Britain. 
width and depth ; the back and loins have become broader and 
the ribs more curved, so as to form a straight and level back ; the 
hind quarters are square and full, the tail well set on, and the 
limbs shorter and finer in tlie bone. These results are due to tiie 
great and constant care wbit h has been bestowed on the breed by 
Ellman and his cotemporaries, as well as by his successors, 
whose flocks fully sustain the character of the improved breed. 
The sheep, though fine in form and symmetrical in appearance, 
are very hardy, keeping up their condition on moderate pastures, 
and readily adapting themselves to the different districts and 
system of farming in which they are now met with. They are 
very docile, and thrive well even when folded on the artificial 
pastures of an arable farm.* Their disposition to fatten enables 
them to be brought into the market at twelve and fifteen months 
old, when they average 80 lbs. weight each. At two years old 
they will weigh from 100 to 120 lbs. each. The meat is of fine 
quality, and always commands the highest price in the market. 
The ewes are very prolific, and are excellent mothers, commonly 
rearing 120 to 130 lambs to the 100 ewes. The fleece, which 
closely covers the body, produces the most valuable of our native 
wools. It is short in the staple, fine and curling, with spiral 
ends, and is used for carding purposes generally. 
This is one of the breeds in which the breeding of rams, both 
for sale and for hire, forms a peculiar feature, as indicative of the 
value generally assigned to the breed, both for its own intrinsic 
qualities and for the advantages it offers for crossing with other 
breeds. 
Hampshire Downs, — This rapidly-increasing breed of sheep 
appears to be the result of a recent cross between the pure South 
Down and the old horned white face sheep of Hampshire and 
Wiltshire, by which the hardworking, though fine quality of the 
former is combined with the superior size and constitution of the 
latter. The breed was commenced at the early part of the pre- 
sent century ; and by a system of judicious crossing now possesses 
the leading characters of the two parent breeds. In some of the 
best-farmed districts of Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Berkshire, 
they have gradually displaced the South Downs, and have in 
themselves afforded another distinct breed for crossing with the 
long-wooUed sheep. Tiieir leading characteristics arc, as com- 
pared with the South Down, an increased size, equal maturity, 
and a hardier constitution. Tlie face and head are larger and 
coarser in their character ; the frame is heavier throughout ; the 
carcase is long, roomy, though less symmetrical than the South 
* The farm of Mr. Jonas Webb of Babraham is mostly under tillage culti- 
vation. 
