62 
Shropshire Sheep. 
20 East Street, Hereford. The society was formed in 1878, 
and consists of some 500 members. The society publishes the 
annual herd book, which contains each year the pedigrees of 
about 700 bulls and 4,000 to 5,000 cows and their produce. 
Forty-four volumes of the herd book have been issued, the nist 
having been published in 1862 as Eyton’s Herd Book of 
Hereford Cattle ; the first eight volumes were published by the 
late Mr. Thomas Duckham, to whom more than any one else is 
due the credit of keeping the records of pedigrees in the early 
days of registration. Since 1884 the herd book has been closed, 
i.e., only the produce of sires and dams already entered are 
accepted for registration, so that there cannot be other than 
great purity of blood. The United States, Argentine, Uruguay, 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa each have 
Hereford herd books of their own. 
W. G. C. Britten 
(, Secretary , Hereford Herd Book Society). 
20 East Street, 
Hereford. 
SHROPSHIRE SHEEP. 
The history of Shropshire Sheep has been dealt with by 
many writers and though the origin of the breed is more or less 
lost in obscurity there is a general consensus of opinion that it 
existed in Shropshire and Staffordshire in the early years of the 
19th century. . . 
Morfe Common, near Bridgnorth, Shropshire, occupying an 
area of about 4,000 acres on the Borders, of the River Severn, 
was certainly one of the homes of the original Shropshire anc 
this idea is supported by Professor Wilson, who in his report 
of the breeds of sheep in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, Yol. 16, states that when the Bristol Society in 1792 
procured as much information as possible regarding sheep in 
England they reported as follows in reference to Morfe Common 
Sheep : — 
“ On Morfe Common, near Bridgnorth, there are about 
10,000 sheep kept during the summer months, which pro- 
duce wool of a superior quality. They are considered a 
native breed, are black faced, or brown, or spotted-faced 
horned sheep, little subject to either rot or scab, weighing 
the wethers from 11 to 14 lb., and the ewes from 9 to. 11 
lb., per quarter, after being fed with clover and turnips, 
and clipping near 2 lb. per fleece ; exclusive of the breech- 
ing. This appears to be the original Stock from which 
the present breed of Shropshire Sheep has sprung.” 
