THE DORSET BREED. 
PLATE XI. 
1. RAM, rising Three Years Old, Bred by Michael Millar, Esq. of Plush, near Dorchester. 
2. EWE, rising Three Years Old, from the same Flock. 
A breed of Sheep has, from time immemorial, been naturalized in the county of Dorset, which formerly extended over a 
large tract of country. These Sheep possess small horns, common to the male and female. They have white legs and faces: their 
wool is fine, but only applied to the making of second or livery cloths, and it weighs about four pounds the fleece. Their limbs 
are somewhat long, but without coarseness: their shoulders are low, and the loins broad and deep: their lips and nostrils are 
black, though with a frequent tendency to assume a fleshy colour. The wethers fatten at three years old to about eighteen pounds 
the quarter. They are a hardy race of Sheep, docile, suited to the practice of folding, and capable of subsisting on scanty pas¬ 
tures. Their mutton is very good, but not equal in juiciness and flavour to that of the mountain breeds. 
The property of the Dorsets which remarkably distinguishes them is the fecundity of the females, and their readiness to 
receive the male at an early season. They have been known, like the Sheep of some warmer countries, to produce twice in the 
year. This, however, is rare; but it is common for the females to become impregnated while they are nursing their young. 
They will receive the male so early as the months of April or May. The common period of admitting him is in the early part of 
June, so that the lambs shall be born in October, and be ready for use by Christmas. This has given rise to the practice of 
rearing the lambs in houses, until they are ready for the market. The system has long been regularly pursued, especially within 
reach of London, where a great demand exists for this kind of luxury. The rams employed to cover the ewes for these early 
lambs are not usually the Dorsets, but the Leicesters or Southdowns, and chiefly the Southdowns. The crosses are excellent, and 
no better nurses can be found than the Dorset mothers. 
The form of the Dorsets has a great resemblance to that of the Spanish Merinos. The resemblance, however, is entirely in 
figure, for the properties of the two races are very different. While the females of the Merino race are bad nurses, the Dorsets 
are the most productive of milk of any of our races of Sheep. In the broad and deep loins of this race, we have the same ex¬ 
ternal character which, in the case of the cow, indicates the faculty of yielding abundant milk. The remarkable fecundity of 
these Sheep has given rise to the supposition that they are derived from some warmer country, where the females bring forth 
twice in the year. We have, however, no evidence of this fact, and may accordingly believe that the property is one which is due 
to situation, although the peculiar circumstances, whether of climate or food, which give rise to it may escape our observation. 
The country of the Dorsets is calcareous, being partly on the limits of the chalk formation, and partly on the lias and oolite • 
the climate is mild, and the herbage is mixed with wild thyme and other aromatic plants. Formerly, the race was greatly more 
diffused in England than it now is. William Ellis, in his Shepherd’s Guide, published in 1749, describes the west country 
Sheep as having “ white faces, white and short legs, broad loins, and fine curled wool.” He says they are of different sizes, the 
smaller sort being fed on commons, and that they are more tender of their young than any other, and in an especial manner the 
Dorsetshire variety. “ Whereupon,” says he, “ those farmers that live in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, 
Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, and would be masters of a fine kind of Sheep, for folding, fattening, and breeding lambs, cannot 
have a better sort.” 
Since the period referred to, however, this race of Sheep has been continually diminishing in numbers. The extension of 
the improved Leicesters and Southdowns gradually circumscribed the limits of the ancient Dorsets; and in the various midland 
and eastern counties in which they formerly abounded, scattered flocks only are found, and these rarely pure. 
The crosses of this breed with the Leicesters and Southdowns being superior to the original stock, a powerful cause is in 
operation to pi’oduce an intermixture of blood; and were it not for the demand which exists in the great towns, and especially in 
London, for early lambs, the Dorsets might be expected, like so many of the older breeds of the country, to become extinct. 
Should this take place, we know of no means of supplying its place, for no other breed of these Islands possesses the pro¬ 
perties of early breeding and fecundity in the same degree. While, therefore, the rearing of early lambs continues to be profit¬ 
able, the utmost care should be used in preserving the purity of this ancient race, and in calling forth, by selection of the male 
and female parents, those properties which it possesses in so eminent a degree. The purest of the race are now to be found in a 
district round Dorchester. 
K* 
