File:Sheep, breeds and management (1893) (14758930866).jpg

Identifier: sheepbreedsmanag00wrig (find matches)
Title: Sheep, breeds and management
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Wrightson, John
Subjects: Sheep
Publisher: London, Vinton
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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reast broad anddeep ; back straight, with good carcase ; hind-quarters hardlyso wide as the Southdown, and the legs clean with strongbone. They are very hardy, thrive well on moderate keep,and are readily prepared for market, tegs weighing on anaverage 80 lbs. to 100 lbs. each. The fleece is longer and moreglossy than the other Shortwools, and weighs on an average7 lbs. Thus the Shropshire sheep, as contrasted with thematernal ancestor which grazed upon the Longmynd Hills,had during sixty years doubled its carcase weight, and in-creased the weight of its fleece threefold! Writing in 1858,Professor Tanner says: Only a few years since any mentionof the Shropshire Down sheep raised an enquiry, even amongintellectual agriculturists, as to their character, and few, com-paratively speaking, knew anything of them. The Stafford-shire breeders, forty or fifty years ago, traced the descent oftheir Shropshires from the native Cannock Chase breed—adark faced, long legged, slowly maturing sheep.
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SHROPSHIRE SHEEP. 73 The Shropshire sheep seems to have been the result of agradual evolution, brought about in the first place by cross-ing, but later by careful selection. Even recently it wasconsidered difficult to breed them truly, but, by dint of careand perseverance, the speckled character of face has givenway to a rich uniform brow^n, accompanied sometimes witha little grey or mealy colour about the muzzle. The headis well covered with a close-fitting cap, or helmet, of wool,extending well over the entire space between and in front ofthe ears, which are somewhat rounded and short. The neckis carried horizontally, and is very thick and rather short.The shoulders are neatly stowed, and the girth is very great. We are not able to name any breeder who, like Bakewell,Ellman, or Humphrey, actually accomplished the bringing-out of the Shropshire sheep, as these men brought out theLeicester, the Southdown, or the Hampshire Down. Thework appears to have been shared by many, and the pro-

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