Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-12-15
land. known as "southdown." They

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are descendants from the native Sus-
sex sheep. These were a dark-faced
sheep, with long. thin necks. light in
the forequarters, dropping backs, but
carrying a good leg of mutton and
covered with q short, thin fleece.
During the latter part of the seven-
teenth century John Gilman and
Joseph Webb brought about great inn
provement in these sheep. Their OBJ
sheep. n that would mature at an
early age, give a large percent of
high priced cuts. n at the same
! time carry only a small per cent of
offal.
The first record we have Of South
downs in America is in 1903 when a
small flock was brought to New York.
AS we find them today, they have
been developed into the leading sheep
a high-grade mutton. and there is not
a breed of sheep in existence today
that will produce a higher per cent
of the best cuts of mutton than the
Southdown. The greatest objection
that can be found with this breed is
their lack of scale, mature rams
weighing from $50 pounds to IT'S
pounds and ewes from 1875 pounds to
$50 pounds. A typical Southdown
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face that is bare of wool to the eyes,
and in color should be gray or a
mottled tan colored brown. The ears
should be small and we'll covered with
wool and there should be consider
able width between the eyes and be-
tween the ears. The neck should be
short and should fill out as it APP
proaches the shoulders. The breast
should be wide and deep and pro-
;oot x,yoIl Foru,or1 hofuyoor tho foro
legs. Indicating a strong, vigorous
constitution. The back should be
broad, straight and level. and we'll
covered; the ribs we'll sprung from
the back, and of good length, giving
a round, deep body. The leg of NUT
ton should be heavy. both on the out
and inside. and as a breed the
Southdown is especially well filled in
the twist. The legs should be short,
straight and set squarely under the
body. Their fleece is comparatively
short and not especially heavy. They
will usually shear from five to eight
pounds. Owing to the lack of size
they have eve met with great ia
vor in this country. .
The Hampshire.
This breed comes from the county
of Hampshire. in the southern part
of England. and is a result of the
mingling of the blood of the old Wilt
shire breed with that of the South
down, the Sussex and possibly the
Cotswold. In 1910 they were shown
Show at oxford, as West County
Down Sheep, and from this sheep are
descended Jul present type of Hamp-
shires. They we're introduced into
America in 1855. at which time a
small Importation was brought into
New York. Few other importations
followed until twenty-five or thirty
years later, and the breed is COM
paratively a new n in this country
today. The characteristic features of
q Hampshire are a heavy, rather
coarse head, and frequently inclined
to be Roman about the nose. The
color Of the nose and legs is very
dark, or almost black. The ears are
large and dark in color, being con-
siderably larger and more pointed
than in the Southdown or Shropshire,
and they are not held so erect as in
either of these breeds. The neck is
inclined to be a little long and lacks
in fulness. They are rather a large,
rough, coarse appearing sheep. with
heavy bone and standing rather high
on their legs. Their fleece is hardly
as compact as that OF the Shropshire,
but will be found fully as long. A
mature ram should weigh at least z5O
! pounds, and ewes around 200 pounds.
If one is looking for a breed that Is
! prolific: one that responds readily to
good care and kind treatment: a good
grazing sheep and a quick. early ma
turing lamb hat will make rapid
| gains and be ready for the market at
an early age he will not be disap-
i pointed if he risks his money on this
breed.
The Leicester.
The Leicester, as the name indi-
! Gates. from the central county
Of Leicester. in England. This is a
very fertile section of the country,
with rich. rolling land where grasses
and grains grow abundantly. The
climate is mild the year round.
The improvement of the breed was
begun by Robert Blackwell, about
1850. He purchased the best speci-
mems of the breed he could find and
practiced careful selection and did a
great deal of ~inbreeding. The large.