OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER;

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 9

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER;

(From Our Special CoKBESPONDKJfi.) BRADFORD, February I*. SOUTHDOWN SHEEP. The Southdown is undoubtedly the okle-t of the English Down breed-., and the one that has been used to gne symmetry and qvahty to all other branches of the Down family, its history and characteristics being of general interest to colonial as well as Home sheepmen Historically correct is undoubtedly the statement that the Southdown breed of sheep was known as the Sussex Downs at the time of the Norman conquest. But tbeir good qualities did not come to be gererally recognised even in adjoining counties until a little o\er 200 years ago. It is one of the peculiarity of English agriculture that each county or shire has selected a. breed of cattle, sheep, and pigs and held ti it from year to year with the greatest tenacity. If beaten by the stock of an adjoining county the farmer did not discard h ; s favourites and take up with the victors. On the contrary, the breeders' aud farmers at once set to work to improve their favouiites by every means in their power — closer attention to mating, more rigid selection, and better feeding It is this charao teiiatic winch has made England the home of improved breeds, and enabled it- faimers to withstand up to the present tune the intense competition of other lands in farm products. The scrub is almost unknown to .English farmers. Some flocks and herds are bettei thau others ; but there is no other country known in which all the lne clock — hordes, cattle, sheep, and swine — show anything lite as high average quality or possess more practical usefulness than here in England. But to return to the Southdown. The first writer of any note to mention the Southdown wa-. Arthui Young, who was quite a voluminous writer on Jive stock In an e-jfiay, published in 1794, he speaks in high tenna of their hardiness and tho fine quality of their mutton. Mr .John Ellman, who wai bieediug Southdown s in 1780, is regarded as one of the great improvers of the breed. lie carried on experiments with them for half a century, and his description of what he considered a typical Southdown, wiitten nearly a hundred years ago, ia worth reprinting : — "The head =hould be small and hornless, the face speckled or grey, and neither too long or too short ; the lips thin, and the space between the nose and eyes narrow ; the under-jaw or chop fine and thin ; the ears tolerably wide, and well covered with wool, and the forehead a l^'., and the whole space between the car.-* well protected by it. a-, a t'pfonrc against the fly ; tie eye^ full and blight, but not prominent; th< orbit of tlie cyo (the eye cap 01 bone) not too piojecting. that it may not form a fatal obstacle vi lambing; the neck of 2 medium length, thin towards the head, but enlarging towards the shoulders, where it should ho broad and high, and htraiglit 111 its whole course above and below ; the breast should be wide, deep, and proiecting forwards between the fore-let(3, indicating a good con stitution and a dispo.-ition to thrive. Corresponding with this the shoulder- should be on a level with thp back, and net too wide above ; they should bow outward 5 from the top to the breast, indicating a -piingmg rib beneath and leavmq; room for it. the nli<! coming out horizontally from tho spine and extending far b.ic-kuanl. and the last rib projecting more than the other 1 - ; the back flar from the shoulders to the -rttmg on of the tail : the loin broad and flat ; thp rump lon« and broad ; and the tail set on high and neaily on a level with the hnme ; tie hips wide ; thp -pare between them and the last rib on eithpi tide a- narrow as po-sible, aud the ribs geucrallv presenting a cinul.tr form like a barrel ; tho belly a^ straight as the back; the lee- m-ither too short nor too long : the fore lojrs straight fioni the breaPt to the foot, not bending in at thp knee, and standing fai apai t both bef. le and behind, the hoc k- ha\ nip a direction rather outward, and tho tv. l-t, or t\ie meeuntr of the thighs behind, being particularly full : thp bones fine, vet having uo appearance of weakness, an.i the leer; of a dark colour; the belly well defended with wool, and thp wool coming down before and behind to the knee aud rhp ho< k : thr wool short. <10-e, ruiVd, and fine, and ire from Ejjiiv. projecting fibres. The next potion who henamo m,tr<] fhiough hi- turcf"-5 will) tl>e Sout'irlnwn was TlioinaWiUiam Cokp aft 'iwart'« Errl of Lo.cf-aor, w'lo prot urr-d In- t-hocn through Mr Elhnar> Thro.ie'i M r Coi.p. tlir Karl of Ergpmout, tht> Dukf of I'.oiUord. aud the DpUc 01 No - folk introduced the .Southdown upon I'kk c-tate*. pik! tlipj" pro*. cd so ac ppt&bic to the tenant farmer: that the biecd r^ieaU rapidly. Coming clo.vn to a tnnr vv 1 hm thp nTMiior* of son.c ypt living tln> i,ai".p of .Toiia* V.'eLb stands out prominently ?s a brc?do a'ul improver of the Southdown He s ai"ed i hratd-aa aK&ut ir?Q_ H'liea suiite a young

man, and carried on the work till his death, at the age of 66, in 1862. Before his death the Babraham flock of Southdowns was admittedly one of the greatest and be^t known flocks in England of any breed, and his success in the show ring and the high prices his sheep brought at public sales and ram letting^ placed his Southdowns in the first lank as a profitable sheep. The Southdown stands in the same relation to the other Down breeds that thp Arabian horse docs to the improved breed of horses — it has given them the qualities which enable them to hold their places with all civilised people, and even to cause the original breed to be forgotten. In form the Southdown is a model of symmetry for a meat-produc-ing animal. It is smaller than the Shropshire, has a finer, closer, and a more compact fleece, which, is only surpassed in fineness by the merino. We have often thought that in the original make-up of the Southdown some merino blood entered into the breed, as in point of quality it is not far below that of the pure merino, and the Spanish importation made into this country by George 111 was crossed with the native breeds of England. It is a haidy sheep, makes the be*t possible use of its food in the production of fle=h and fleece, is of quiet di*»position. and easily handled. In quality of mutton it stands at the head, and in dre>=ed compared with live weight of carcase will stand even with the best of any breed. It cannot be said that, as a sheep for crossing with the colonial merino for th« pioduction of " freezers." it entirely fills the bill, but it has many excellencies its mutton qualities being at the very top. At least where quality has to be considered before weight and quantity this is an ideal ' ce ° P WOOL STEADY AND FIRM. The Bradford market to-day, if not booming, is remarkably steady in tone ; a cheerful feeling prevails, and good work is being done. It is too much to expact business to keep up to the dimensions it has lately been, and it is sufficient to know that the trade that has been already arranged for and the forward contracts enteied into are being put through with all possible speed. This shows conclusively that wool is going into consumption fast, and combers are perhaps more busy for the moment, and more pressure is bein^ put upon thorn to make delivery without any delay than has been seen for a good long while back. On every hand one hears that the raw article is saleable at tho best prices obtainable recently in London, and unless men are willing to pay full market rates either for wool, tops, or yarns, no business is done. Just for the moment new business in Bradford is rather quiet, simply because spinners have lxuight heavily and are therefore under no compulsion to enter into further contracts. The fact that topmakers are asking prices equivalent to what was mad© 111 London is also hindering fresh transactions, but then regular makers of good standard tops are as busy as ever they possibly can be, and while there are few buyers there is a corresponding apathy on the part of seller^ to commit themselves afresh. The tone, however, is decidedly good, and the most encouraging feature is that topmakers ar^ persistently pressed to keep up to time in making their deliveries. This indicates that pressure is being put upon spinners to make deliveries of yarn*, and as a consef quence there is a good consumption proceeding, which gives confidence for the future. Super 60's tops are still readily available at 20id. spinners wanting to operate at 20d. In the case of 40's tops 82C1 is only paid under great pressure, but for less they cannot be profitably made. At these prices holders are sitting on the small stocks they have, aud feel confident that the future will more than second their effort 0 to get Biadford rates on to a full par with the cost of the raw material.