584 BREEDS OF LOWLAND LONG-WOOL SHEEP 



activity of the demand was indicated by there being no 

 entries for the sale, usually held in August, by the Lincoln 

 Sheep Breeders' Association. The recent rise in the price of 

 wool has had much to do with the unprecedented rise in the 

 prices of Lincoln sheep. 



The Lincoln-Merino " Corridale " breed was started in 



1888 by J. Stringfellow, of Chartsey, Canterbury, New 

 Zealand, by mating Lincoln stud rams with stud Merino 

 ewes, and by subsequent selection to prevent them going 

 too much to the Merino side, as then they become less 

 robust. " The sheep has a great constitution, and with a few 

 exceptions a really good fleece of superfine combing or fine 

 combing wool." The flock has taken over 200 first prizes at 

 four shows in seventeen years, and there is a ready sale 

 for rams. In 1905 a lot of ten went to South America at 

 20 guineas each. 



The Kent, or Romney Marsh, is a hardy, white-faced 

 breed. It has been somewhat modified and improved by 

 crossing with the Leicester ; but it was early discovered 

 that improvement for a breed like the Lincoln, where 

 abundance of food could be provided by arable cultivation, 

 was no improvement when gained at the cost of hardiness 

 in the case of a sheep which had, like the Romney Marsh, 

 to find its winter food in unsheltered pastures. The breeders, 

 taking their type from the symmetrical Leicester, preferred 

 to improve the breed by careful selection of the best to 

 breed from, and no doubt the exceptional hardiness of the 

 Romney sheep and its adaptability to different conditions 

 abroad, are due to this fact. Kent sheep are not as a rule 

 even now artificially fed in winter when on natural pasture, 

 and, like the Scotch mountain breeds undergoing similar treat- 

 ment, they do not lamb till April. A lamb to each ewe is 

 under such circumstances a satisfactory yield. The wool, 

 which belongs to the demi-lustre type, is good, and the breed 

 is one of the closest coated of the long-wools. Points. 

 The forelock is sometimes wanting, and on account of this 

 and other irregularities the breed is not uniform in type, 

 though the best sheep are compact and symmetrical in 

 form, and noted for great breadth of forehead and strength 



