LONG-WOOLLED LINCOLN SHEEP. 305 



the intelligent Lincolnshire breeders determined to follow in 

 his footsteps ; and, by a wise and judicious admixture of 

 Leicester blood, they created an entirely new type of sheep, 

 which retained the pre-eminent wool-bearing qualities of the 

 old breed, and showed a marked improvement in form and in 

 their aptitude to accumulate flesh. Foremost among these 

 early improvers were the Kirkhams, Chaplins, Caswells, 

 Duddings, and Clarkes, whose flocks continue to hold the 

 highest rank up to the present day. The uneducated agricul- 

 turists of the past generation, however, for many years refused 

 to take advantage of the skill displayed by the pioneers in this 

 great work of improvement ; but finally they began to perceive 

 the vast superiority of the new type, which soon became the one 

 established breed of the county. 



Of course the great change which is now observable in the 

 character of the sheep was not effected until after many 

 disappointments, and until years of skill and patience had been 

 devoted to the work. Fresh names were continually being 

 added to the list of breeders — names which have since become 

 famous — the Marshalls, Greethams, Davys, Wrights, Cart- 

 wrights, Howards, Pears, Paddisons, Battarsbys, Kemps, Haver- 

 crofts, Yesseys, Eobinsons, Mayfields, Smith of Cropton Butler, 

 and Mackinder ; and the result of the competition has been the 

 production of a sheep unequalled for wool and mutton combined. 



It is somewhat singular that the Royal Agricultural Society 

 of England should have refused a separate class to the improved 

 Lincolns until the Battersea show in 1862. The slight was 

 resented by many of the most noted breeders ; hence the 

 stewards reported that " the class was weak in numbers and in 

 stamp, Mr. Marshall's first-prize ram being perhaps an 

 exception." At Worcester, in the following year, Lincolns had 

 again to compete as " Lincolns and other Long-wools," and thi» 

 continued to be the case until 1870. At the Plymouth show, in 

 1865, the judges complained that the Lincolns " never come out 

 in such numbers or form as to show their real character, the 

 Lincoln flockmasters apparently thinking that the price obtained 

 for them is a sufficient test of their excellence." In the interval 

 between 1862 and 1870 the majority of the prizes in the Long- 

 wool class were carried off by Lincoln sheep, the most successful 



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