THE LINCOLN 



641 



Much of the Lincoln coarseness is lost in the cross, the off- 

 spring producing fairly fine-grained and succulent meat. The fat 

 is more evenly distributed than in the pure-bred and not so massed 

 in a few places ; the flesh is of a nice flavor ; while the wool 

 is one of the most serviceable crossbreds going into the market. 

 Mr. Herbert Gibson gives an interesting statement 1 regarding 

 extensive crossbreeding in Argentina in which both mutton and 



'Fie. 302. A Lincoln ewe, first prize in class at the Ohio State Fair, 1905. Owned 

 and exhibited by J. R. Bickett, Xenia, Ohio. From photograph by the author 



wool were considered. In 1863 five thousand Pampas ewes were 

 selected and bred to Lincoln rams. These ewes were descended 

 from long-wooled Spanish sheep taken to South America during 

 the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They had white faces, 

 thin long legs, and long, lusterless coarse wool. " The experiment 

 was in every respect a successful one. The cross-Pampas soon 

 grew to the large body and luster wool of the Lincoln. The 

 ewes were prolific and excellent mothers, and the race hardy to 

 a degree ; they were kindly fatteners and easily shepherded." 



1 The History and Present State of the Sheep-Breeding Industry in the 

 Argentine Republic, 1893. 



