45 8 Saddle and Sirloin. 



made 4/. iSs. for a hundred.* Some few put Lincolns 

 on Leicesters, but it is the more common practice to 

 use the Leicester tup, and Mr. Greetham had a strong 

 dash of Aylesby blood on his fine Lincoln foundation. 

 Manchester, Wakefield, and the manufacturing dis- 

 tricts are the largest consumers of Lincoln mutton. 

 There is plenty of it to spare, as Lincolnshire has but 

 one large town in it, and being thinly populated 

 throughout, it is a larger exporter of farm produce 

 than any other county in England. The Lincoln tup 

 hoggets will regularly cut half a tod of wool (i4lbs.) 

 on turnips. Mr. Walesby has dangled in vain before 

 the breeders' eyes for years a prize for a tod (281bs.) 

 tup-fleece, but none of them have taken it. The wool 

 goes principally to Bradford to make bombazines, or 

 to be worked up with Continental short wools. Some 

 of the manufacturers are buying the best lustre that 

 they can to replace alpaca. The finest lustre wool is 



* The Biscathorpe letting was not so successful as usual in 1869, but 

 Mr. Dudding of Panton, took an aged sheep for 66!., and the plum of 

 the shearlings went to Mr. Going of Ireland for 65/. The joint ave- 

 rage for the 60 shearlings, 32 two-shears, and 28 three-shears, was 

 I2/. 2s. 6d. Mr. Kirkham's letting average in 1864 was 22/. I2s. \d. 

 for 150 rams. The ram which headed the lettings at i6o/. was let for 

 I37/. in '65. Very few breeders like to lack a Chaplin sheep, as the 

 flock is about the oldest in the county. In 1869, the ten shearlings and 

 four aged sheep let at Panton averaged iql. 2s. i$d. Two of the former 

 made 3i/. and 3O/. Sixty-six shearlings and old sheep were sold at 

 an average of I7/. 14^. 2d., three of them making 4O/. each, and another 

 36/. The Panton flock has been bred on the Panton farm for ninety 

 years. Old Panton, who has done yeoman service in improving the 

 breed, was bred by Mr. Dudding, sen., about twelve years ago, and sold 

 to Mr. Kirkham, when four years old at 70 guineas. His produce may 

 be safely averred to have made more money than any sheep in England. 

 The Messrs. Dudding (who sold fifty rams at an average of 2O/. 9^. $d. 

 this year, and made the best average in Lincolnshire) lamb 800 ewes, 

 and clip, with hoggs, over 1200. The other leading ram breeders in the 

 county of Lincolnshire are Messrs. Morris, Clark, Kirkham, Chaplin, 

 Vessey, Casswell, Davy, and Gilliat ; the old flock is now reduced and 

 in the hands of Mr. Walker of Durham ; and the largest flockmasters 

 are Messrs. Sowerby, Bramley, Ealand, Fieldsand, Chatterton, Welsh, 

 Tharpley, and Martin, who lamb from 1000 to 500 each. In 1866, the 



