;\ ; TBHE- SHEPHERD'S MAKtJAL. 



that age), was slaughtered in England, which dressed 96} Ibs. the 

 quarter; a two-shear sheep dressed 91 Ibs. per quarter, and a 

 yearling dressed 71 Ibs. per quarter. In a report on Lincoln sheep, 

 it is stated that thirty 14-months-old wether lambs, slaughtered at 

 .Lincoln Fair, averaged 140 Ibs. each, dressed weight, and 100 to- 

 gether of the lambs clipped 14 Ibs. of washed wool apiece. The 

 usual practice of the Lincolnshire breeders is to feed the sheep 

 until about two years old, when they will have yielded a second 

 fleece weighing 10 to 14 pounds, and will dress 120 to 160 Ibs. 

 dead weight i ? or the butcher. The wool of this breed is very long 

 and lustrous, measuring nine inches and over. The origin of the 

 present highly improved breed, was a race of heavy-bodied sheep 

 which in itS'pure state is now practically extinct. It inhabited the 

 low alluvial flats of Lincolnshire, and the adjoining localities, on 

 the eastern coasts of England. These sheep were large and coarse, 

 with a long, ragged, oily fleece, which nearly swept the ground. 

 They fed slowly, but made much inward fat, and their meat was 

 well flavored, fine grained, juicy, and not too much overlaid with 

 fat on the outside. A century ago this was the established char- 

 acter of these sheep. When the improved Leicesters of Mr. Bake- 

 well came into notoriety, the intelligent Lincolnshire breeders ob- 

 tained some of his rams, and by admixture of their blood, in time 

 established a distinctly new breed. In connection with a system 

 of farming, in which heavy crops of roots and green fodder were 

 the chief productions, this improved breed became fixed in its 

 character as the heaviest producers of mutton and wool in the 

 world. In one instance 26} Ibs. of wool was taken from a 14- 

 xnonths old lamb. From 1862 to 1870, the majority of prizes for 

 long- wool sheep at English fairs, were taken by the Lincolns, but 

 it was not until the former date, that the breed was given a dis- 

 tinct place as a separate class at these shows. Since then it has 

 achieved great prominence, and become very popular for crossing' 

 upon other breeds, for the production of feeding sheep, and for its 

 yield of long, lustrous, and worsted wools. The Lincoln requires 

 the best and richest soils, and succulent herbage, and can only 

 thrive under the best management and very high farming. At 

 present it is questionable if we in this country have any place in 

 our agriculture which this sheep can profitably fill, unless it be in 

 a very few instances, where the highest skill of the breeder is ex- 

 ercised under peculiarly favorable conditions of soil and climate. 

 A fine flock of these sheep was imported by Mr. Richard Gibson, 

 of London, Canada, and has been carefully and successfully culti- 

 yated by him. A portion of Mr. Gibson's flock has been recently 



