THE OLD LINCOLN BREED. 169 



woolled Sheep, not a single flock of this kind is to be found. 

 The South Down Breed, it has been seen, has been exten- 

 sively substituted for many of the older breeds ; but the 

 Long-woolled Sheep of the lower country have likewise been 

 progressively extending, and have either displaced the Short- 

 woolled varieties altogether, or, by means of crossing, changed 

 their character with respect to the production of wool. 



XVII. THE OLD LINCOLN BREED, 



The breeds of Sheep hitherto described are proper to the 

 mountains, moors, downs, and less cultivated districts, and 

 most of them produce a short wool fitted for preparation by 

 the card. The breeds that remain to be described are of 

 entirely different characters, with respect to form and the 

 nature of the fleece. They are of large size, arid, until im- 

 proved by art, of coarse form ; and the wool which they 

 yield is long, thick, and tough in the filaments, of inferior 

 felting properties, but tolerably soft to the touch, and rarely 

 approaching to the harsh and wiry character of hair. This 

 kind of wool, from the strength and toughness of its fibres, 

 is unsuited for being broken into fragments by the action of 

 the card, and is, accordingly, never prepared except for 

 worsted yarn, and by the assorting of the comb. If the 

 British Islands are inferior to other countries in the produc- 

 tion of the finer felting wools, they are superior to any in 

 the case of those adapted to the worsted manufacture. The 

 long wools of the plains of England have in every known 

 period been of the highest estimation. They were early 

 carried to other countries, and now produce fabrics which 

 are diffused throughout the markets of the world. 



The Long-woolled Sheep of England are the natives of the 

 richer plains, although they have long been carried to all 

 parts of the country where agriculture has provided the 

 means of supplying artificial food. The first and most ex- 



