IX*; IN PiKITISII r<>I.r.\!KIA. 



:rood. They are nut hard feeders, but must have good care and feed or they become 

 unsightly. The fleece is ml her open, and the wool hangs in ringlets of good length 

 and quality. They shear a fairly heavy fleece. They are about medium in fecundity 

 and early-maturing qualities. 



THE LINCOLN. 



This breed is quite an old one, coming from the county of the same name in 

 Eastern England. It originated by crossing Leicester rams on the Old Lincoln ewes. 

 This is the largest of our domesticated breeds of sheep. It has become a favourite 

 breed for crossing on Merino range ewes to produce large mutton lambs, and in 

 Australia this cross lias given rise to another new breed, the Corriedale. This large 

 breed does not thrive on scanty pasture. The Lincoln requires plenty of feed and is 

 adapted to lowland conditions. In Oregon the moist climate has been found well 

 suitiMl to them, and the Lincoln* produced there are famous, being equal to the best 

 English Lincolns. The mutton is inclined to be coarse. None of the long-wools 

 produce mutton as palatable as that of the Down breeds. The fleece is the heaviest 

 of all the mutton breeds, although not as heavy as that of the fine-woolled breeds. 

 The wool staple is long and lustrous. In early maturity and prolificacy the Lincoln 

 is not equal to the Down breeds. 



THE KENT, OR ROMNEY MARSH. 



This breed originated in a low-lying tract of land in Kent County, England, the 

 marsh being a tract reclaimed from the sea. The old Romney breed lacked good 

 mutton form and quality, but were hardy and produced a heavy fleece of long wool. 

 They usually grazed throughout the year, and these sheep still subsist without winter 

 feeding to-day in their native shire. The breed seems to have given good results 

 where tried on this side of the Atlantic, although few have been bred so far. The 

 breed is quite popular in New Zealand and Argentina. 



It is claimed that Romney lambs are larger at birth than any other breed. The 

 breed is white-faced and hornless and very hardy. The mutton is the best quality 

 of any of the long-wool breeds and nearly as good as Down mutton. The fleece is 

 long and dense and has some of the points of Down wool, ringlets not being so much 

 in evidence as in the other long-wool breeds. The foretop is not always present. 

 The fleeces weigh exceptionally well, the wool being dense as well as long. The 

 breed is not very prolific, not many twins being born. 



THE WENSLEYDALE. 



This attractive breed is descended from the old Teeswater breed. They are 

 native to the north of England, and in appearance are similar to the Leicester, the 

 two breeds having been mixed in the early days. The Wensleydale is a large. 

 upstanding, hornless, long-wool breed, very active and hardy. One characteristic is 

 that the face and legs and the whole skin to some extent are blue. The Old Country 

 breeders prefer this colour, as it brings dark-faced lambs when the rams are crossed 

 on lilack-faced Highland ewes. This cross is very popular in the north of England 

 for the production of hardy feeding sheep. 



The mutton of the Wensleydale is of good quality. The tleece is long, but rather 

 open, and falls in beautiful, close ringlets all over the body. The ewes are quite 

 fertile and good milkers. The inside of the ears should be blue and the forehead 

 adorned with a foretop of curly ringlets. 



THE BLACK-FACED HIGHLAND. 



This romantic breed is a native of the Highlands of Scotland, but no one knows 

 much about their origin. This breed and the Cheviot are the two important breeds 

 of she* 1 ]) in Scotland. 



The breed is well adapted to mountainous areas with scanty pasture. They are 

 exceedingly hardy and can withstand severe conditions where other sheep would die. 



