574 



FARMER' 8 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



though popular in England, has never 

 made much headway in America. There 

 are two types of Leicesters, the Bakewell 

 and the Border Leicester. They both 

 have the same general style, but the 

 Border Leicester is a little the larger 

 and not quite so compact as the Bake- 

 well. They are a white faced, square 

 bodied, hornless breed. The mature 

 bucks weigh from 225 to 250 pounds, and 

 ewes 200 to 225 pounds. The unwashed 

 fleece will weigh from 9 to 11 pounds. 

 The wool is of good length and fibre, and 

 hangs in spirals at the outer surface, 

 covering the whole carcass except the 



United States in 1836. They are the 

 heaviest of all the breeds of sheep raised 

 in this country, the mature rams in good 

 flesh weighing 275 to 300 pounds, and 

 the ewes from 225 to 250 pounds. The 

 unwashed fleece should weigh from 12 

 to 14 pounds on the average. And the 

 staple should not be less than 8 inches 

 in length. It hangs in large and wavy 

 spirals. This breed has a white face 

 and a conspicuous tuft on the forehead. 

 Both sexes are hornless. 



In experiments at the Iowa station, 

 Lincoln sheep produced the heaviest 

 fleece of 10 breeds under domestication 



Fig. 361 — YEARLING HAMPSHIRE RAM 



head and legs. They are especially 

 suited to thickly settled conditions where 

 there is an abundance of succulent vege- 

 tation. They are easy keepers, mature 

 early and make excellent use of the food 

 given them. They are only fairly well 

 adapted for rough grazing purposes. In 

 prolificacy they are not equal to some of 

 the other breeds. The American Leices- 

 ter Breeders' association, formed in 1888, 

 has registered about 8,975 animals. 



Lincoln — This is probably the most 

 popular of the long wool breed of sheep. 

 It originated in Lincolnshire, England, 

 and has been distributed all over the 

 world. They were first imported into the 



and the fleece sold for the most money. 

 They are especially well adapted to an 

 intensive system of agriculture, are good 

 grazers, dress out well on the block and 

 the quality of the meat is good, though 

 not equal in flavor to that of the middle 

 wool breeds. The Lincoln has been ex- 

 tensively used by ranchmen in America 

 and Australia for crossing upon Merinos 

 to improve their size and mutton qual- 

 ities. 



The National American Lincoln 

 Sheep Breeders' association was organ- 

 ized in 1891 and has registered about 

 14,000 animals. 



