THE LINCOLN 



447 



of a ram reach 30 pounds. The average weight of fleeces on 

 Lincoln wether lambs in the Iowa feeding experiments was 12.9 

 and 10.4 pounds respectively, the heaviest of the ten breeds under 

 trial, and yielding the largest income from sale, viz., ^1.79 and 

 ^1.56 respectively. A mature ewe should produce close to 15 

 pounds, and a ram 18 to 20 pounds. In fineness of quality this 

 ranks slightly better than the Leicester. Compared with the 

 Leicester fleece it is longer, is in larger spirals or curls, and 



Fig. 209. A Lincoln ewe, first prize in class at the Ohio State Fair, 1905. 

 Owned and exhibited by J. R. Bickett, Xenia, Ohio. Photograph by 

 the author 



covers the belly better. Wrightson states that the wool is very 

 bright and lustrous when shorn, giving the name "luster wool." 

 This feature, however, disappears when the sheep are bred away 

 from their native county. The massing of the wool in flakes or 

 strands upon the animal is characteristic of the breed, but the 

 fiber is hair-like and "lashy" if separated and compared with 

 the fiber of Merino wool. 



The breeding quality of the Lincoln is not of the first rank. 

 Ewes are good mothers but produce only a fair amount of milk 

 and are not of more than average fecundity. 



