Breeds of Sheep 29 



Merino with its multiple families is the only breed 

 that may be properly called fine-wooled, though 

 there are sometimes individuals among the medium 

 wools that would meet the requirements of this 

 term. The medium-wooled breeds may be said to 

 include the Southdown, Shropshire, Cheviot, Dorset, 

 Oxford, Suffolk, and Hampshire; while the coarse- 

 wooled breeds embrace the Wensleydale, Leicester, 

 Cotswold, and Lincoln. The classification based 

 upon the length of the fiber in the fleeces cannot be 

 defined so closely at this time as in earlier days, owing 

 to the fact that the wool of the breeds that were 

 formerly classified as short, has undergone such an 

 increase in length that it cannot be called so now. 

 The long-wooled breeds are identical with the coarse- 

 wooled, while all the others in contradistinction to 

 these may be classified as short-wooled, with the 

 xmderstanding that there is a wide variation in this 

 class. 



Classification based on being polled or horned. — 

 Another classification sometimes referred to divides 

 the breeds into polled and horned groups. The 

 polled or hornless heads are the Romney Marsh, 

 Lincoln, Cotswold, Leicester, Oxford, Shropshire, 

 Suffolk, Hampshire, Southdown, and Cheviot ; while 

 the horned breeds are the Dorset, Highland, Exmoor, 

 and the Lonks. In the Merino and the Welsh 

 breed, the ewes are hornless and the rams horned. 



Classification based on altitude. — It is a common 



