LINCOLN SHEEP OF THE PRESENT DAY, AND THE LUSTRE WOOLS.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1714, 13 August 1862, Page 5

LINCOLN SHEEP OF THE PRESENT DAY, AND THE LUSTRE WOOLS.

[From the " Farmers' Journal."] The value of this kind of sheep becoming more widely recognised in England each year, and the demand for the particular kind of wool it yields, increasing, and being likely to last long, it is for the interest of our readers that we should keep well advised of what is taking place, until we have plenty of Lincolns in the country to speak for themselves in the only way they can. Now, as always, the question is, what kind gives the most profit! and this the improved Lincoln clearly does. This fleece fetches the most money, and the feeding properties of the modern breed are little inferior to those of the kinds most famous in this respect. But on this point there has been a great change of late, the long-legged, unthrifty sheep of former days having given place to an animal of symmetrical form; in fact, the Lincolns and Lcicesters are now so much bred together that the peculiar merits of the two kinds are. completely blended, and throughout many of the midland and eastern counties of England, where the Lincolns are most general, the different names are almost used in common. In its own part of the country the improvement of the Lincoln was commenced long ago, as to form, but progress was slow, as there was no special demand in those days for bright wool, and this variety of sheep was not then much prized. Since, however, the change in the mode of manufacturing certain sorts of woollen goods has set in, and this kind of wool has come to be so much used, of course, the number of sheep bearing it has been vastly increased, and as the Leicester has the desired form, and in some flocks a tendency towards the desired brightness of staple, the admixture of the two kinds quickly became very general, the result being an animal which, as often stated already, is so much the most profitable when it can be kept that it is but our duty to harp on its merits to the farmers here, until this particular kind of sheep comes to bo considered as one of the colonial wants which must bo supplied. First, then, as to the feeding properties, which though good are of only secondary importance iu considering the special merits of this breed. The quantity of meat formed in proportion to the food consumed depends, of course, upon the way in which the sheep have been bred, but in those which have a preponderance of Lincoln blood,

and are allowed to be justly entitled to the name, the increase of weight is only second to the Leicester, among the long wools, and greatly superior to all others. In an experiment tried lately in the north of England, for the information of the farmers in the district, and where the turnips and oilcake were weighed, and the value of the quantities consumed by each lot of sheep thus ascertained, the Lincolns gained much the greatest weight of mutton, hut they also consumed the greatest weight of food, the balance at the conclusion being in favour of the Leicester, to to the extent of sixpence a head, and of the Shropshire Downs to the extent of si xteen-pence ; but the difference in favour of the last arose from the higher price the mutton fetched, not from the greater increase of weight. In this trial the Cotswolds showed badly, as they paid less than the Lincolns by nineteenpence a head, although when on grass and on rape, before being penned up, they increased the most rapidly of all. Two other lots of large cross-bred sheep were a little inferior to the Cotswold; but the lot of Southdowns, tried with the long wools, gave a profit of a shilling a head, as compared with the Lincolns. The time of feeding was a little over three months, and each lot of six sheep had as much turnips as they could eat, with the same weight of oil-cake every day—half a pound each—excepting the Lincolns, which had a quarter of a pound extra for a part of the time, the cost of this being charged against them in the calculations. When slaughtered, the Lincolns were the heaviest by an average of 14lb. each over the Leeiesters, Shropshire Downs, and cross-bred sheep ; while the Cotsvvoldsand Southdowns were the same weight, averaging I4lb. each less than the four last mentioned kinds. From these relative weights it will be seen that the Lincolns used in this experiment were not very large sheep of the sort, weighing when killed U39 lb. each but had, as previously mentioned, a large proportion of Lincoln blood in them. It was, however, in regard to wool that the Lincolns had the greatest advantage, as they had fleeces, when killed, of lllb. each, while the fleeces of the Cotswolds, which came next, weighed only 9 lbs. The fleeces of the Leicester's and cross bred sheep were little over 71b. each, while those of the Southdowns were little over 4 lb. During the time of feeding, or a third of the year, the firstnamed lot of sheep grew 22 lb. of wool for the six, while the Southdowns only grew 9 lb. 5 ozs., and thus the slight advantage gained in regard to the mutton is turned against these last, so that the total profit on the large sheep was nearly double what it was on the small, after deducting the cost of the food consumed. In selling the wool, the long stable fetched more per ib. than did the short, though the Lincoln fleeces do not appear to have been very superior of their kind, as they only fetched the same price as those of the Leicester and Cotswolds, namely, 18d. per pound. However, the weight was there, and from two to four pounds of difference in the fleeces from animals of nearly the same size, is a matter of no little consequence, especially to us out here, where the wool will always bear relatively a higher value than the mutton. The fleeces of the best flocks of Lincolns generally through England last season were stated, by those engaged in the wool trade, to have averaged from 10 lb. to 15 lb. each in weight, and to have realised from, 20s. to 255. Some breeders are now trying for a fine and very bright staple ; and for this they must, of course, sacrifice weight; but it is the most valuable, and these lighter fleeces, if good, fetch more than the heavy ones. These sheep are generally kept until they they have been shorn twice or three times, none being sent to market before the third year ; not because they are unfit sooner, but because the wool pays so wool. And it is certainly a hue thing to have a flock of sheep, yielding at least a pound a head at shearing time in money, and these animals are not very great consumers of food for although in the feeding trial referred to they had a small quantity of oil-cake extra, they scarcely ate more turnips than did the Cotswolds. These last are the more hardy, and thrive on coarser herbage, but the finer grass is well bestowed on the former, which, by the way, are not at all delicate, having both good appetites and sound constitutions. Still they belong, as a breed, to low lands, and therefore like succulent herbage, which is most probably requisite for keeping up the pecular brightness or their wool, for this clearness of staple was only found originally belonging to these and the Rommey Marsh sheep which last breed has not been so generally improved as yet

In drawing attention to sheep of this kind especially, we do so not only because they are the most profitable just at the present moment, but because the lustre wools promise to remain long in demand. They are required by the manufacturers for mixing with alpaca and the nner-combing wools in the loosely-woven woollen goods now so extensively used, as they take the brightest colours well, and give a glossy appearance to the whole. The felting wools are altogether at a discount, and are likely to remain so, for the cloths made from them are too expensive, and the short-wooled sheep are increasing much more rapidly than the long. Beisdes, there has been a great improvement of late in spinning machinery, and chemists are making so many discoveries in the art of dying, that showy looking goods can be got up at a very cheap rate, if there is but the raw material to make them of. Now, long wool is not very scarce, but when fine it often wants strength, and' when coarse, if not naturally '* lustrous," it is otdy fit to take dull colours. Thus, in selecting sheep for what we may call permanent flocks, either one quality or the other should be looked to. The staple should be either bright and clear, with somewhat of a glossy look, or it should be fine with strength and elasticity. If the latter is clear and bright also, so much the better, as of course that as most valuable which has both good qualities united ; but they are scarcely to be found together, and among what are beginning to be called farmer's sheep here, only the former need be looked for. These are mostly across between the Merino and Cotswolds or Leicester, and bear wool of all sorts between the two extremes, only a very small per centage having such as can be called good of any kind, but there are sometimes exceptional animals worth preserving, and all these should be kept against the time when Lincoln rams are to be had. The twenty shilling fleeces are worth trying for, and it is only thus that any number of animals likely to bear such, are to be obtained within a moderate space of time. The few Cotswolds have already done much towards rendering familiar to us a variety of sheep almost unknown five years since, and it will be sate to predict that the Lincoln will shortly be in more request than even the Cotswolds is now, and, therefore, as numerous. In the meantime, much may be done by selection, not exactly towards establishing the kind required, for this would he altogether too slow a mode of proceeding, but towards making the most of this when it comes. All who intended to breed the best and most profitable kind of farmer's sheep, must set up a type for themselves, and this should have the form of the Leicester with a fleece of silky wool—much heavier than that animals carries. With some such picture in his mind's eye, the founder of* a Hock must not be too hard to please at first, but get together ewes with some good points in them, discarding the worst from time to time, as opportunities for improvement offer, and at length he may have a collection not to be ashamed of. The standard set up will not be reached for a long time —probably never ; but it is so that the materials at hand must be rendered available towards the object aimed at, and when the improved Lincoln is in the country, the result will not appear quite so unattainable as it does now.