IV.

Mutton-Type Sheep

Mutton-type sheep, which consist of medium- and long-wool breeds, have been bred primarily for their meat. They account for about 15 percent of the world sheep population. Among the medium-wool breeds are the Suffolk, Hampshire, Shropshire, Southdown, Dorset, Isle-de-France, Cheviot, and Oxford; and long-wool breeds, the largest of all breeds, include the Leicester, Lincoln, Cotswold, and Romney Marsh. In the United States, long-wool breeds are used extensively as sires with fine-wool and crossbred females for the production of market lambs.

Many attempts have been made to obtain the superior wool characteristics of fine-wool breeds with the meat-producing abilities of other breeds. These have resulted, in recent times, in the development of several new breeds: the Corriedale (merino-Leicester-Lincoln); Columbia (Rambouillet-Lincoln); Targhee (Rambouillet-Lincoln); Romeldale (Romney Marsh-Rambouillet-Corriedale); and Polworth (merino-Lincoln).