22 ON THE AGRICULTUKE OF 



use into which two sheep can be pnt at once, and by this means 

 the work is got over very expeditiously. Smearing has now 

 been alnaost universally abandoned, because of the amount of 

 extra time and labour it involves ; though occasionally black- 

 faced ewes are smeared with a mixture of tar and butter, in 

 the proportion of 1 gallon of tar to 6 lbs. of butter — a 

 quantity sufficient to smear six sheep. The clip after smearing 

 with this composition generally yields about 6 lbs. of wool per 

 fleece. Clipping begins about the middle of June, and is con- 

 tinued till the end of the month ; the milk ewes are about a 

 fortnight later of being clipped than the others. Taking an 

 average over ewes and wethers, the produce of the clip w^ill give 

 about five fleeces to the stone of 24 lbs. "Wethers in some cases 

 will occasionally give a clip of 8 lbs. of wool. 



The average rent paid for purely sheep farms is about £18 per 

 every 100 sheep carried. The prices realised for shot lambs 

 range from 6s. to 8s. per head ; for draft ewes, from 16s. to 

 18s. each ; and for wethers, about 31s. per head. 



On several of the arable farms which have also a piece of 

 moorland included in them, another branch of sheep-farming is 

 carried on. The tenants of these farms buy in at the beginning 

 of winter a number of cross-bred or half-bred hoggs, which they 

 winter on grass, with the addition of a few turnips and a little 

 corn, and sell asfain in summer to the butchers. Some sell 

 before clipping, others after having taken off' the fleece. These 

 hoggs are bought in at prices ranging from 20s. to 30s. a-head^ 

 and are sold after the six or se^^en months' keep, at prices averag- 

 ing from 40s. to 50s. each. These hoggs, undipped, now sell at 

 about Is. per lb., clipped hoggs, at about 8d. or 9d. 



A few Cheviot ewes are kept on one or two farms, and are' 

 crossed with Leicester tups, for the supply of cross-bred lambs 

 for the butchers. The lambs are sold about the middle of June, 

 and draw about 30s. a-piece. The ewes, when the lambs are 

 taken off them, are fed off, and, if fat, draw about 5s. a-head more 

 than the price for which they were purchased. Sometimes the 

 difference between the buying and selling prices of these ewes i& 

 even greater than 5s., and when the value of their clip is taken 

 into account, it is apparent that this system of sheep-farming is 

 by no means unprofitable, and many farmers think it should be 

 more generally adopted. It has now been pursued for the last 

 twenty or thirty years on two or three farms. One of the tenants 

 keeps Cheviot ewes in stock, shoots out the slack ewes, and buys 

 in hoggs to maintain the stock ; the others sell off the ewes and 

 buy in a new lot every season. Sheep are brought in now from 

 Argyllshire in October, to be wintered for six months at 6s. 6s. 

 a-head. Whether this is profitable or not for the land it puts, 

 money into the farmers' pockets for the time being. 



