330 Sheep. 



getting a little cotton-cake. On the 3rd February fatting- com- 

 menced with linseod-cake in addition and cut swedes. On the 

 7th of April the 50 tegs were put on rye with mangolds, and 

 they were sold on the 4th of May at 61.9. each. 



The remaining 150 lambs were wintered as stores at little 

 cost, on inferior turnips uncut ; they were put on rye from March 

 8th till May 4th, when they were valued at 48^. each. 



The district just referred to became so exhausted of its stock 

 that at some of the later fairs the number of lambs and of ewes 

 exhibited was less than one-fourth of the average. But in Essex, 

 on six adjoining farms, including that from which I write, the 

 number of sheep wintered has been greater than these heavy lands 

 ever carried before. This has been effected by the extension of 

 a system of management often practised on heavy land, that 

 of eking out a scanty supply of green food by a liberal 

 allowance of straw, chaff, and grain; which happily were good 

 in (|uality, as well as plentiful and low in price in 1864. 



By these means we were enabled last winter to keep 1500 

 sheep on about 650 acres of arable, and 350 acres of dry upland 

 pasture — chief! v park surrounding a mansion. The arable land 

 does not very well Ijcar folding in winter, as a preparation for 

 spring corn. Neither climate nor soil are favourable to turnips, 

 and notwithstanding our efforts in assisting nature, our crops of 

 turnips, rape, or swedes, are never first-rate, and sometimes very 

 bad. Strong stubbles, good beans, clover-seed, and mangold, are 

 the specialties of the locality, and they indicate heavy land, corn- 

 growing, and yard-feeding. Sheep have been generally " con- 

 spicuous by their absence," though even the heavy-land farmer is 

 glad to winter a yard of them, instead of cattle, that he may keep 

 some at least of the stock that pays best. 



In the autumn of 1864 our root-crops consisted of some white 

 turnips and rape, eaten by the ewes in September, and of a very 

 bad crop of mangold, the whole of which was reserved for 

 the ewes at lambing-time. In this predicament we wintered 

 about 1000 half-bred lambs, more than 400 ewes, and some 

 fatting sheep. All, except the fatting sheep, were folded on the 

 stubbles, and allowed a daily run on the park of about an hour 

 for each flock. The freshest grass was reserved for the ewes, and 

 a very meagre bite remained for the lambs ; in fact, except for a 

 few weeks in autumn, the parks afforded them little or nothing 

 except exercise and water. 



The flocks were divided between three separate farms, and 

 their food was prepared at the respective homesteads. The 

 treatment was in every respect similar ; we shall therefore only 

 notice in detail the management at one farm. 



The following details are taken from our ' Live Stock 

 Book ' :— 



