338 EUROFEAN AGRICULTURE. 



Lincoln, or any other white-faced breeds, the Welsh sheep and 

 Cheviots excepted, with quality of mutton and wool superior to 

 any of them. The weekly statement of prices in the London 

 Smithfield market will bear me out in this assertion in regard to 

 meat, and the regular wool market in respect to the wool ; al 

 though, I believe, wool of the first cross between the Leicester 

 and the South Down, from the first clip, is worth, at the present 

 time, fully as much as the pure South Down, for certain pur 

 poses. I believe the South Down has more muscle, that is, 

 more lean meat, in proportion to their fat, than any other sheep. 



&quot; Their aptness to fatten is very great, at an early age. It has, 

 for many years past, become the custom, in the arable land dis 

 trict, to winter the wether lambs (viz., castrated lambs) upon 

 turnips, rape, &c., with from half a pint to a pint of corn, (pulse 

 or grain,) or oil cake made from linseed, per day, in the fold on 

 the turnip lands, where they are kept as long as the turnips last, 

 say until the middle of April, when they are clipped and sent to 

 market. Many are sold before that time, so that they are dis 

 posed of to the butcher at from twelve to fifteen months old, 

 weighing, upon an average, from eighteen to twenty pounds a 

 quarter. I believe they are capable of walking farther for their 

 food, and bringing it to fold, than any other sheep which can be 

 kept in hurdles, keeping the same good condition. As a proof 

 of this, you may see that my flock of ewes often walk from five 

 to six miles per day, backwards and forwards, to feed upon very, 

 very poor heath or sheep-walk, and have no artificial food. 



: The average yield of wool from breeding ewes is about four 

 pounds each, and from ewe and wether hogs,* from six to eight 

 pounds each, according to their size and keep, and the time of 

 clipping them. On referring to rny sheep book, I find the 

 average weight of wool for seven years past, upon sheep of dif 

 ferent ages, from one to seven years old, (rams,) varying in num 

 ber from one hundred and fifty to two hundred, each season, to 

 be about eight pounds each. 



&quot; I obtain usually one hundred and ten lambs to one hundred 

 ewes, and often many more. The lambs come generally about 

 the beginning of March. Many persons have them earlier, and 



* A sheep, after one shearing 1 , when a year or a year and a half old, is called 

 a shear-hog, or dinmont, or shearling. 



