178 AN AGRICULTURAL FAGGOT. 



of type. The manager stated that no outside blood had 

 been used since the establishment of the flock, and even 

 if this is not literally the case, there is no doubt that it has 

 been very closely in-bred. The system of mating the 

 rams and ewes and recording the pedigrees is evidently 

 most carefully arranged. Each ewe is brought into the 

 house to the ram, the ram and ewe having each its own 

 number stamped on the fleece. As soon as the ewe is 

 served, the number of the ram is also stamped upon her 

 back. There are about 500 ewes, and the farm consists 

 of about 890 acres. 



I saw very little of the Merino sheep in the country, the 

 prevailing native breed in the districts I visited being the 

 Berrichon. At the farms attached to the Agricultural 

 Institute at Beauvais, however, a flock of 400 Dishley- 

 Merinos is kept, and I saw there one pure-bred Merino 

 ram, and four rams of the Dishley-Merino breed. The 

 latter struck one as having lost at any rate the size of the 

 Leicester. 



The Craonnaise breed of pigs was mostly kept, so far 

 as I saw, and at Pinceloup there are some extraordinary 

 specimens of this famous breed. Among the many 

 honours won by this herd was the championship at the 

 last Paris Exhibition. The size of the boars is enormous, 

 much exceeding that of our largest Yorkshires, which 

 they resemble more nearly than any other English breed. 

 They are, however, larger, longer in the leg, with greater 

 length and depth of body, and with a profusion of hair. 

 Yorkshires are also kept on this estate, so that we saw 

 them side by side ; but the agent, M. Beaucy, insisted on 

 the superiority of the Craonnaise pigs, which, he stated, 

 gave a larger percentage of meat and a smaller proportion 

 of lard. 



I cannot attempt to discuss the difference in the land 

 systems of the two countries, which would require an 

 article by itself, but it may be noted that in 1892 53 per 

 cent, of the land of France was farmed by the proprietor 



