ENGLAND. 



725 



Statistic* nearly allied to the Heath sheep, that they may be clas- 

 '*~~Y^* seel with them. The following Table will exhibit a clear 



view of these different breeds, according to their most ^Statistics, 

 important and distinguishing properties. V " - *V 



Long and 

 hott wool- 

 led. 



Districts 

 where the 

 former are 

 kepc 



breed. 



Number in 



Imi'iam. 



Qua: 

 Of WCt i. 



In York- 



tL". 



In our further remarks on the sheep of England, we 

 shall divide them into two classes, the fleeces of which 

 are distinguished from one another, both by the length 

 of the staple and the mode of manufacturing them ; the 

 one being adapted to the fabrication of woollen goods, 

 and the other to that of worsted. Long woolled sheep 

 are found in many detached parts of England, but much 

 more commonly on the eastern than the western side, 

 and often nearer to the coast than the middle of the 

 kingdom. Amongst the larger ranges of long woolled 

 sheep, the most northern are found near the mouth of 

 the Tecs ; the next range are found in that district, 

 which comprehends the south-eastern point of Yorkshire, 

 nearly the whole of Lincolnshire, and the Finland* of 

 Huntingdon, Cambridge, and Norfolk. The same kind 

 of sheep, with respect to their wool, are likewise found 

 in the smaller marshes of Essex and of Kent, which sur- 

 round the inlets of the sea ; but, in the latter county, 

 they are most numerous in the marshes of Romney and 

 Guilf.ird. Long-woolled sheep are also found in the 

 counties of Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, on the Cots- 

 wold hills, in some small and detached part-; of Lanca- 

 shire, Oxford, Bedford, and Stafford, through the whole 

 of Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, and 

 Huntingdonshire, and along the hanks of most of the 

 Urge rivers in the kingdom. 



Having thus sketched out the districts in which the 

 long-woolled sheep are found, we shall now proceed to 

 consider these , ; i>tr.' ts separately, and endeavour to esti- 

 mate the number of sheep which each district keeps, and 

 the quantity of long-wool which it supplies to our manu- 

 factures. To begin with the Teeswater : in the county 

 of Durham, where we first meet with them in proceed- 

 .111 the north, the stock of these sheep upon the 

 . iries very much in different parts; probably, on 

 tbe whole, there are about two sheep upon every three 

 The extent of land on which this breed of sheep 

 cpt, cannot be more than one third of the county ; 

 :mg to this calculation, the stock of sheep will be 

 :) ; which, averaging the fleece of each sheep at 



>-e '^5-20 packs of wool. 



, k-li'-e, the long-woolled breed of sheep are 

 . kept in the districts of Cleveland and Holderness. 



The former district maintains about 14,300, but their 

 fleece cannot be rated higher than 8lbs ; thus giving a 

 quantity of wool amounting to 470 packs. The Tees- 

 water breed are seldom seen to the south of Cleveland. 

 The whole quantity of wool produced by them is nearly 

 3000 packs. The Lincoln breed was formerly very 

 general over the district of Holderness, but latterly they 

 have given way in a great measure to the Dishley ; but, 

 although this tract of land is very fertile, and well adapt- 

 ed to grazing, yet, as the breeding of cattle is the main 

 object of the grazier's attention, the stock of sheep is 

 singularly light, there being probably not more than one 

 to every four acres. According to this calculation, there 

 will be 84,000 sheep, which, at 8lbs. to the fleece, will 

 give 2800 packs ; the whole of which is sent to the ma- 

 nufactures of the West Riding. 



The natural advantages of Lincolnshire, the next dis- Lincoln- 

 trict of long-woolled sheep, for the production of this shlre breed> 

 kind of fleece, are great and numerous ; and it is probable 

 that they were first attended to here with spirit and pro- 

 fit, since it is known that the looms of Norfolk were sup- 

 plied for nearly five centuries from the pastures of this 

 county. The native breed of Lincolnshire, though much 

 reduced in numbers, and lowered in fame, by the intro- 

 duction ef the new Leicester, still retain possession of a 

 pretty considerable extent of the county. In other parts, 

 a mixed breed between the new Leicester and the Lin- 

 colnshire are kept ; by this mixture, the wool is render- 

 ed finer and shorter, and its colour is improved ; but it 

 has lost a large proportion of that toughness, which is an 

 indispensible quality in good combing wool. The low 

 lands of this county, as has been already remarked, car- 

 ry a very heavy stock of sheep. Where no cattle are 

 put on along with them, it is said, that eight sheep have 

 been kept on a single acre. Probably, taking in the 

 whole of tle low grounds, and allowing for a stock of 

 cattle, the average number of sheep is nearly three on 

 an acre, which will make the number of sheep amount to 

 1,240,000; and averaging the weight of the fleece so 

 low as 9lbs. the produce of wool will be about 46,500 

 packs. As very few sheep can safely be kept during 

 winter on the marsh lands, which extend from the mouth 

 of the Humber along the coast, the stock on them can- 



