ENGLAND. 



729 



"* wool, which extends from the high peak to the borders 

 of Scotland, and from the moorlands of Yorkshire to the 

 Irish sea. The sheep have black faces nnd legs : The 

 fleeces are loose and coarse. Other kinds, however, are 

 kept in this county. The average stock is nhoiit 21 

 sheep on 19 acres; the whole number kept 362,400; 

 the fleece averages 8 Ibs. ; and the total quantity of 

 wool may be estimated at 4530 packs, the market for 

 which is Yorkshire. 



Cheshire. In Cheshire very few sheep are kept : They, in gene- 



ral, are small, producing short and fine wool. The stock 

 is heaviest on the high grounds on the eastern part of 

 the count}', and on the forest of Delamere. It is calcu- 

 lated, that the whole number in the county does not ex- 

 ceed 15,000, which, yielding an average fleece of 4 Ibs. 

 give 380 packs of wool. In Cheshire, the skin-wool 

 bears a much larger proportion to the fleeces than in 

 most other parts of England. 



Lancashire. Lancashire also supports few sheep. The return of 

 stock in this county, made by order of government in 

 the year 1803, includes 80,920 sheep ; but this return 

 is evidently grossly erroneous. It is much more proba- 

 ble, that, as there is nearly one sheep to three acres of 

 ground, the whole number may amount to 310,000; 

 and as the fleece averages 3^ Ibs. the quantity of wool 

 produced in Lancashire may be estimated at 4520 packs : 

 which is wrought either in the manufactures of the coun- 

 ty, or in those of Yorkshire. 



Yorkshire. In considering Yorkshire as supporting short-woolled 

 sheep, it may be proper to take the three Hidings sepa- 

 rately. In the West Riding a great variety are met ; 

 among others, the Dishley nnd the Cheviot. In the 

 more fertile parts, the fleece probably weighs 4.', Ibs. and 

 the stock is at the rate of four sheep on seven acres ; 

 while on tin hills, where the mountain breed are kept, 

 the stock cannot be calculated higher than one sheep to 

 eight acies, and the average fleece at 3^ Ibs. The pro- 

 duce of the whole of this Riding, therefore, is nearly 

 .5000 packs of wool, obtained from 2Gl,70t) sheep. The 

 long-woolled sheep of Holderness, in the East Riding, 

 have been already noticed. On the Wolds, a great num- 

 ber of the short-woolled kind are kept; according to the 

 best accounts, about 53 upon 4<) acres ; the fleeces weigh- 

 ing nearly 5 Ibs. ; the total number of sheep 366,240 ; 

 the packs of wool 6400. In the North Riding, averaging 

 the stock and fleeces of the eastern and western moor- 

 lands and the vale of York, the former may be one sheep 

 to two acres, and the latter may weigh 6 Ibs. ; affording 

 4660 packs from 280,000 sheep. Most of the wool 

 from the North Riding is sent into the west of England. 

 I" Westmoreland, the breed of sheep is of the moun- 

 bnd. tain kind. On the low lands of this county there is 



about half a sheep to an acre of ground, but on the 

 mountains not half that proportion. It is calculated, 

 that the total stock may amount to 223,700 sheep, 

 which afford 32fiO packs, at 3,1 Ibs. each ; the greatest 

 part of which is wrought by the manufactures of Ken- 

 dal, and the remainder sent into Yorkshire. 

 tr- On the mountains of Cumberland, the Herd wick nnd 



I"" 1 - the mountain breed arc kept ; and other varieties in the 



vale lands. Part of this county is very thinly stocked, 

 on 200,000 acres there not being more than 50,000 

 sheep ; on the remainder of the land there may be near- 

 ly half a sheep j>er acre. Over the whole county, per- 

 haps, there are 378,400 sheep, producing 5900 packs 

 of wool, at the average of 3f Ibs. the fleece. 



VOL. VIII. P.MIT II. 



The Teeswater district of Durham, on which the Statistics. 

 long-woolled sheep of that denomination are kept, has ^"T v '""""' 

 been already described. Over the rest of the county 

 short-woolled sheep are generally kept ; the average, 

 fleece may be estimated at 5 Ibs. ; the number of these ' 

 sheep at 159,400; and the whole produce of wool at 

 3300 packs. 



On the mountains of Northumberland the black-faced Korthum- 

 heath sheep are kept ; but in other parts of this comity berlaucl. 

 a better stock prevails, namely, the Cheviot breed. QII 

 the mountains the stock is light, not amounting to more 

 than 179 sheep on 277 acres; in the other districts it 

 is heavier. Probably in the whole county there may be 

 538,000 sheep ; and as the average fleece is about 5^ Ibs. 

 the total quantity of wool will be 12,330 packs. The 

 greatest proportion of this wool is sent to Yorkshire; a 

 part of it to Aberdeen, and other places in Scotland ; 

 and the remainder is manufactured within the count}-. 



Over nearly the whole of Wales the sheep are singu- Sheep in 

 larly small, with horns, white faces, and white legs ; but Wales. 

 the influence of different kinds of manufactures is visible 

 on the flocks of the principality, especially on the flocks 

 of Montgomery, over which the influence of the market 

 at Welshpool for Welsh flannels extends. And in Gla- 

 morganshire, a breed somewhat similar to those on the 

 Cotswold Hills is kept. In North Wales the stock is 

 light, five acres supporting not more than a single sheep, 

 exclusively of cattle. In this division of Wales it may be 

 estimated that 683,000 are maintained, producing near- 

 ly 5300 packs of wool, the fleece being reckoned, on an 

 average, at 2 Ibs. The principal marts for it are the 

 fairs of Llanreost and Bangor. 



On the mountains of South Wales, the same kind of 

 sheep are met with, which occupy the mountains of the 

 northern division of the principality ; but they are more 

 numerous in general ; the fleeces are reckoned at 1 -\ 

 pound, and give as their total weight S570 packs, the 

 produce of 571,000 sheep: the home manufactures take 

 off the whole of it. 



Besides the various kinds of sheep which have been Merino 

 described, the Merino or Spanish sheep must not be pas. sheep, 

 sed over unnoticed ; they were introduced into this conn, 

 try about 1 4 years ago, and for some years were a very 

 favourite breed ; but it has been ascertained, that though 

 the fleece does not much degenerate here, yet the car- 

 cass, which is naturally very ill formed, and affords 

 comparatively li'.tle weight of meat, does not improve ; 

 and as the farmer, in the kind of sheep which he keeps, 

 must look not only to the produce of wool, but also 

 to the butcher market, he has found it his interest rather 

 to return to the native breeds of his own country, and to 

 give up the Spanish sheep ; they have, however, bcon of 

 considerable service to the flocks of England, having 

 l>ccii judiciously and successfully crossed, in many in- 

 stances, with the South Down, Ryeland, &c. 



It may be proper, as well as useful and acceptable to General re- 

 the reader, before quitting this most interesting and im- suits, 

 portant branch of our subject, to give the general results 

 of the details into which we have entered. 



In the first place, with regard to the long-woolled sheep \vith re- 

 of England, from the details which we have given, it spect to 

 appears that the number of sheep of this kind, kept in long-wool- 

 this country, amount to 4,153,308. led slleci>< 



That the total number of acres on which they are main- 

 tained is 3,939,563. 



That the average fleece of the long wool, varying in 

 *z 



