ENGLAND. 



Short 



Stock per 

 acre. 



Number f 



Number 

 diughtmd. 



LimVi 

 wool. 



Different 

 <igrecs of 



fineness. 



weight from five to nine pounds, may be estimated at 

 seven pounds ten ounces. 



That the stock, per acre, of this breed of sheep, may 

 be set down as } , sheep maintained on one acre of ground ; 

 the heaviest stock being 21 sheep on four acres, and th 

 lightest one sheep on three acres. 



That the produce per acre of long fleece wool is nearly 

 eight pounds, and the number of packs 131,794. 



The number of sheep of this kind that are annually 

 slaughtered, it is not easy to calculate with any consider- 

 able degree of accuracy ; but, according to the opinion of 

 those who have die best means of information, and who 

 have taken the greatest pains to inform themselves on 

 this subject, it amounts to 1,176,770: of this number, 

 probably not more than 196,128, produce wool fit for 

 manufacturing uses, from which about 5434 packs are 

 obtained. This will make the total number of packs of 

 long wool amount to 137,228. In the second place, 

 with respect to shoit-woolled sheep, the number kept 

 amounts, as appears from the details which have been 

 given, to 14,854,299; the quantity of land on which they 

 are maintained, may be calculated qt 28,412,202 acres. 



The average fleece of this kind of wool may be esti- 

 mated at 3 pounds 4 ounces ; the smallest produce be- 

 ing l pounds, and the heaviest five pounds. 



The stock, per acre, of the short woolled sheep, is &, 

 the highest being four sheep on three acres, and the 

 lowest one sheep on four acres. 



The produce, per acre, of short fleeced woo?, is one- 

 pound five ounces, and the total number of packs 

 202,737. 



The number of short woolled sheep annually slaugh- 

 tered, is calculated to amount to 4,221,748, producing 

 28,520 packs of skin-wool ; besides this, the skin-wool 

 of carrion sheep, or those which die annually of disease, 

 must be reckoned ; as it is calculated that these bear the 

 proportion of one to twenty of the whole stock of the 

 kingdom, it will give a grand total of 393,236 packs of 

 long and short wool. 



Taking in all kinds of sheep, and the two different 

 kinds of fleeces, the average stock per acre, in England, 

 is yf sheep; the average fleece, nearly four pounds 

 eight ounces ; the average produce of long skin-wool 

 per acre, about five ounces : of short skin. wool four 

 ounces; and of skin-wool over the whole kingdom, 

 nearly five ounces. In estimating the grand total of 

 wool produced in this country, we included 2919 packs 

 of lambs wool from lambs slaughtered, and 7800 packs 

 from lambs shorn, making the whole quantity of lambs 

 wool 10,718 packs. 



English wool is arranged into four classes, according 

 to the fineness of its pile : In tire first class, principally 

 produced from the three Ridings of Yorkshire, Westmore- 

 land, Cumberland and Lincolnshire, it is calculated there 

 are 31,007 packs; in the second class, produced from 

 Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Kent, 

 Hampshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Berkshire, Oxford- 

 shire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Staf- 

 ibrdshire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Nottingham, 

 Derbyshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Durham, Northum- 

 berland, nnd Wales, it is estimated there are 9S,6y4 

 jacks. Of the third class, produced from Essex, Surry, 

 Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, 

 Monmouthshire, Worcestershire, and Shropshire, there 

 arc supposed to be 53,486 packs; and of tilt fourtli and 

 Nst class, the produce of Norfolk, Suffolk, Sussex, and 

 Hereford, is estimated at 2i,450 packs. 



From the data which have been given, the important 

 and difficult point respecting the number of sheep in this 

 country may be ascertained, with as near an approxima- 

 tion to the truth as can be expected on such a subject ; 

 the following table will exhibit the result : 



Number of long woolled sheep, 4, 1 53,808 



Number of short woolled da 1 4,854,299 

 Total number shorn, ___ 

 Slaughter of short woolled 



sheep per annum, . . . 4,221,748 



Carrion of do 211,087 



Slaughter of long woolled do. 1,180,413 



Carrion of do 59,020 



Slaughter of lambs, .... 1,400,560 



Carrion of do. 70,028 



19,007,607 



7,140,86 



Total number of sheep and lambs in England, 26,1 48,463 Toul oar. 



ber of thctp . 



As the number of lambs yeaned, on an average, in the 

 course of the year, is calculated to amount to 7,002,802, 

 and it is seen above, that the number of slaughtered and 

 carrion sheep and lambs, annually, on an average, amounts 

 to 7,142,856, it would indicate an annual decrease of 

 140,054; and certainly, from all accounts, the sheep 

 stock of this kingdom is not so great as it was some, 

 years ago, though the decrease may not be in quite b 

 large a proportion. 



The grand result of these investigations, that the num- Total pro. 

 ber of sheep in England and Wales does not much ex- duoe of 

 ceed 26 millions, and that the produce of fleece is not woe '' 

 annually 400,000 packs, we must acknowledge is at va- 

 riance with the general opinion on this most important 

 subject, which estimates the produce of England and 

 Wales at 600,000 packs, and increases the number of 

 sheep nearly in the same proportion ; but this opinion ei- 

 ther rests on no specific and particular data, or it is 

 grounded on tin erroneous estimate of the quantity of 

 land in England and Wales, and, in the next place, on 

 an overcharged calculation of the quantity of stock kept 

 per acre. We have already had occasion to point out 

 the error in the estimate of the quantity of land in this 

 kingdom, which reckons it considerably above 40 mil- 

 lions of acres. The number of acres capable of support- 

 ing sheep certainly cannot be supposed much to exceed 

 32 millions of acres; the quantity of stock per acre has 

 been averaged from the average S!/>"K oi' the diftbrent 

 counties, by Mr Luccock, in 1. : 'iSc on English 

 Wool," whom we have followed through alj these details, 

 with great confidence, from a well-founded opinion of 

 his minute and extensive knowledge on this important 

 subject ; and, with him, we have no doubt, that the es- 

 timate of 600,000 packs of wool, as the annual produce 

 of England and Wales, is fur above the truth, and that it 

 does not reach 400,000 packs. 



The original and established breeds of cattle, with their Br< . 

 permanent varieties at present in England, are the fol- cattl*. 

 lowing : First, the Devonshire ; from these arc derived 

 the Herefordshire, the old red cattle of Gloucestershire, 

 nnd the Sussex. The Devonshire are admirably calcu- 

 lated for draught, and fatten easily ; they are a most 

 beautiful and well-formed animal : they ure chiefly found 

 in the county from which they take their name. The 

 Herefordshire are rather larger than the Devonshire, 

 but similar to them in most of their qualities ; the cows 

 yield a large portion of rich milk ; they also are piiiicl- 



