90 SHEEP WITH OTHER HUSBANDRY. 



there should be associated with it a proportionable amount 

 of 1 convertible husbandry. Mutton sheep demand grain, 

 roots, etc., in large quantities, and in return they supply all 

 the necessary fertilizing materials for those crops. These 

 fertilizers are comparatively wasted if not devoted to those 

 crops. Each husbandry, then, is necessary to the highest 

 profitableness of the other. Without such union, neither the 

 present admirable system of British agriculture, nor the 

 present maximum of population which derives its sustentation 

 from that agriculture, could be kept up. The adaptation of 

 the soil and other circumstances to convertible husbandry, 

 the tastes or wishes of the flock-master in regard to embarking 

 in it in connection with mutton growing, and the local market 

 for its products, all become, therefore auxiliary considerations 

 of weight in choosing between mutton and wool growing. 



I have aimed to present, Avith impartiality, the principal 

 circumstances which determine the adaptability of different 

 kinds of sheep to different situations. There are, however, 

 generally more or less minor ones in every man's case, knoAvn 

 only to himself, which somewhat qualify the influence of the 

 major ones ; and of -these he must be his own sole judge. In 

 closing this branch of my subject, I will only further add that 

 while, in selecting a breed of sheep, every one should keep his 

 eyes firmly fixed on the primary object of production, he 

 never should altogether lose sight of the accessory one. The 

 mutton sheep would probably be nowhere profitable without 

 its wool, and the wool sheep would be much less profitable 

 without its mutton. 



