Ch. XXXIX.] OX FOLDING. J69 



" Lempster ore," as being almost peculiar to tlie neiglibourliocd of Leo- 

 minster ;* and Drayton, the poet, asks — 



" Where lives the man so tUiU on Britain's farthest shore. 

 To whom did never sound the name of Lempstfr's ore P"' 



It is doubtful, however, whether the delicacy which the plan of cotting 

 occasions may not prove eventually injurious, for the sheep, in fact, suffer 

 more from heat than from cold. It has been tried in many instances in 

 this country without success, and was adopted during several years, with 

 moveable cotes, by that eminent and intelligent farmer Mr. George Webb 

 Hall, in the management of a Merino flock, which he has just abandoned 

 with very severe lossf. 



In bleak and exposed mountainous situations shelter is, indeed, sometimes 

 requisite ; for the drifts of snow are in those districts so violent as to over- 

 power the animals, which are often buried beneath the superincumbent mass, 

 and thousands have been lost for the want of some protection against the 

 inclemency of the weather. Farms thus situated, always extend over 

 a wide space, which feeds such numbers of sheep that it is no very easy 

 matter to provide for their means of security, and thus they are in most 

 cases left solely to the care of Providence. Some occupiers have, how- 

 ever, erected open folds, or as they are there termed, " Stells," to guard 

 ihem against the effects of the blast. 



The Stells are merely intended as a refuge for the sheep in cases of sudden 

 storm ; and as this often occurs without any notice of danger to the shep- 

 herd, who is not always near his flock, they are left open to the animals, 

 who are taught by instinct to seek them as places of safet^^ They are, 

 therefore, not to be considered in the light of permanent folds for the collec- 

 tion of manure ; neither are they generally made to contain more than five 

 or six score ; for, if larger, the walls would present a surface which would 

 prevent the drift of snow, and might accumulate it to a dangerous extent 

 witliin the inclosure. They are, therefore, placed on different parts of the 

 farm, and care should be taken to select those spots where the snow in its 

 drift may be expected to be carried clear of the pasture ; for otherwise the 

 sheep may be buried under the accumulating wreath, and meet destruction 

 in the apparent arms of security. 



They are made in various shapes, as the farmer may deem them most 

 likely to guard against the effects of the tempest ; some preferring that of 

 the letter T or H, as affording shelter against the wind, from whatever 

 quarter it may blow, and others, upon the same principle, that of a figure 

 of S' The most approved form, however, is circular, as that causes the 

 wind to whirl constantly round during a violent blast, and thereby prevents 

 the snow from lodging within the fence ; particularly if it be raised — as it 



* Herefordshire Report, p. 120. 



I xMthoiigh snch has been the effect of the experiment, yet i\Ir. Hall attributes it 

 wholly to the practice of breeding in and in ; which ended in bis not being able to keep 

 them alive. His plan was to liave moveable cots, 24 feet s([iiare, divided into partitions 

 of S feet by 12, by which means they could pass through field-gates, and, mounted 

 upon wheels, could b." drawn to any part of the farm where the sheep were feeding ; 

 the expense for the cots of 100 sheep being about 30/. — See his Examination beiore 

 the Committee in the House of Commons upon the State of Agriculture, in JMarch, 

 183G. -: 



They have also been partially employed by the Hon. George Villiers, and a few- 

 other persons: plans and views of which may be seen in the Agricultural Report of 

 Hertfordshire. 



That the land was thus improved there can be no doubt, and we can readily believe 

 that in hot weather the shade was grateful to the animal; but we are sceptical as to 

 the similar result supposed to have been derived from the shelter aflbrded to the flock 

 from the cold of any southern counties. 



