Ch. XXXIX-l ON FATTING SHEEP. 487 



It is almost unnecessary to remark that wedder-mutton is always con- 

 sidered so far preferable to that of the ewe, that the flesh of the latter — 

 although more commonly kept to a mature age — always sells at an inferior 

 price. Connoisseurs, however, assert that a spayed, or maiden ewe, kept 

 until five years before she is fattened, produces mutton superior to that of 

 any wedder. 



The live weight, with the offal, of a large fat wedder, and the joints when 

 cut up for market, were as follows : — 



Live weight, 13 st. 10 lbs. 



Offal. 

 Blood and entrails 13 lbs. oz. I Head and pluck 8 lbs. 12 oz. 



Caul and loose fat 21 ,, 4„ | Pelt' . . . 15 „ 12 „ 



Carcass. 

 First fore-quarter 29 lbs. oz. I First hind-quarter 33 lbs. 8 oz. 

 Second do. 28 „ 12 j Second do. 32 „ „ 



Joints of one side. 



Shoulder . . 10 lbs. 12 oz. 

 Breast ... 4 „ 8 „ 

 Loss .... „ 12 „ 



Haunch ... 23 lbs, oz 

 Loin . . . 10 „ 4 ., 

 Neck . . . 12 „ „ 



Ithasbeen proved by experiment, — stated in the " Memoires de I'Acade- 

 mie Royaled'Agriculture," of Paris, — that sheep fattened upon clean corn and 

 sweet hay took on more fat, and acquired it more quickly, than those fed upon 

 roots j-. There can, indeed, be little doubt that corn and pulse are the most 

 efficient food in fattening all cattle, and giving firmness to their flesh and tal- 

 low : the material consideration for the grazier is, however, not only what will 

 the soonest and the best effect that object, but also the most economically ; 

 and, in that view, it may be questioned whether grain can, in this country, 

 be ever profitably applied to sheep. Barley-meal, in conjunction with 

 roots, has however been used with advantage when the season has been 

 such as to render the grain unfit for malting ; and damaged oats, together 

 with potatoes, in the proportion of one-third of the former to two-thirds of 

 the latter, has been tried with good effect J; but bruised oil-cake is more 

 commonly used than either. The most extraordinary experiment, however, 

 was that stated at foot, made by the late Dr. Cartwright, under the direction 

 of the Board of Agriculture, at the suggestion of the Distillery Committee 

 of 1808, in order to ascertain whether Muscovado sugar might not be suc- 

 cessfully employed in the fattening of sheep ; and, if so, with what substances 

 it might be mixed, so as to protect the revenue without injuring the animal, 

 in case a drawback of the duty were to be allowed to the farmer. 



The materials used for this purpose were linseed-oil, train-oil, palm-oil, oil 

 of hartshorn, assafoetida, urine, antimony, and charcoal ; most of them pre- 

 venting the sugar from being used in distillation, and all of them spoiling 

 it for common purposes. These substances were separately tried on fifteen 

 Southdown wedders, the average weight of which, on the 27th of August, 

 was 90i lbs. ; on the 29th of September 109 lbs, ; and on being again 

 weighed on the 22nd of the following October, they each appeared to have 



* The pelt, when washed, clipped 5 lbs. of dried wool, and the loss in washing was 

 5 lbs. 4 oz., which may be accounted for by the skin being thrown under the animal to 

 receive the blood while dressing. — Sussex Rep. p. 328, 



f Those fed solely upon potatoes were for some days averse to them, while those fed 

 upon turnips and beets ate heartily from the beginning, and continued to do so, 



X Von Thaer, " Princ. Rais. d'Agric," 2de Ed. tome iv. p. 658. 



