48 



CHAPTER V. 



AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY r 

 BAKEWELL AND THE GRAZIER'S ART. 



The discoveries in tlie art of stock-breeding made by 

 Bakewell, of Disliley, near Loughborough, in Leicester- 

 shire, produced even more startling results than Towns- 

 hend's Norfolk system. Before his day the English 

 farmer, like the Lord Chancellor, took his seat on the 

 woolsack. British wool commanded the highest prices at 

 home and in foreign markets ; it had been the chief object 

 of agriculturists for three centuries. The classification of 

 sheep as long-woolled, short-woolled, and intermediate, 

 shows that sheep as wool-producing animals had long been 

 studied in England ; the fleece, and not the carcass, was 

 valued. Small animals, like the white-faced, hornless 

 Eyeland sheep, were most profitable to farmers. In the 

 reign of Henry VIII. ' Leemynster ' wool fetched the 

 highest, Cotswold the second price. Elynour Rummin, 

 alewife of Leatherhead, received payment in kind for her 

 customers, of whom 



Some fill their pot full 

 Of good Lemster wool. 



In 1783 Ry eland wool was sold at 2.s. a pound, when 

 ordinary wool fetched only id. Owing to the value of 

 the fleece, Ryeland sheep were cotted in Herefordshire 



