372 THE SHEEP OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



fatting them much judgment and practical knowledge is required, 

 for they do not get on well in hot weather ; and it frequently 

 happens that when they are first put on turnips they lose ground, 

 or * pitch,* as it is called, for two months in the autumn, and are 

 slow in regaining it afterwards. For these and other reasons, 

 farmers who occupy good land in the vale with their hill farms, 

 are getting tired of their horned sheep, and use their hill farms 

 only as summering ground for knot sheep and bullocks." 



The period that has elapsed since this statement was penned 

 has been quite a revolutionary one in effects on sheep manage- 

 ment. Advanced prices of meat have held out premiums for 

 quickening mutton production, and even mountain breeds have 

 been improved in their feeding capabilities to bring them to 

 earlier maturity. Grreat pains have been taken to effect this 

 object with some of the largest of the Exmoor flocks, and a large 

 amount of success has attended such efforts. Mr. James 

 Quartly, of MoUond, Mr. R. Stranger, of North Molton, Sir T. D. 

 Acland, Bart., M.P., Lord Poltimore, Messrs. Tapp, of Twitch- 

 ing, and Mr. Robert Paramour were the principal breeders who 

 were instrumental in the work of improvement ; some of Sir T. D. 

 Acland's tenants on Winsford-hill have good flocks likewise, 

 viz., Mr. Harding, Mr. Lovelace, Mr. Darby, &c. ; and Mr. 

 Rock's sheep are also greatly improved at High Bray. As may 

 be supposed, these highly-cultivated flocks are treated very 

 differently from some of the common kinds of Exmoor; for 

 instance, the wethers are not allowed to run so long on the hills. 

 " Since mutton has been such a high price," says Mr. Birming- 

 ham, Sir T. D. Acland's farm manager, " the wether sheep have 

 not been allowed to run so long as three or four years. If at a 

 moderate price, the wethers pay well for running because of their 

 wool." 



Mr. R. Stranger, it may be presumed, follows high-breeding 

 with his young sheep from the onset, or he could not make them 

 out so quickly. In a courteous reply to our request for informa- 

 tion on this point he says : " I sell my wethers when about 

 18 months old, and they weigh from 151b. to 201b. per quarter. 

 A few, however, are retained for Christmas markets. My pen 

 of three which took the first prize and silver medal at the Smith- 

 field Club Show last year were 3 years 9 months old, and their 



