9^^ PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



has written an able answer to Sir J. Sebright's pamphlet, (Letter, Sfc. to Sir J. Sebright, 

 ^c. )> be bred from dilTerent relationships of the same family ; it being out of his power 

 to breed from diflferent families of a race which he was at the time employed in forming, 

 and cross breeding he did not approve of. Breeding in and in is so repugnant to hu- 

 man feeling, that it is difficult to avoid considering it an unnatural practice ; for it does 

 not follow that a flock of sheep in a wild state must necessarily breed in the nearest 

 relationships, as father and daughter, &c. ; on the contrary, it is more probable that re- 

 moter relationships would be chiefly bred frorn, as these must necessarily be much more 

 numerous. In a flock of sheep, or a herd of savage men, springing each from one pair, 

 every parent must necessarily have many more cousins, and cousins many times removed, 

 than he can have mothers or daughters. 



6416. Breeding from different families of the same race is the more general and ap- 

 proved practice. When a number of families of any breed have been for some time es- 

 tablished in a variety of situations, and have had some slight shades of difference impressed 

 upon them, by the influence of different soils and treatment, it is found advantageous to in- 

 terchange the males, for the purpose of strengthening the excellencies, or remedying the 

 defects of each family. Of this advantage, Eakevvell could not avail himself; but it has 

 been very generally attended to by his successors. Culley, for many years, continued to 

 hire his rams from Bakewell, at the very time that other breeders were paying a liberal 

 price for the use of his own; and the very same practice is followed by the most skilful 

 breeders at present. In large concerns, two or more streams of blood may be kept 

 distinct for several generations, and occasionally in(erraixed with the happiest effects, by a 

 judicious breeder, without having recourse to other flocks. [Sup. E. Brit. art. Agr. 177.) 



641 7v In breedingfrom two distinct races, the object is to acquire new properties or re- 

 move defects. The mode of effecting this by cross breeding is attended with greater dif- 

 ficulties than in breeding from the same race. The very distinction of breeds implies a 

 considerable difference among animals in several respects ; and although the desirable 

 property be obtained, it may be accompanied by such others as are by no means advanta- 

 geous to a race, destined to occupy a situation which had excluded that property from one 

 of its parents. To cross any mountain breed with Leicester rams, for example, with a 

 view to obtain a propensity to fatten at an early age, would be attended with an enlarge- 

 ment of size, which the mountain pasture could not support; and the progeny w^ould be a 

 mongrel race, not suited to the pastures of either of the present breeds. If the object be 

 to obtain an enlargement of size, as well as a propensity to fatten, as is the case when 

 Cheviot ewes are crossed with Leicester rams, the pj-ogeny will not prosper on tlie hilly 

 pastures of their dams, and will be equally unprofitable on the better pastures of their 

 sizes. But the offspring of this cross succeeds well on those intermediate situations on 

 the skirts of the Cheviot hills, w'here, though the summer pasture is not rich, there is a 

 portion of lowland for producing clover and turnips. {Supjy.EncycBrit. axt.Agr.S^c) 



641 8. As general rules in crossing breeds it is to be noticed that in every case where the 

 enlargement of the carcase is the object, the cross breed must be better fed than its smal- 

 ler parent. The size of the parents should also be but little disproportioned at first ; and 

 when some increase has been produced^ one or more crosses afterwards may raise the 

 breed to the required size. With these precautions, there is little reason to fear disap- 

 pointment, provided both parents are well formed. [General Report of Scotland, vol. iii. 

 p. 14. 18. 



6419. The most advantageous and proper age for ewes taking the ram in the different 

 breeds has not been fully shown ; but from a year to a year and a half old may be suffi- 

 cient, according to the forwardness .of the breed and the goodness of the keep. Some 

 judge of this by the production of broad or sheep's teeth. It should not be done while 

 too young in any case. 



6420. In regard to the season of putting the rams to the ewes, it must be directed by 

 the period at which the fall of the lambs may !;e most desirable, which must depend on 

 the nature df the keep which the particular situation affords ; but the most usual time is 

 about the beginning of October ; except in the Dorsetshire ewes, where the intention is 

 Suckling for house-larrib, in which case it should be much earlier, in order that the lambs 

 may be sufficiently forward. But, by being kept very well, any of the breeds will take 

 the ram at a much earlidr period. Where the rams are young, the number of ewes should 

 seldom exceed sixty for each ram ; but in older rams a greater number may be admitted 

 without inconvenience, as from one to two hundred; but letting them have too many 

 should be cautiously avoided, as by such means the farmer may sustain great loss in the 

 number of the lambs. 



6421. \Yiih re:i][)ect to the period of gestation, the ewe goes with lamb about the space 

 of five months, consequently the most common lambing- season is March, or the early part 

 of April ; but " it has been observed tliat in many of the more southern districts, where 

 sheep-husbandry is carried on to a considerable extent, some parts of the ewe-stock are 

 put to the rams at much earlier periods, so as to laa;b a month or six weeks sooner; a 



