1008 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



lime, in winter and spring, made a poor appearance, but after some showers in summer, it flourished 

 much, and is now a tolerable crop, not less, I apprehend, than three quarters of an acre. 



6472. From these data the value of a sheep-fold, in this case, may be calculated. It appears from the 

 first minute, that one hundred sheep manured seven square rods daily. But the second folding was 

 thinner ; suppose nine rods, this is, on a par of the two foldings, eight rods a day each folding. The 

 dung could not be worth less than half a crown a load ; and the carriage and spreading ten shillings an 

 acre ; together fifty shillings an acre ; which quantity of land the hundred sheep teathed twice in forty 

 days. Supposing them to be folded the year round, they would, at this rate, fold nine acres annually; 

 which, at fifty shillings an acre, is twenty-two pounds ten shillings a hundred, or four shillings and six- 

 pence a head. In some parts of the island, the same quantity of dung would be worth five pounds an 

 acre, which would raise the value of the teathe to nine shillings a head ; which, at two-pence a head a 

 week, is more than the whole year's keep of the sheep. It does not follow, however, that all lands would 

 have received equal benefit with the piece in consideration ; which, perhaps, had not been folded upon 

 for many years, perhaps never before ; and sheep folds, like other manures, may become less efficacious 

 the longer it is used on a given piece of land. {MarshaPs Rural Economy of Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 29.) 



6473. To fold on land in tillage all the year is nearly impracticable ; and where it 

 could be done, the manure would be greatly diminished in value from rain and snow, 

 to say nothing of the injury to the sheep themselves. So that the estimate of four 

 sliillings and sixpence, or nine shillings a head, is evidently in the extreme. 



6474. According to Arthur Young, {Farmer's Calendar), the same land will maintain one-fourth more 

 stock when the animals are allowed to depasture at liberty, than when confined during the night in folds. 

 The injury to the stock themselves, though it's not easy to mention its precise amount with any degree 

 of accuracy, cannot well be doubted, at least in the case of the larger and less active breeds, when it is 

 considered that they are driven, twice a day, sometimes for a distance of two, or even three miles, and 

 that their hours of feeding and rest are, in a great measure, controlled by the shepherd and his boy. 

 When they are kept in numerous parcels, it is not only driving to and from the fold that affects them, 

 but they are in fact driving about in a sort of march all day long, when the strongest have too great an 

 advantage, and the flock divides into the head and tail of it, by which means one part of them must 

 trample the food to be eaten by another. All this points the very reverse of their remaining perfectly 

 quiet in small parcels. 



6475. The result of Parkinson's exjierience is ** that were the pasture sheep of Lin- 

 colnshire to be got into a fold once a-week, and only caught one by one, and put out 

 again immediately, it would prevent their becoming fat." (Parkinson on Live Stock, 

 vol. i. p. 367. ) The only sort of folding ever adopted to any extent by the best 

 breeders is on turnips, clovers, tares, and other rich food, where the sheep feed at their 

 ease, and manure the land at the same time. 



6476. Folding in littered yards is described by Dickson {Complete Farmer, art. Sheep) 

 as combining all the advantages of folding on arable lands without any of its disad- 

 vantages. By this practice the sheeji are confined at night in a yard well and regularly 

 littered with straw, stubble, or fern ; by which means the flock is said to be kept warm 

 and healthy in bad seasons, and at the same time a surprising quantity of manure accu- 

 mulated. A great improvement on this method, it is said, would be, giving the sheep 

 all their food (except their pasture) in such yard, viz. hay and turnips : for which pur- 

 pose they may be brought up not only at night, but also at noon, to be baited ; but if 

 their pasture be at a distance, they should then, instead of baiting at noon, come to the 

 yard earlier in the evening, and go out later in the morning. This is a practice, he says, 

 that cannot be too much recommended ; for so warm a lodging is a great matter to young 

 lambs, and will tend much to forward their growth : the sheep will also be kept in good 

 health ; and, what is a point of consequence to all farms, the quantity of dung raised 

 will be very great. If this method is pursued through the months of December, 

 January, February, March, and April, with plenty of litter, one hundred sheep will 

 make a dunghill of at least sixty loads of excellent stuff, which will amply manure two 

 acres of land ; whereas one hundred sheep folded (supposing the grass dry enough) will 

 not, in that time, equally manure an acre. 



6477. Our opinion of this sort of folding, so warmly recommended by Sir J. Sinclair and A.Young, in the 

 husbandry of Scotland, coincides with that of a very superior judge, who says, " that such a method may 

 be advantageous in particular cases, it would be rash to deny ; but generally, it is not advisable, either oh 

 account of the sheep, or any alleged advantage from the manure they make. As to the sheep, this driving 

 and confinement, especially in summer, would be just as hurtful as folding them in the common way, and 

 it has been found that their wool was much injured by the broken litter mixing with the fleece in a man- 

 ner not to be easily separated : besides, now that it is the great object of every skilful breeder to accelerate 

 the maturity of his sheep, as well as other live stock ; among other means, by leaving them to feed at 

 their ease, and if circumstances permit, in small parcels; such a practice as this can never be admissible 

 in their management ; and with regard to manure, there can be no difficulty in converting into it, any 

 quantity of straw, stubble, and fern, by cattle fed in fold-yards, on green herbage in summer, and turnips, 

 or other succulent food, in winter ; while the soil, especially if it be of a light porous quality, is greatly 

 benefited both by the dung and treading of sheep, allowed to consume the remainder of both sorts of food 

 on the ground. It is true, that the dung of sheep has been generally supposed to be more valuable than 

 that of cattle, but accurate experiments have not been made to determine the difference in this respect, 

 among these and other polygastric animals The greater improvement of pastures by sheep, is probably 

 owing as much to their mode of feeding, as to the richer quality of their dung." {Sup. E. Brit. art. Agr.) 



Sect. VI. Of Falling Sheep and Lambs. 



6478. The subject of fatting sheep may be considered in regard to the age at which 

 fatting is commenced, the kind of food, and the manner of supplying it. 



6479. The age at which sheep are fatted depends upon the breed, some breeds, such 

 as the Leicester, maturing at an earlier age than others, under the same circumstances; 

 and also in the abundance and quality of the food on which they are reared ; a disposition 

 to early obesity, as well as a gradual tendency towards that form which indicates a propen- 



