A LARGE FLOCK. 195 



CHAPTER XXI. 

 A LARGE FLOCK. 



A FLOCK of a thousand ewes is unquestionably a valu- 

 able property. Such a large flock I have recently inspected, 

 and a few remarks upon what it entails in the way of total 

 sheep stock may be worth perusal. This flock is maintained 

 upon about 1,000 acres of land, varying in quality from rich 

 water meadows and good river-side arable land, to healthy, 

 but poor, down. The ewes are black-faced Hampshires of 

 fair quality, and are mostly used for breeding wether lambs 

 for sale during the autumn fairs. There is also on the same 

 farm a dairy of about seventy cows, which, with heifers, 

 calves, and the sheep, form an abundant and profitable stock. 

 A thousand ewes, as a standing flock, means a large number 

 of sheep during the summer, when the flock is at its maximum 

 number, and is approaching its maximum value. For the 

 latter we must wait another month, when the cull ewes will 

 be brought up into sale condition, and the most forward lots 

 of lambs will be fit for the market. 



Where 1,000 stock ewes are kept 1,100 lambs may be reason- 

 ably looked for. The number of lambs born will greatly exceed 

 this figure, but deaths are unavoidable. They are, in any case, 

 sure to be sufficiently numerous to keep the number of reared 

 lambs only slightly above the number of ewes turned out in 

 autumn. Barren ewes form an important item, sometimes 

 reaching a proportion of from 2 to 5 per cent, of the breeding 

 flock. No one can lamb down 1,000 ewes without consider- 



