70 IMPEOVEMENT OF THE BREEDS. 



his proceedings. Different opinions will of course be 

 held on the merits of the theory on which he acted • 

 but all must acknowledge, that we are indebted to his 

 skill and experience, for the exertions which have been 

 subsequently made to improve the qualities of live-stock, 

 in every district of the kingdom. It was by his exam- 

 ple, in fact, that the farmers all over the country were 

 stimulated to exertion, and be the system bad or good, 

 it ought to have our veneration, seeing that it was the 

 commencement of a new and most important agricul- 

 tural era. 



John EUman derives his well-earned fame, from the 

 zealous manner in which he improved the Southdown 

 sheep, and spread them through the empire. Till he 

 directed his attention to the subject, every thing con- 

 nected with the management of the flock was left to 

 chance, or at least to the guidance of farm-servants, 

 with whom, of course, it could not be a matter of 

 interest to select, or sort, suitable animals for the con- 

 tinuance of the race. He speedily, however, correc- 

 ted this mismanagement, and aided by the introduction 

 of turnip-feeding, in no long time, and without any ad- 

 mixture of foreign blood, materially improved the 

 breed. 



About seventy years ago, improvements also com- 

 menced in Scotland. Till then, in many parishes, no far- 

 mer could keep sheep through the winter, and no place 

 was reckoned so fatal to these animals as the undrained, 

 and unsheltered parish of Eskdale-Muir, in Dumfries- 

 shire. At last one William Bryden rented the farm of 

 Aberlosk, and soon, by the original plan of draining, 

 and building stone enclosures, made it, to use the words 



