THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



537 



on eacli side of the backbone, immediately over 

 the kidneys— and after separating the skin slight- 

 ly (rom the parts beneath, iiiscrtinjj; two or three 

 cloves ol'garhc. The hair of the hog should be 

 shaved oil' where the skin is to split, and alter 

 ihe garlic is put in, a stitch should be taken with 

 a needle and thread, about the middle of the in- 

 cision, so as lo prevent the garlic Irom (ailing out. 

 For thirty years past I have known this plan ot 

 treatment loliowed, and it rarely ever lails, even 

 in the worst cases. Vours, &c. 



D. H. Maxwell. 



SKOW-STORMS IN MOUNTAIN DISTRICTS. 



From the Penny Magazine. 



Those who have never witnessed the great 

 accumulation of snow which takes place during 

 some severe winters in the mountainous districts 

 •ol the north ot England, as well as of Scotland, 

 would scarcely credit the extent, the length, the 

 breadth, and the depth of some of the immense 

 masses ol snow that accumulate in certain situa- 

 tions among the mountains ; and many persons 

 there are, no doubt, who are totally ignorant 

 of the lacf, that in every mountain district of the 

 north there are snow drifts that riever wholly 

 dissolve and disappear, but fragments of which 

 remain Irom season to season, and from year to 

 year, in the hollows and declivities of the moun- 

 tains (lor ihe most part where the aspect is north- 

 erly,) notwiihstanding the copious and frequent 

 falls of spring and autumn rain, to which these 

 mountain districts are peculiarly liable, and the 

 dissolving influence of the gentle breezes of sum- 

 mer. These fragments of the winter snow-drifts 

 are seldom visible Irom the roads and highways 

 leading through the open and more distant part 

 of the country, or even along the adjacent valleys, 

 and consequently their exisience is known only 

 to those who are familiar with the situations they 

 are known to occupy. In these upland districts 

 but small quantities of grain are grown, the soil 

 for the most part being unsuited to corn crops, 

 while the climate is even more so. Hence the 

 farmers turn their attention to the breeding 

 of sheep and black cattle, the mountain districts 

 of the north of England being mostly sheep- 

 farms ; while in various parts of the hilly country 

 in Scotland large numbers of black cattle are 

 bred and sent to the southern markets. 



In the sheep districts in the north of England 

 the farms are seldom large, and yet many of the 

 farmers manage to keep pretty numerous flocks 

 of sheep, varying from three or lour hundred to 

 the same number of thousands. This, however, 

 is effiected only where population is scanty, and 

 where the commons (usually called fells) are very 

 extensive, and upon which the owners or occu- 

 piers of the enclosed land or (arms enjoy an un- 

 limited right of pasturajre, or common right, as 

 it is generally called. Hence it frequently hap- 

 pens that the occupier of 80 or 100 acres of en- 

 closed land, and much of it of but an indifferent 

 quality, if he possess sufficient capital, and the 

 iarm be conveniently situated, will keep a flock 

 of sheep of 1000 or 2000 of the small black-faced 

 or mountain breed, the whole of which he sum- 

 mer-pastures on the fells or moors : but a con- 

 Voh. IX.-51 



siderabie portion of which, particularly the young- 

 er and weaker part, he has to send out, at so 

 much per head, into some more congenial part of 

 the country, during the winter season. He could 

 not, however, aflijrd to pay lor winter pasturage 

 lor the whole of his flock, and therefore the great- 

 er portion remains in his own enclosures, or on 

 the lower ranges of mountain land contiguous 

 thereto, during the winter, endeavoring to pro- 

 cure a scanty subsistence among the heath, the 

 rushes, and the bent grass, in the best way they 

 are able. But when the snow lies deep, and the 

 weather is very severe, these animals, hardy as 

 they undoubtedly are, would absolutely starve 

 were they not supplied with a little hay from the 

 homestead. The hay is commonly borne on the 

 heads or backs of the shepherds, in bundles as 

 large as they can possibly wade through the snow 

 with ; but occasionally on the backs of horses, 

 where they can travel without much danger or 

 dilficulty. The hay is secured into a species of 

 rude net-work formed of withies, and known by 

 the local appellation of creels, in which loose hay, 

 as well as that which is more solid, may be pack- 

 ed firmly and securely. When a snow-storm 

 is of long continuance, the shepherds have enough 

 to do in preventing their flocks straying away, 

 and in supplying them with hay once or twice 

 ill the day, according to the severity of the wea- 

 ther ; lor wading through deep snow, with a 

 heavy load on the head or shoulders, and often 

 where the ground is hilly and broken, is a very 

 laborious business. 



Though there are neither fences nor other 

 landmarks on those extensive mountain-ranges, 

 from long usage, or some supposed right or claim, 

 almost every sheep-larmer appears to consider 

 that he possesses some peculiar privilege to the 

 pasturage of that part of the common on vphich 

 his flock usually feeds. Hence these flocks are 

 rarely much intermixed with each other, the 

 owners or their shepherds taking the liberty to 

 drive or frighten away such of their neighbor's 

 sheep as chance to mix among their own. Al- 

 though this sort of arbitrary exclusiveness occa- 

 sionally leads to bickerings and animosities be- 

 tween the parties whose flocks come thus in 

 collision, .it certainly prevents a great deal of trou- 

 ble in separating and assorting at the seasons of 

 sheep-washing, sheep-shearing, sheep-salving, 

 &c., wben each flock has necessarily to be divest- 

 ed of all intruders. It does not often happen that 

 these extensive commons are overstocked, not- 

 withstanding there being no limit to the number 

 of sheep in any farmer's flock ; but since the 

 pasturage is of so poor a nature that, even when 

 there is abundance of-room, and to spare, for all 

 the sheep that may be kept, the flocks never arrive 

 at a high state of condition— nothing like that 

 of fitting them for the shambles,— in case of any 

 crowding or overstocking taking place, the reduced 

 condition of the whole would be a serious conside- 

 ration to all the parties concerned. 



Though sheep, like most other animals, appear 

 to be endowed with a certain degree of instinct, 

 yet It does not follow as a matter of course, that it 

 always operates towards ensuring their safety. 

 Persons who have had the most frequent oppor- 

 tunities of observing them generally appear to 

 have come to this conclusion, that when a storm 

 is approaching they are seldom taken by surprise ; 



