1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



123 



My principal purpose in adverting to the weath- See what results follow from these two princi- 

 er at this time, is, in confirmation of the views of 1 pies. Formerly, the English sheep were not fit for 

 Mr. J. C. Gray, in his essay on the climate of New i the butcher until about four or fi\e years old; and 

 England— as deduced from the diaries of Rev. Dr. in France, now, the French sheep are not consid- 

 Smith, of Portland, the venerable Dr. Holyoke, ered fit for the butcher before this age ; but the 



of Salem, and the accurate Mr. Nathaniel Lord, Jr., 

 of Ipswich — forming a continued series of observa- 

 tions from 1750 to 1850, a period of one hundred 

 years. The result of this examination is, that there 

 has been no essential change in our climate ; — and 

 that the common remarks implying a change, are 

 not well sustained by the facts. For this reason, 

 I welcomed with joy the drifting snow, on thi-ee 

 successive Sabbaths, at the commencement of the 

 year — but I am now quite willing that the snow 

 shall dissolve, and soften the sod beneath. What 

 is to be the eriect of the adherence of icicles to the 

 trees — excepting so far as the limbs were broken 

 thereby, I have no conjecture — but do not appre- 

 hend any evil consequences. We could afford to 

 sustain some loss, for the gratification of so splen- 

 did an illumination, as was seen when the sun lairly 

 shone upon these icicles. I have never witnessed a 

 more splendid display of brilliants, at so Httle cost. 

 Januanj 20, 1856.' Essex. 



For the New England Farmer. 



RURAL ECONOMY OF THE BRITISH 

 ISLES-No. 2. 



SHEEP. 



In my last number, I spoke of the natural soil 

 and climate of the British Islands ; and showed 

 that England owed the excellence of her agriculture 

 to other causes than these. I now go on to show 

 how her agriculture is richer than that of any oth- 

 er country, and Avhy it is so. 



The most striking feature of English agriculture 

 is the number and quality of its sheep. This 

 strikes even the passing traveller, on the railway. 

 It requires only a glance to see that the sheep of 

 England are larger, in the average, and must give 

 a much greater weight of meat and wool, than 

 those of other countries. This is an extraordinary 

 fact, and leads to astonishing results. The first ob- 

 ject of the English farmer is to keep a gi'eat many 

 sheep, and for these reasons ; because the sheep, of 

 all animals, is the easiest to feed, derives the great- 

 est benefit from the food it consumes, and gives the 

 most active and rich manure for fertilizing the 

 land, and is valuable for two things, its meat and 

 its wool. England has thirty-five milhons of sheep 

 on its surface. Scotland, in spite of all her en- 

 deavors, can maintain only four millions. Ireland, 

 which, from its pastures, ought to rival England, 

 reckons, at most, only two millions — and this is one 

 of the most striking marks of its inferiority. 



But it is the quality of its sheep, as much or 

 more than the number, which distinguishes Eng- 

 land. England adheres to this ])rinciple in raising 

 sheep — she makes meat the chief object of produc- 

 tion in sheep, and considers wool the accessory. 

 Therefore, in her breeds of sheep, she seeks two 

 qualities : first, precosity, or animals which may be 

 fattened as early as one year old, and reach their 

 full growth before the end of the second year — con- 

 sidering that, by this single fact, the produce of her 

 flocks would be doubled — and second, she seeks a 

 perfection of shape in her breeds, which renders 

 them more fleshy and heavier, for their size, than 

 the breeds of any other country. 



improved breeds of England are now fit for the 

 butcher at from one to two years old. Has not 

 England doubled by this precocity of her breeds, 

 the produce of her flocks without doubling her 

 numbers ? But the English sheep are now not 

 only more precocious than formerly, so that the 

 farmer can send two or three to market, where he 

 formerly sent one ; but they are broader, rounder, 

 and have a greater development of those parts 

 which give most flesh. This follows — that the ten 

 milHon sheep annually slaughtered in England 

 yield an average weight of eighty pounds of net 

 meat ; and though nearly the same number are an- 

 nually slaugtered in France, they yield an average 

 weight of only forty pounds of net meat. But this 

 is not all. While the English farmer aims, princi- 

 pally, at the production of meat in raising sheep, 

 such is the greater size and developement of the 

 English sheep, that the clip of wool, from each 

 sheep in England, is fifty per cent, greater in weight 

 than the clip of each sheep in France. 



I stated above the number of sheep in England 

 to be thirty-flve millions. Therefore, England 

 feeds two sheep on every flve acres of her land. 

 France, which, of the two large countries of the 

 world is next to England in agriculture, feeds only 

 two-thirds of a sheep on each five acres of her soil. 

 I stated above that the English sheep yielded dou- 

 ble the net weight of meat of the French, and fifty 

 per cent, more wool. Is it not probable, then, that 

 the average return of an English sheeja farm is 

 seven or eight times greater than a French one ? 



Now, two questions fairly arise. Can a country 

 have a rich agriculture, which does not have sheep 

 as a part of the live stock of its farms, and a large 

 part ? Can a country have a profitable Hve stock 

 in the sheep on its farms, unless they have a breed 

 of sheep, which is precocious, and early fit for the 

 butcher, and yields a large net weight of meat, as 

 well as a heavy fleece ? 



A few words now upon the manner in which Eng- 

 land became possessed of her present breeds of 

 vsheep. The licicester or Dishley breed she owes 

 to Bakewell ; this is the breed of her plains. 

 The Southdowns, which are the sheep of her hills, . 

 she owes to John Ellman. The Chievot is a sheep, 

 of the mountains, and I do not know to whom she 

 owes its improvement. Bakewell aimed to pro- 

 duce a breed of sheep which should be precocioas, 

 or be early fit for the butcher, and yield a large 

 weight of meat, as well as a heavy fleece. And on 

 his farm at Dishley, after many years of labor and 

 experience, he produced the Dishley breed, animals 

 that may be fattened at one year old, and in every 

 case have reached their full growth before the end 

 of the second year ; and to this invaluable quality 

 have added a perfection of shape, which renders 

 them more fleshy, and heavier for their size, than 

 any known breed. They give, on an average, one 

 hundred lbs. of meat, net, and sometimes more. 

 Our sheep, I am told, average forty. The means 

 adopted by Bakewell for obtaining such a mar- 

 vellous result is known to all breeders by the name 

 of selection. It consists in choosing individuals of 

 a breed exhibiting in the greatest degree the qual- 

 ities desired to be perpetuated," and to make use of 



