AGRICULTURAL 3TUSECM 1% 



Jf a Iar2;e portion of this o-rass is to be l>c})tliained up for 

 winter, anci the season he not favourable, autuinn rains, 

 followed quickly by frost, will kill very mweh of the fog- 

 gage, and the slieep will consequently be \evy hard dri- 

 ven for food from Candlemas to the next shoot <f grass, 

 however late that may be. The quantity, indeed, of 

 stock to be carried per acre, as well as their heahh and 

 good condition, must be in proportion as there is more 

 ov less produce , and on the competent and regular sup- 

 ply of fo-od, the growth of good woo^ wholly dopends'. 

 To elucidate this subject, 1 cannot do better than give 

 Dr. Parry's general statement of my claim for the Bath 

 Society's premium, offeied "for a change of breed of 

 sliecp, with positive prolit iesuilisig therefrom," and his 

 conclusions thereon, whicli is, on all hands, acknowledg- 

 ed to be one of the must able sketches ever given to tho 

 j)ub!ic. 



*' About th.^ year 1809, Lord Somervillc's stock (as 

 stated by him in his Memorial to the Socioi} ) consisied 

 of forty-live evA'cs, of the iong-wooled sort. Finding 

 tiiesc annually degenerating, and also becoming annu- 

 y.!ly less protitabic, he changed theni, at the above men- 

 tioned period, for one hundred and tifty Ryeland ewes. 

 In the first year, though the winter was severe, the ewes 

 supported themselves tolerably well, and the lambs were 

 in very good order at weaning time. In their future 

 growth, as wethers and stoi'c ewes, they far exceeded in 

 weight their [parent stock. One lot of the wethers sold 

 as highas three pounds each, and were i'cd upon grass 

 and hay only. In the following year, Lord Somerville 

 l)rought from S|)ain some rams and evye^^ of the Menno 

 breed, 'ihese rams, in each subsc(jaei;t year, have been, 

 and nou" continue to be put to ewes of the South Down 

 and RycIand breeds ; from each of wljich crosses a va- 

 luable species of sheep has been obtained, both in fseece 

 ^nd carcass, the relative value of which has been detailed 

 by his Lordshipjn his jMemorial of 1802 ; the substance 

 *f which is, that South Do^vn store ewes,. at three pouad"? 



