j8i AamCL'LiL'RAL luUiEUM 



of the Mei'ino and South Down, and of the jVTcrino and 

 llyeland first cross, prodac^ed mo an average of three 

 paiuids six ounces each, which hroLU';ht nie lis. 6d. per 

 fleece. My tliorough-brcd Merino fiv?;eces of that year, 

 twenty six in numhcr, weij^lied in the yolk five pounds 

 lliirteen ounces each, and sold for IBs. 9d. per fleece. 

 This yea,r, my purb Meiitio llceces, fifty-seven in nuni- 

 ])er, weighed in the yoi!:. three hundi'ed and forty-eight 

 pounds, which is more than six poiinds per lleecc. My 

 Heeees of the first ero^s, weighed this yeai-, three |)ound'5 

 flight ounces each. Tiie j)rosent years price of my wool 

 J ha^ e not yet ascertained. It wi!l appear, therefore^ 

 that the result of Lord Somerville's return from the dif- 

 ferent sorts of sheep, accords as minutely as distance of 

 place and diffei-ence in management will allow. 



" In respect to the number compared to the extent of 

 Ijord Somerville's farm, they will a})pcar to be placed 

 very thick upon the ground. However, my own expe- 

 rience agrees very much with this result ; und 1 have no 

 doubt, making allowances for my other stock, biit 1 have 

 tkis year, had cq al Jiunibers, in proponion to my means 

 of keeping them. My hock consists of nearly the same 

 numbers as Lord Somerville's ; to the management of 

 -ivhich, 1 find a man and his son, often years ofage, fully 

 competent, i have yet met with nothing dir^couragmg 

 in the propagation of this new race of sheep ; on the 

 contrary, they have far surpassed my expeciation. Smce 

 the year, ISOl, they have done Viell in a sheltered soot in 

 the vale of the Severn ; and they are doing well i« a high 

 situation in the heart of Staffordshire. Since the year 

 1801,1 have lost but thiee Merino sheep, one in yeaning, 

 another, I Jbelieve, from old age, and one from a stoppage 

 in the stomach. From th;* smallness of the number or this 

 vaee in the kingdom, I should not think mj-seii jusliiied 

 in m'^king experiment of the hardships they would be ca- 

 ])able of enduring: a little extra care would be well re- 

 paid in most of our native breeds. The very few Meri- 

 uo lambs 1 have lost, compared u iih the common casual- 



