ACraCULTUIlAL MUSEUIVl ISSr 



!y,.ls a proof of this. I have, this season, put "four 

 hi'indrecl and fourteen ewes all to Merino rams, and I 

 am endeavoring, as fast as I can, to brin^ my flock to 

 lliat blood, convinL'ed of their utilit}', both in a public and 

 in a privjite point of view. From the distance at which I 

 now reside from Bath^ I unfortanateiy am little acquaint- 

 ed with yoin- transactions, \^^hether Lord Somerville 

 has any co'.npetitoi-, I know not ; but I think, from the 

 rej>urt of your committee, that it will be difficult to find 

 a stock farmer^ who, in proportion to the size of his farm, 

 possesses a (greater number, or a more profitable sort of 

 sheep. I am very sorry it is not in my power to attend 

 personally ; and f trust the Society will excuse the defects 

 of this hasty communication. 



I have the honour to remain, Sir, 

 "■ Your obedient, humble servant, 



« G. TOLLE TT." 

 '^^ P. S. The letting of the rams may, to some, appear 

 a temporar}' rather than a permanent source of profit, 

 f lowevcr, from the piice of Spanish wool, and from the 

 interest which the country begins to tak&in this line, the 

 rams are likely, for a long time, to be in great request. 

 But, putting them out of the question. Lord Somerville 

 appears to have made from his wool, and his store and 

 fat sheep, as much as, I suppose, will cover two rents of 

 the whole farm of 4G0 acres ; but which return, in reali- 

 ty, has been made from 188 acres only. From the j)rice 

 of the store sheep sold, 1 should jiresume many of them 

 were the draft ewes of the English breed ; as ewe sheep, 

 \vith any cross of Merino, would have unquestionably 

 brought a higiier price : so that, when the drafts come 

 from that stock, if wool bears the present price, the pro- 

 fits will be considerably greater. I have now some two- 

 t^hear wethers of the half breed, of South Down and 

 Ilyeland, lliat would weigh from twenty pounds to 

 twenty -fivo jiounds per quarter ; they are decidedly bet- 

 ter than Uio Santli Downs of the same age, that hav^ 



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