1836.] 



FARMEU^^' REGISTER. 



175 



little or notliing. These Averc converted into 

 highly productive arable land, by enclosing, marl- 

 ing, and the aid of turnip-husbandry, which is, as 

 it u'erc, the corner stone of the ISorlollc, or im- 

 proved system ot husbandry. The same practice? 

 that iiad produced such s|)lenilid results in NorlblU 

 — I hat had made sandy wastes yield the most 

 luxuriant crops of wheat and barley — have been 

 gradually extended, with similar effects, to many 

 other parts of the kingdom. The |)roduce in corn 

 of the light soils, in all the n)oderatcly wcll-cuiti 

 vated districts of the empire has, in consequence, 

 been more than trebled; at the same time that a 

 vast supply of green-food has been obtained fur 

 the feeding of cattle and sheep, and the produc- 

 tion of the most valuable manure. 



3. But signal as has been the impipvement in 

 arable husbandry since 17(30, the improvements 

 made in stock-husbandry, or in the breeding and 

 fattening of cattle, have" been still more considera- 

 ble. No efforts tor this purpose seem to have 

 been made with judgment, and proper |)crseve-_ 

 ranee, till afier 1750, when Mr. Bakevvell, of 

 Dishley, in Leicestershire, began his career. Mr. 

 Culley, of Northumberland, .soon after entered on 

 the same course; and the signal success by which 

 their efforts were attended, roused a spirit of emu- 

 lation in a host of others. But the ra|)id increase 

 of manufactures and commerce, and, consequent- 

 ly, ot the town population, after the peace of Pa- 

 ris, in 1763, by creating a corresponding demand 

 ibr butchers' meat, gave the principal stimulus to 

 the improvements that have since been made in 

 stock-husbandry. It is not easy to over-rate their 

 importance. We have already seen that, at an 

 average, the weight of cattle and sheep' has been 

 a good deal more than doubled since about 1750; 

 so that a stock of 5,000,000 head of cattle, at pre- 

 sent, would be more than equal to one of 10,000, 

 000 at that epoch. But the number, as well as 

 the weight oi' cattle, having been very mateiial- 

 ly increased in the interval, the supply of butchers' 

 meat must have increased in a corresponding pro- 

 portion, or been at least trebled. There has also, 

 owing to the same cause, been a very great in- 

 crease in the product of wool. The supply of the 

 latter article, produced in England and Wales, in 

 1800, was estimated at about 384.000 packs, of 

 240 lbs. each. But owing to the increased size of 

 the animal, and the greater weight ot the fleece, 

 the same number of sheep that produced 384,000 

 packs in 1800, were estimated by the best intbrm- 

 ed wool-growers and wool-staplers, to pix)duce 

 463,000 in 1830, being an increase, in the interval, 

 of no less than 20 per cent.* It is true that the 

 quality of the wool has rather deteriorated, lor it 

 seems to be impossible to procure both a heavy 

 and a fine fleece. Taking, however, the increased 

 weight of the carcass, and the increased weight 

 of the fleece into account, sheep are believed to be 

 more profitable at present, than at any former pe- 

 riod; and (or the last three orfour years, they have 

 been the most productive species of stock kept in 

 the kingdom. 



It would be curious to trace how, in husbandry, 

 as in other things, one improvement grows out of, 

 and is dependent on another. The grand im- 

 provement in modern agriculture — that by which 



* Mr. Luccock's Tables, revised by Mr. Hubbard. 

 See the Report of 1829, on the Wool trade. 



it is mainly distinguished from the old — the uni- 

 versal introduction and superior management of 

 green crops, may be in no considerable degree as- 

 cribed to the anxiety of" the farmers to procure an 

 abundant and suitable supply of food for their 

 Block, the increased demand for the latter being 

 as already stated, occasioned by the wonder- 

 lul ijrowth of commerce and manufactures. 



The superior attention paid to stock husbandry, 

 in England niay, also, it is probable, be to some 

 extent ascribable 'to the circumstances of the 

 Tithe pressing with comparative lighiness on 

 pasture land; whilst it (iills with its full weight, on 

 arable land, and operates powerfully to prevent 

 the outlay of capital upon it. But however ac- 

 counted for, there can be no doubt, that in all that 

 belongs to the breeding and and rearing of cattle, 

 horses, sheep, and pigs, the English are, at pre- 

 sent, superior to the Scotch, and to every other 

 people. 



It may be worth v.-hile to remark, that much 

 injury has arisen fi-om injudicious attempts to im- 

 |)rove native breeds of catde. This has generally 

 been occasioned by prematurely endeavoring to 

 increase their size, which is always determined by 

 external causes, such as the climate, the quantity 

 and species of food the animals can readily obtain. 

 &c. It is to the immensely increased su|)ply anti 

 better quality of food, that the increased weight ol 

 our cattle is principally to be ascribed. An im- 

 proved system of breeding would have improved 

 the symmetry of the cattle, and increased their 

 aptitude to fatten; but, without an increase of food 

 it would not have materially added to their size. 

 In point of liict. too, the latter is an inferior con- 

 sideration. The iirand object that the prudent agri- 

 ulturist should keep steadily in view is the obtain- 

 ing of the greatest possible return lor his outlay; 

 and he will prefer that kind of stock, and that 

 breed, of any kind, that will pay him best for the 

 food consumed. The value to which an animal 

 may ultimately be brought, is a subordinate con- 

 sideration; the profits of breeding, as of every 

 thing else, being determined, not by the absolute 

 price of the produce, but by its price as compared 

 with the expenses incurred in bringing it to mar- 

 ket. Mr. Cuiley's opinion is, that of all animals, 

 of whatever kind, those which have the smallest, 

 cleanest, and finest bones, are in general the 

 best proportioned, and covered with the best 

 and finest grained meat; I believe they are, also, 

 the hardest and healthiest, and most inclina- 

 ble to feed; able to bear the most fatigue, while 

 living; and worth the most per pound, dead.* It 

 is certain that animals, whether too large or two 

 small, will gradually accommodate themselves to 

 the size best adapted to their jiastures; but while 

 the larger animal becomes unhealthy, and degen- 

 erates in its form and valuable properties, the 

 smaller animal increases in size, and improves in 

 every respect. 



The preceding remarks apply exclusively to 

 England and Wales. But though the progress 

 of agriculture there, since the middle of last cen- 

 tury, has been exceedingly rapid, it has been slow 

 compared to its progess in Scotland. Previously 

 to the peace of Paris, in 1763, agriculture, almost 

 every where in Scotland, was in the most barba- 

 rous and depressed state imaginable. There was 

 no rotation of crops; fallows were unknown, ex- 



* Obiervations on Live Stock, p. 222. 



