HISTORICAL NOTICES OF AGRICULTURE. 15 



^ave rise. His "Horse-hoeing Husbandry" was 

 puhlished iu 1731, and from this drill husbandry may 

 be said to dale. 



The introduction of clover and other artificial 

 gras.ses for pasture and mowing, and the impulse 

 given to the turnip-culture, had directed the atten- 

 tion of farmers to the improvement of cattle and 

 sheep, and a manifest change in the size and qual- 

 .ty of the fat cattle and sheep offered iu the London 

 markets began to appear. Robert Bakewell's name 

 has become justly famed for the improvements he 

 introduced in the raising of sheep ; a course which 

 the Colhngs afterward, in a great measure, adopted 

 in their treatment of cattle, and with the same ben- 

 eficial results. The Bakewell, Dishley, or New 

 Leicester sheep (for by all these names have they 

 been successively known) are remarkable for their 

 early maturity ; returning a great quantity of mutton 

 for the food they consume, and the small proportion 

 the oftal bears to the weight of the four quarters. 

 These sheep, or some of their many crosses, are 

 spread over the most fertile grain-growing districts 

 of England ; and, from their being easily made into 

 mutton, are preferred wherever meat is a greater 

 object than wool, or the sheep-husbandry is com- 

 bined with the turnip-culture and the rotation of 

 crops. 



The improvement in sheep, cattle, &c., effected 

 by Bakewell, the Culleys, Collings, Berry, and oth- 

 ers, was accomplished by the skilful choice of ani- 

 mals, in the first place, to breed from, and then pur- 

 suing this course without any regard, in many cases, 

 to consanguinity or nearness of blood. The princi- 

 pal reliance was placed on the ram or the bull, and 

 the greatest efforts were directed to produce these 

 animals of the best possible quality. Bulls and rams 

 were bred by these men extensively, for the purpose 

 of letting to other farmers, and they obtained the 

 most enormous prices for their services. In no 



