13^ Essay on Sheep. 



would have brought him. In this I have stated 

 nothing for the increased value of the lambs 

 sold, lest it should be said that no sale may offer 

 for them. This, however, is an error, in a coun- 

 try so rapidly increasing as ours, and which does 

 not grow one-fifth of the wool necessary for its 

 own consumption; and when all the stock of 

 sheep will be converted by intelligent farmers 

 into Merinoes, there will be a demand for lambs 

 for at least twenty years, at an advanced price; 

 so that I have no hesitation in saying, that the 

 profit upon the lambs will be more than equal 

 to thatof the wool. To state the account fairly 

 then, the annual profit should be doubled. 

 Provided the farmer sets out with the best stock, 

 and takes care to breed only from good ewes, 

 he will find demand for any number he may 

 wish to part with. 



I have already anticipated what it was neces- 

 sary to say as to the choice of the ram, and the 

 manner of forming and keeping a flock. It 

 may, however, be said, that when this breed is 

 more diffused, the price of the wool will fall. 

 I am not of this opinion, because, besides our 

 own, there will be a foreign demand. This 

 wool now sells in England at seven shillings and 

 three-pence sterling, and is constantly rising. 

 But admit that it should fall, it is certam that 



