

166 Essay on Sheep. 



*^ nea and a half per acre, will carry and keep 

 " in good store state six and a half Spanish Rye- 

 '* lands, from four to four and a half Spanish 

 " South Downs, allowing turneps, pease, and 

 ** haum in the dead winter months. The larg- 

 " est breed of South Down are stocked in Sus- 

 *' sex, at the rate of four per acre; of full-bred 

 " Merinoes, an acre will carry a proportionably 

 greater number. They have been found very 

 apt to take on both flesh and fat; for two 

 " ewes exhibited at Bath fifty guineas were re- 

 ** fused. One acre of good grass will keep 500 

 *^ couple a day. The harder you stock, the 

 '^ more grass, and the more sheep you may 

 " keep; besides that, hard stocking will render 

 " the coarse grass fine." 



I have asserted that a cross with Merino rams 

 upon any stock would add at least one-third to 

 the value of the wool, taking quantity and qua- 

 lity together; I, however, presumed this from 

 my own experience, and from a cross I had 

 seen between a Merino and a long-wool led Bri- 

 tish sheep. I have since met with the follow- 

 ing confirmations of my assertions, even carry- 

 hw, them much farther than I have done. I 

 wished to confine myself to the strictest bounds, 

 that every man's experiments might at least ve- 

 rify mine, and excite that confidence in my 



