1 1 6 A Walk from 



If Mr. Webb did not originate, he developed a 

 system of usefulness into a permanent and most valu- 

 able institution, which, perhaps, will be the most novel 

 to American stock-raisers. Having, by a long course 

 of scientific observations and experiments, fixed the 

 qualities he desired to give his Southdowns; having 

 brought them to the highest perfection, he now adopted 

 a system which would most widely and cheaply diffuse 

 the race thus cultivated all over the civilized world. 

 He instituted an annual ram-letting, which took place 

 in the month of July. This occasion constituted an 

 important event to the great agricultural world. A 

 few Americans have been present and witnessed the 

 proceedings of these memorable days, and they know 

 the interest attaching to them better than can be 

 inferred from any description. M. De La Trehonnais, 

 in the "Revue Agricole de 1'Angleterre," thus sketches 

 some of the incidents and aspects of the occasion : 



" It is a proceeding regarded in England as a public 

 event, and all the journals give an account of it with 

 exact care, assembling from every county and even 

 from foreign countries. The sale begins about two 

 o'clock. A circle is formed with ropes in a small 

 field near the mansion, where the rams are introduced, 

 and an auctioneer announces the biddings, which are 

 frequently very spirited. The rams to be let are 



