470 History of the Author's 



the size of my inclosures, and my syscm of breeding, I have never less than from 

 30 to 100 sheep or lambs feeding together; and I am obliged to crop the grass of 

 one field nearly bare, before I can send my division into another field: notwith- 

 standing which, no one, who sees my flock, will deny that they are in as good 

 store order as can be required for any purposes except those of ostentation ; and 

 under this management many of them have become fat, and have either been sold 

 to the butcher at a price which was the very top of the market, or been killed for 

 the use of my own family. Those which I have so expended, have been certainly 

 superior in flavour to any mutton which I have ever purchased. The fat approaches 

 in taste and consistency to that of venison, more than in any of the native English 

 breeds. The wethers have reached from 12 to i5|-lb. the quarter; and from a 

 two-shear sheep of the latter weight, I have had 12^ lb. of loose fat. A butcher or 

 grazier would, doubtless, have done much more for them in this respect, dian was 

 consistent with my views. Experiments of this kind made by two gentlemen, whose 

 names cannot be mentioned without insuring respect, have had the most satisfac- 

 tory results; I allude to Lord Somerville and Mr. Toilet; the former of whose 

 Merino-Ryeland siieep, exhibited at the Bath Agricultural Society, were in all 

 points greatly admired by various gentlemen, who saw and tasted them. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Toilet, a half bred Merino-Ryeland wether weighed i8-i- lb. the quar- 

 ter, and had i8jlb. of rough fat; and, it is worthy of particular notice, that while 

 his best South Down wether weighed 22^ lb. per quarter, and had 18 lb. of rough 

 fat, a wether of thq same age, half Mci ino half Ryeland, fed with the former from a 

 lamb, weighed 27 lb. die quarter, and had 23 lb. of rough fat. 



On this subject I may add, that after shearing my 2-tooth rams on the 17th of 

 June last, I weighed li of them alive, selected merely for the fineness of their 

 fleeces, and found them tobe 781 lb. or 71 lb. each. On the 16th of August fol- 

 lowing, or two months afterwards, having been kept with nearly 40 other rams of 

 the same age, they were again weighed, and found to be 955-j- lb. or to have gained 

 in the whole ij^^ lb. which was, on the average, upwards of 15-l-lb. each. That 

 which had gained the most, had increased 2o|^lb. ; and the least 11 lb. If the single 

 one last mentioned had not been included, the first weight of the remaining 10 

 would have been 7081b. and the second weight 871^: lb. ; giving an increase of 

 weight in the whole lot of 163:!: .b. and, consequently, 167 lb, in each ram; or 

 within about i^ lb. each of 5 of their former weight. 1 do not profess to be much 



