486 History of the Author's 



of the carcases should, in each case, be brought to one standard, and the wool esti- 

 mated proportionably to that v eight. 



In this case, on 125 lb. of carcase we shall have, 



lb. OK. dr. 

 South Down as before, - - - - 2 6 37 



Ryeland, - - - - - - 2 5 2-|- 



Merino-Ryeland - - - - - 3120 



Hence it appears, that on 125 lb. of living carcase, the Merino-Ryeland carries 

 1 lb. 5 oz, 4^ dr. of scoured wool more than the South Down, and 1 lb. 6 oz. 5-fdr. 

 more than the Ryeland. This superiority of wool produce in the Merino-Ryeland 

 on 1251b. weight of carcase, must appear to every person, who calmly reflects on 

 it, a matter of the highest importance. 



In the beginning of this Essay I have stated that about 6,500,000 lbs. of fine 

 woolof commerce are of late annually imported into Great Britain from various 

 other countries. This wool, by clean scouring, loses, through all its sorts, about 

 -f of its weight; and, therefore, becomes 5,200,ooo]bs. 



The 3,500,000 acres of unimprovable land, which I have above quoted, are sup- 

 posed to carry not more than one sheep to 2\ acres. These sheep being generally 

 of a small kind, cannot yield, one with another, more than i|: lb. of clean scoured 

 wool. The produce of 1,400,000 such sheep will, therefore, be 1,750,000 lbs. 

 On the same land, the Merino-Ryeland, at 4 lb. per fleece in the yolk, would give 

 2,800,000 lb. of clean wool, of the best quality. At the present prices, the former 

 at 2s. 2d. per lb. through the entire fleece, could not be worth more than ^^189,583. 

 while the latter, at 7s. 6d. per lb. as above, would pay £'1,050,000. ; making, in 

 favour of the Merino-Ryeland wool, a difference of £'860.417. which, alone, is 

 nearly 5 times the value of the present produce. 



According to an ingenious author, Mr. Luccock, who has collected a great mass 

 of entertaining and useful information on the subject of sheep and wool, 

 28,412,202 acres in England and Wales carry 14,854,299 short-woolled sheep, 

 yielding 202,737 packs of wool at 240 lbs. per pack, or 48,656,880 lbs. Nearly 

 all this wool is washed on the sheep's back, and, on being farther scoured, suffers a 

 reduction of at least -j- through the whole fleece. 



Now, as I have observed above, the waste lands being capable of producing 

 2,8oo,oco lb, of clean scoured superfine wool, a deficiency of 2,400,000 Ibs^ 



