oi 



and hay that may remain after supporting the stock that is indis- 

 pensable, might be profitably consumed by sheep. No animal is 

 so well adapted to land of inferior quality, and none produces so 

 favorable an effect on the soil. In Great Britain, particularly in 

 Wales and Scotland, there are vast tracts Avhich have been occu- 

 pied as sheep-ranges, from time immemorial, -without any manure 

 except that dropped by their sheep ; and yet the productive power 

 of the soil is undiminished. There are some portions of our own 

 country, where sheep have been pastured on the same land for 

 from fifty to a hundred years, the number being now as great, 

 in proportion to the extent of land, as formerly. I need not stop 

 to consider the causes of this well established fact. 



" But it may be asked — Is the soil of Norfolk County as well 

 suited to sheep as that of Britain ? A considerable portion of it is 

 not. Our climate is dry compared with that of the principal sheep 

 districts of England, Wales and Scotland ; and the most porous 

 of our soils are much affected by the long droughts which prevail 

 here, — the growth of grass being greatly lessened. Under this 

 characteristic of our climate, some of the land cannot be profitably 

 devoted to sheep. Experiments in the County of Plymouth, on 

 Nantucket, and in other sections, have shown that even the poor- 

 est sand plains are worth from ten to twelve dollars an acre for 

 the growth of wood. There is no evidence that they would be 

 Avorth this for the keeping of sheep. Consequently, they should be 

 devoted to such kinds of trees as will grow on them to the best 

 advantage. 



" The best of our lands are and will be required for cultivation, 

 and for the support of cattle and horses ; and the poorest should 

 go to wood. There will still remain a portion, of intermediate 

 quality, suitable for sheep. It might be expedient, also, to turn 

 sheep occasionally upon pastures generally grazed by other ani- 

 mals, in order to improve the quality of the herbage. 



" The obstacles to the keeping of sheep in this section, have 

 been the liability of their being destroyed by dogs, and the sup- 

 posed difficulty of restraining them within proper JDOunds, — the 

 stone walls which are so common being, in many instances, easily 

 got over. In regard to the former, it is to be hoped that the 

 present " dog law," or other legislative enactments, may afford 

 the desired security ; and as to the latter, the addition of one or 

 two narrow boards, of the cheapest kind, to the top of a wall, will 

 form an impassable barrier. A single board will generally answer 

 the purj)0se, if fastened to stakes in such a manner as to ])roject 

 towards the inclosure designed fur sheep. 



" The inducements for keeping sheep here may be briefly enu- 

 merated as follows : 1 . They would afford a better income from 

 some land, than could be obtained in any other way. "I. Tiiey 

 can be made to improve some land by the destruction of bushes, 



