236 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



primitive rotation of two corn crops followed by a fallow. The village 

 flock was grazed on the wastes and commons during the day, and at night 

 was brought back to be folded on the fallows and stubbles (or, in some cases, 

 fastened in houses or sheds). They thus provided the means of enriching 

 the arable land at the expense of the commons and wastes, which often lay 

 at some distance from the village. Most of us have seen at one time or 

 another remarkable demonstrations of the wonderful efficiency of a flock 

 of sheep as transporters of fertilising material. Tusser's verse describes 

 the system sufficiently well and indicates one of its incidental disadvantages 

 in the days when fences were almost non-existent and sheep dogs had not 

 had the benefit of the education provided by our Sheep Dog Trials. 



* The land is well hearted with help of the fold, 

 For one or two crops, if so long it will hold. 

 If shepherd would keep them from stroying of corn, 

 The walk of his sheep might the better be borne.' 



The system was general in all arable districts up to the time of the 

 great enclosures in the eighteenth century. At the end of that century 

 the folding of sheep in the South Midlands was still valued at about 4.0s. 

 an acre, or from 45. to 5^. per sheep per annum, though many writers 

 suggest that the return was dearly bought. Walking the sheep long 

 distances every day and the discomfort and semi-starvation which they 

 often experienced on the fallows made mutton production impossible. 

 It is perhaps worthy of note that the Wiltshire and Norfolk breeds were 

 regarded as specially suitable for folding because they were active and 

 ' stood well out of the dirt.' This early system of folding on fallows and 

 stubbles must not be confused with the modern system of folding on 

 root and forage crops, which is a very different matter. 



Milk Production. 



A subsidiary, but not unimportant, additional return from the flock 

 in old times was the cheese made from the ewes' milk after the weaning of 

 the lambs. The practice of milking the ewes survived in many hill 

 districts until comparatively recently, but has now almost completely 

 disappeared. Walter of Henley, Tusser and other early writers deal 

 rather fully with the matter. The lambs were weaned comparatively 

 early and the ewes milked for six or eight weeks, care being taken to dis- 

 continue the milking soon enough to allow the ewes to get into good 

 condition before the approach of winter. In the General View of the 

 Agriculture of Roxburgh (1798) it is estimated that a score of ewes 

 would give about two quarts of milk a day ; thirty-six score of ewes, with 

 the addition of 25 per cent, of cow's milk, should give a cheese of about 

 45 lb. a day. These were, of course, small Cheviot ewes kept on poor hill 

 pasture. When we think of the labour involved in collecting and milking 

 thirty-six score of ewes every day, and the value of cheese at the present 

 time, we can hardly be surprised that the practice has died out. At the 

 same time, there are other aspects of the milking of ewes which require 

 mention, and to them I will return. 



