302 KALM'S ENGLAND. 



entered upon, the sheep-man drives his sheep in the day- 

 time to pasture on the Common-lands, or Almanningar, 

 and [common] ' arable-field-pastures,' betes-akrar,* or 

 also on the farmer's own land, where he always has 

 freedom to pasture them, because they by the droppings 

 which they leave after them always pay for what they 

 eat. The abundance of all kinds of weeds, which grow 

 upon the fields, gives them also an abundant feed. The 

 sheep-man goes himself to pasture with them, Pare- 

 mannen gar sjelf vail med dem, and in the evening 

 he drives them out on to the fallow-fields of the one whom 

 he has made an agreement with, where they are folded 

 at night in the same way as has been described above 

 [p. 262 orig. 263 above]. The more the sheep-man's sheep 

 are increased, the more acres of land can he manure in 

 the year, and, consequently, the larger is his profit. 

 When it is very bad weather, he feeds them at home at 

 night with all kinds of straw and hay, which he afterwards 

 converts into manure, in the manner which has been 

 described above, and sells the same. The mild nature 

 of the air here in England which allows the sheep to go 

 out to pasture the whole year, summer and winter (and 

 in consequence nearly all the time they are folded on the 

 arable), causes the profit on a small flock of sheep to be 

 considerable, especially when the advantage of England 

 is added to that, that they have here no need to fear 

 wolves, vargar, which are not found in this country. 



The sheep's wool, and the manure collected at home 

 in bad weather, from the straw, together with the sheeps' 

 droppings, all of which the sheep-man can sell, in 

 addition to his being able now and then to sell some 

 sheep to the butcher, richly repay the few pence he had 



* Of course these, which are only pastures after the crops are carried, 

 disappear with the enclosures. [J. L.] 



