WOOL. 



nore than three millions of acres capable of being improved, 

 ind carrying a more numerous ilock. We have two mil- 

 ions of (heep whofe fleeces are fcarcely wool, and which 

 ■night be brought to contribute their fhare to fupport the 

 ivoollen manufafture, and to increafe the wealth of the 

 :ountry. 



It may be proper to remark, that the quantity of wool 

 Trown annually in England is more variable than is ge- 

 lerally fuppofed, owing to the variable temperature of our 

 :limate. In long-continued and fevere winters, the (heep 

 lot obtaining the fame quantity of food, and being alfo ren- 

 lered lefs vigorous by the cold, do not grow fo much wool 

 is in milder feafons. The difference between the weight 

 )f the fleeces grown in fevere and in very mild feafons, 

 nav be ftated at one-fifth of the whole annual clip : indeed 

 ire believe it exceeds that proportion. About the year 

 1700, the annual value of Englidi wool was eftimated at 

 two millions fterling. If we fuppofe the average price at 

 that time to have been eight-pence per pound, or eight 

 poimds per pack, this will make the total weight of 

 wool two hundred and fifty thoufand packs. Indeed when 



we confider the improved tlate of our agriculture, the 

 great increafe of our population, and of our woollen exports, 

 we may fairly ftate the prefent weight of wool grown to be 

 double the amount of what it was at the period referred to. 

 In a fubfequent part of this article, it will be feen that the 

 cloth manufaftures of Yorkfliirc, principally from Englifll 

 wools, have increafed eight-fold in the lall eighty years ; and 

 though the woollen manufaftures have removed from fome 

 other fituations, yet the great increafe on the whole in Eng- 

 land cannot be doubted. Since the date of Mr. Luccock's 

 table in 1805, in confequence of the high price of long 

 combing-wool, the growers have paid more attention to the 

 weight of their fleeces ; and many who had rendered their 

 fleeces lighter by exchanging the Lincolnfhire for the 

 Leiceiter breeds of fheep, have fince been reverting to the 

 former breed, or rather to a mixed breed, endeavouring to 

 combine the improved form of the Leicefler flieep with the 

 heavy fleece of the Lincoln. The quantity of long corab- 

 ing-wool grown annually is greater than it was even ten 

 years fince ; the high and increafing price and demand 

 operating naturally as a premium, for its cultivation. 



Table I Shewing the Produce of Englifli Long Wool. 



Table 



