128 Accounts of a Hampshire Flock in igiH-ig. [may, 



let for the season for 170 guineas, another was sold for 50 

 guineas, a shearling was sold at 50 guineas and another shearling 



45 guineas, and the general average made by the ram lambs 

 amounted to about 15 guineas a head. The fat sheep and 

 lambs were sold under control in the ordinary way and realised 

 an average of about 73s. a head, lambs in August and September 

 making about 62s. each. The wool was sold at 2s. 8^d. 

 per lb. The general result is a loss for the year of over ;f300, 

 to which must be added some loss in the valuation for reasons 

 indicated above. This loss is undoubtedly due to the great 

 expenses which now attend an arable land flock. Nearly £500 

 was spent directly upon labour apart from the labour spent on 

 growing the crops folded off. Of course this cost is much 

 higher than a normal flock would require, because a pedigree 

 flock requires a shepherd at a special rate and other extra 

 attentions. The biggest item, however, in the costs is the food. 

 The dry foods consumed amounted to £t,^6o, less a credit for 

 ^33 5 fo^^ manurial residues. The crops folded off were also 

 expensive in view of the high cost of seed and labour. Dividing 

 all the expenses on the basis of the number of ewes in the flock, 

 and that is the only fixed datum, the ewe with its lamb through- 

 out the year costs about £^ 15s. for food, 26s. for labour, 17s. 

 for service of the rams used, and 27s. management and sundries, 

 roughly £g 5s. a head, against which about 22s. can be set of. 

 for wool, rendering it necessary to realise an average of £8 3s. 

 per head for the lambs, both ewes and rams, on the basis of one 

 lamb per ewe. \Mien it is considered that half the fall of lambs 

 will be ewes, and that of the ram lambs only a proportion can 

 be sold for stud purposes, while the rest, together with the ewe 

 lambs and cast ewes sold, only realise 73s. per head, a very 

 high figure must be obtained for the stud ram lambs in order 

 to make the flock pay. In the assumption that 100 per cent, 

 of lambs are reared in addition to such ewe lambs as are required 

 to replace ewes dying during the year, and that 60 per cent, 

 of the ram lambs are fit for sale for stud purposes, these latter 

 would have to realise an average of ^^17 a head in order to make 

 the flock pay its way. 



Putting aside certain particular and seasonal sources of loss, 

 such as the poor fall of lambs, the bad season, and the fact 

 that the flock has not been established long enough to secure 

 the position in the market to which it might be considered 

 entitled from its breed, there are certain more general sources 

 of loss which affect all similar flocks. In the first place, though 

 the prices realised by pedigree stock at the present time look 



