THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



281 



Society would be enabled to secure the at- 

 tendance of Mr. Nesbit on some future 

 occasion, when additional information 

 would, no doubt, be imparted. Such lec- 

 tures as that to which they had just listen- 

 ed was, at all events, adapted to set ag- 

 riculturists thinking. And he hoped that 

 many of those present would ponder what 

 they had heard, make experiments, as' far 

 as practicable, in connexion with his sug- 

 gestions, and communicate the results to | 

 the Society. In conclusion, he would, on i 

 behalf of the audience, thank Mr. Nesbit] 

 for his lecture, and express a hope that 

 that was not the last time they would see 

 him amongst them. (Cheers.) 

 The meeting then separated. 



From the British Farmers' Magazine. 



The Supplies of Mutton. 



Although beef furnishes the standing dish at 

 our Christmas dinners, yet the prize South- 

 downs that were exhibited at the great Smith- 

 field market, suggest the expediency of a few 

 facts respecting the condition of our mutton. 

 Leaving out of consideration at the present 

 period of the year the fleece, we will confine 

 ourselves exclusively to the carcase. It is re- 

 markable how uniform is the supply of sheep 

 shown at the Smithfield Christmas market. 

 The average of the past seven years has been 

 23,724 head, and the past two years were near- 

 ly equal— 22,870. Of about 4,000,000 sheep 

 required annually for the metropolitan supply, 

 more than one-half would seem to be sent up 

 to market slaughtered. 



It is not a little remarkable, that while the 

 sale of cattle at Smithfield market has steadily 

 increased from 184,524 head in 1844 to 263,008 

 head in 1854, that of sheep has remained al- 

 most stationary. In 1844, 1,609,130 head 

 were sold, in 1854 but 1,539,380. Indeed 

 if we refer back a quarter of a century, we 

 shall find that nearly as many sheep were sold 

 at Smithfield in 1829 as in 1854. Mr. Dodd, 

 in his recent work on the " Food Supply of 

 London/' attributes this to an increased sup- 

 ply of country-killed mutton, while the in- 

 creased supply of beef is in the form of live 

 cattle imported from abroad, and mainly sold 

 at Smithfield. Twenty years ago the sheep 

 were eightfold the number of cattle ; now they 

 are less than sevenfold. 



Scotland had this year, by the agricultural 

 returns, nearly six million sheep (5,822,478.) 

 In Ireland, there were in 1855, 3,598,471, the 

 number then having increased nearly 1,500,000 

 in four years. England and Wales have pro- 

 bably about 28,500,000 sheep, which would 

 bring the total number in the United Kingdom 

 up to 38,000,000 ; but we may safely take the 



whole number at 40,000,000. Average these 

 at 30s. per head, we have an aggregate value 

 of £60,000,000 for the sheep stock of the Brit- 

 ish Isles. Assuming one-fourth of these to 

 be slaughtered annuallv, and the average 

 weight to be 80 lbs., we have 800,000,000 lbs. 

 of mutton supplied to our population annually, 

 worth at the set price about £20,000,000 ster- 

 ling. 



Large quantities of sheep and lambs reach 

 Liverpool from Ireland, the numbers being 

 about 200,000 head per annum, and nearly all 

 these are slaughtered for the consumption of 

 that town ; in the Newcastle market the num- 

 ber slaughtered is about 300,000. About 

 6,000,000 head of sheep are now transported 

 annually from their pasture grounds to the 

 large markets for town consumption. We only 

 commenced to import sheep in July, 1842, upon 

 the repeal of the prohibition, when 650 head 

 came in ; but the numbers received from the 

 Continent, it will be seen from the following 

 figures, averages about 200,000 head ; although 

 the imports of sheep are on the decline, while 

 those of cattle are increasing. 



The imports in the last six years were — in 



• Sheep and Lambs. 



. 1850 - - - - 143,498 



1851 - - - 201,859 



1852 - - - - 330,476 



1853 - 259,420 

 1854- - - - 183,436 

 1855 - 162,642 



Our neighbor France had, in 1840, 32,151 ,431 

 sheep, and killed of these in the year 5,804,700 

 head ; but while the number has not very 

 greatly increased, standing at about 36,000,000, 

 the proportion slaughtered annually appears to 

 have risen to about 8,000,000. In France, 

 however, sheep husbandry is directed more to 

 the production of wool than flesh ; hence the 

 return of meat is scarcely half that of our 

 well-fed sheep. If France feeds less sheep 

 than we do, she pastures more cattle. The ag- 

 riculturalists of France have, however, wisely 

 come to the determination that their breed of 

 sheep would be much improved for food by a 

 cross with the English races ; and their breed- 

 ers and graziers have been large purchasers of 

 stock for breeding. During the nineteenth 

 century France has made rapid strides in wool 

 production, and there is little doubt that breed- 

 ers will now combine the two requisites of flesh 

 and fleece. 



Owing to the increase of population in the 

 Australian settlements, the demand for meats, 

 necessitates more attention to the flesh as well 

 as to the wool. The recent discovery of sev- 

 eral million acres of very fine pasturage in 

 Northern Australia, near the Clarence River, 

 by Mr. Gregory and his exploring party, will 

 have a very beneficial effect, in increasing 

 sheep stock and extending the production of 



