40 



Farming of Lancashire. 



Wni, Garnett, of Quernmore Park, the late Mr. Ford, of Ellel, 

 Mr. Birchall, near Preston ; and in the south Mr. Bannerman, 

 near Chorley, Mr. Eastwood, near Burnley, and Mr. Harvey, near 

 Walton, Liverpool, have each contributed to introduce high-bred 

 animals ; but the finest short-horn stock in the county is perhaps 

 Mr. Townley's, of Townley, near Burnley. By recent purchases 

 this gentleman has collected together a most valuable herd, which 

 must help to improve the stock, not only in the Southern Divi- 

 sion, but throughout the county generally. 



Sheep. — There is no breed of sheep peculiar to this county : 

 nor, except in the hilly districts, are they an important item in the 

 farming stock. Large flocks of the black-faced breed ramble 

 over the eastern moors of the Middle Division, very inferior to 

 what they might be with a little care and attention in the breed- 

 ing. Early in the spring they are put on the hill pastures, where 

 they remain till November ; they are then brought down into 

 the enclosed lands, and salved with a mixture of butter and tar, 

 to prevent their having the scab and losing their wool in the 

 early spring ; the young animals, or hogs, in the first winter 

 suffer from the blackwater, a disease brought on by exposure to 

 wet and cold. The best remedy for this would be the erection of 

 sheds, however simple and rude in construction, in which the 

 sheep might be protected from storms both by day and night, a 

 luxury at present unknown to these poor animals. In the hills 

 of the Northern Division there is a considerable improvement; 

 and on the fine lands of Furness a large white-faced sheep, a 

 good deal like the Leicester, prevails. Lord Burlington has 

 lately introduced at Holker the South Downs, which answer 

 exceedingly well, and the successful result of the experiment 

 seems likely to lead to their general introduction into these parts. 

 Mr. Robert Garnett, of Wyreside, has taken some pains to 

 introduce a better class of black-faced sheep, and about four 

 years ago sent down to the Highlands for a flock of the improved 

 Scotch breed. He has met with little encouragement amongst 

 the farmers of his district : some few, however, begin to appre- 

 ciate them, and their value is now much beyond that of the 

 common sheep of the county. Mr. Smithies, of Bickerstaffe Hall, 

 in the Southern Division, has also for the last two years tried 

 some Shropshire Downs on his farm : they are a hardy and 

 productive breed. 



Horses. — Many horses are bred in Lancashire, and the farmers 

 naturally have a taste for the practice ; but, except in the western 

 parts of the Southern Division already mentioned, they are not of 

 a first-rate class, nor are they as good as they were a few years 

 ago. There is a fair supply of good carriage-horses and hackneys 



