56 



Farming of Derbysldre. 



The experiments of Mr. Cavendish are very interesting and 

 valuable, from which may be deduced some facts ; and there may 

 be put at the same time a few interrogatories. Why is the blood 

 of Myrtle and Nelson, the purest and best of the short-horned 

 race, abandoned for the Ayrshire ? Is it because the Ayrshire 

 makes the most beef? or is it because the short-horns consume 

 too much food and misappropriate the same by converting it into 

 tallow ? One of these, or both, or neither, may be the reason ; 

 but what is the fact? that in the nineteenth century we still 

 require experiments to prove the superiority of one over the 

 other. Would the short-horn become (in course of time) an Ayr- 

 shire if taken to the " Banks of Bonny Doon ? " or would the 

 horns of the Ayrshire grow shorter by travelling south and in- 

 dulging in the pampered dietary of the luxurious short-horn ? 

 If it be true that all beef and mutton goes in at the mouth, and 

 that the animal economy is only a means of conversion, the best 

 test for deciding this all-important question would be to turn 

 out, at 4 months old, 2 calves — one of the Ayrshire, the other of 

 the short-horn or Durham blood, and determine by figures and 

 experiment which would give the most milk, or convert, from the 

 same money value in vegetables, the greatest amount of milk, or 

 beef, or butter, for the use of man. The experiment with sheep 

 is most valuable, inasmuch as it shows that without muscular 

 exercise muscle and flesh cannot be produced. The 3 Leicester 

 sheep that were put into a straightjacket, penned, and well fed, 

 " got fat, but did not pay." But the 10 hogs put into the shed, 



have done very well," because they have room for exercise.* 

 The weather had no influence in reducing their comforts, and the 

 experiment shows sufliciently the value of sheep-sheds in high 

 and upland farms. 



But the most valuable experiment has yet to be noticed. Eight 

 sheep of mixed blood were for experiment put into the shed. 

 Putting them in pairs,'/Ae Leicesfers, and the Leicester and Shrop- 

 shire, were equal ; but the others, the mixed Leicester and Has- 

 lingden, the Leicester and Woodland, gave heavier weights on 

 the scale. As a practical man, I am at a loss to understand this. 

 It might have been supposed the half-bred Woodland with its 

 horns and erect ears, would have brought its wild and predatory 

 habits. It seems, however, the Woodland breed made more 

 mutton than the Leicesters, or the mixed Leicester and Shropshire. 

 Perhaps it brought into the shed its long-established and here- 

 ditary muscle. 



The land at Ashford is of excellent quality. Ascending the 



*■ Mr. Cavendish's shed is simple and useful, costing very little, but answering 

 every useful purpose. It is box-feeding sheep, without boards. The animals are 

 on straw, and have comfortable lodgings and plenty of room. 



