22 
Relative Profits to the Farmer from 
the breeding of horses, when they are commanding such an extreme price as 
nearly 100/. apiece for working animals. 
Cattle can be bred and reared on the old grass lands of Yorkshire, Cumber- 
land, and Westmoreland, cheaper than we can raise them on our arable or 
even grass land. The coarser grasses seem to suit them better, and the change 
to our richer feed seems to act to great advantage. My exi^erience is that 
cattle grazed upon rough hill-pasture do much better than those in parks, 
■which are rented at Zl. or 6?. per acre. The latter land does not yield an 
equal feed for them all the season, while ui)on the former they have more 
room and a greater diversity of natural grasses. 
Many farms can both breed and feed sheep ready for the butcher, and where 
that course is practicable, the farmer reaps the profit of both breeder and 
feeder. But on the majority of farms this system cannot be followed out. 
On good land it is more profitable to buy-in feeding sheep than to keep ewes 
and lambs. Ewes are apt to get too fat on rich land, and^are very subject to 
diseases of one kind and another, while lambs require a great deal of room for 
them to thrive well, especially after being weaned. Young stock require 
clean fresh meat to keep them healthy. This cannot be supplied on high- 
rented land. Artificial food is of little use in this case. Feeding-sheep can be 
put thicker on the land, and feeding-stuffs can be used with freedom a,long 
with turnips and grass. 
As to hacks and hvmters, I do not know of any circumstances in which they 
can be bred with more profit to the farmer than the breeding and feeding of 
cattle or sheep. 
In my experience, sheep are more profitable than cattle. They enrich the 
land more equally, and are kept at less expense. They are also growing two 
sources of profit, mutton and wool, while cattle are only growing beef. Their 
hides do not increase much in value. Cattle must be kept to a certain extent 
to work out the profits of the farm, in making manure, &c., for the turnip 
crop. In such a country as Ireland, where the climate is wet and humid, 
cattle will pay better, as sheep thrive best in a dry atmosphere. 
The Clydesdale horse is best. The nearer the pure Shorthorn the better for 
cattle. In regard to our sheep stock on the borders, the Border Leicester has 
taken a prominent part on our arable land, and no other class of stock has 
been able to compete with it. However, for the present taste of our con- 
suming classes they have rather too much fat upon them, although most of 
them are marketed before they are twelve months old. Their true value to 
our country is the result produced by crossing the Cheviot ewe with them. 
The half-bred sheep is now the most popular. They grow the finest class of 
wool in the market, while butchers are particularly fond of their meat. The 
lean and fat are well mixed, and their carcases command a high price in the 
London and provincial markets. For our soil and climate we can imagine no 
more profitable sheep than the latter. Y^ou have good wool, a sound consti- 
tution, fast feeding-powers, moderate size, and the best quality of mutton. 
The Border Leicester has also been successfully crossed with Black-faced and 
Grey-faced ewes. This cross has produced even a finer class of sheep as 
regards mutton, but the wool is not of such fine quality, nor do they grow to 
the same size. In the Che\iot Hills, a class of stock of that name occupy the 
higher lands ; the lower range of hills being grazed with half-bred sheep most 
jiart of the year. Amidst the Lammermoors, on the ground where half- 
breds cannot be kept, the Black-faced and Halflangs find a home. The latter 
class are also a hybrid breed — a crass betwixt the Cheviot tup and the pure 
Black-faced ewe. They can exist on the same pasturage as the latter, grow a 
better class of wool, and are more easily disposed of as draft ewes, but their 
produce iy dilEcult to fatten when young. 
John Clay. 
