300 
Farming of Bucldnghamskire. 
and February, and early in March, and some of the very early 
ones are supplied with split beans or white peas, while later lambs 
feed solely on the rich herbage of the pastures. As soon as the 
house-fed and early lambs of the arable lands are over, then these 
are sent to market. The Buckinghamshire lambs seldom come 
out much before May ; but during that and the two succeeding 
months supply London with an inunense quantity of that delicate 
meat. The lambs are generally cleared off by August, when the 
ewes having lost their offspring, readily fatten and are disposed 
of during the autumn. The usual proportion of sheep on grass 
is one fat wether or couple to an ox or cow. It is tiie almost 
universal rule to clear off the ewes ever}- year and have a fresh 
supply ; for, in addition to the ewes being good mutton, a large 
portion of the best land in some years rots sheep, and they could 
not be safely kept two years in succession. The season of 1853 
was, in this respect, particularly disastrous, for many of the ewes, 
purchased early in the autumn, had to be sold off before they 
lambed, and all those which were unfortunately saved for another 
year were completely rotten. Indeed the ravages caused by rot 
are still to be met with in all parts of the county ; the white 
fleeces and bottled throats of many sheep plainly indicate their 
unsoundness. The other class of sheep kept on the grazing lands 
are wethers. These are bought in the spring, either in their coats 
or just shorn, and are fatted during the summer. By October 
they are cleared off ; but a few of the most superior are kept till 
Christmas. On the Chiltern hills and in the south the sheep fed 
are chiefly downs. These wethers, as lambs or shearlings, are 
imported from Berkshire and Hampshire, and being well fed on 
roots, hay and corn, or cake, during the winter months, furnish 
Smithfield with some very superior mutton. A marked improve- 
ment in the management and feeding of sheep on arable land has 
taken place within the last few years. Tlie old Report mentions 
sheep, four years old, weighing but 20 lbs. per quarter, a weight 
now often produced in about a fourth of the time. Artificial food 
was then seldom given, and the number of sheep on the arable 
land was quite insignificant. Now it is common to keep one 
sheep to the acre, while the stock of some good arable farmers is 
considerably more. Where there are commons or sheep-walks on 
the hills, ewes are kept and the lambs stored; they are sold off or 
fed on the farm the following winter. These ewes, as well as 
those kept on the northern foot of the Chilterns, are Hampshire 
downs or half-breds ; but there is a very superior and extensive 
flock of Southdowns at Shardeloes, and another of the most ex- 
quisite quality at Latimer. From what has been said it will be 
seen, as with cattle so with sheep, Bucks is essentially a grazing, 
not a breeding county. The ewes that are purchased for the grass 
