38 
Agriculture of Berkshire. 
acres (exclusive of Downs), about 450 ewes and 400 tegs ; of 
these tegs about IGO of the best ewes are drawn out for stock, 
and kept in a flock by themselves upon Swedes and hay, both 
cut for the most part ; the others, living by the side of them, 
have, in addition, 1 lb. of oil-cake or 1 pint of beans per day, 
and are sold out in the spring at some of the fairs, or sent to the 
London market, in which latter case they are generally shorn 
first : occasionally, however, in the preceding autumn some or 
all of the wether lambs are sold out at the later fairs instead of 
being wintered, according as the prospect of keep is favourable 
or the reverse. 
The ewe-flock, consisting of 150 two-tooths, 150 four-tooths, 
and 150 sixth-tooths, lamb down in the early part of fFe- 
bruary : a lambing-pen is made, in the corner of the field 
where their food is, with thatched hurdles, or the ewes are 
removed to a convenient lambing-yard at the homestead, where 
they are fed on hay with turnips or mangolds ; as soon as the 
lambs are strong enough they are removed into the field. The 
lambs soon learn to run forward and feed on the green top, and 
are often supplied with a few peas, and some cake, and chaff. 
The roots are generally made to last until the beginning of May 
(where there are no water-meadows), by which time, in most 
seasons, the early rye, winter-barley, and vetches are fit to 
feed. The ewes are generally taken from the lambs at the end of 
May or beginning of June ; where there are downs the ewes are 
driven to them daily, and folded at night either on fallows or an 
inferior piece of grass, as circumstances and the quality of the 
downs require ; some of the downs are good enough to get the 
ewes up into condition without any other assistance, others are in- 
ferior, so that the stock on them require a good fold of grass 
at night. The sale or draft ewes, being the 150 oldest, are soon 
drawn out from the others and kept better, to get them fit for 
sale ; some few sell them immediately they are taken from 
the lambs, in the wool, but most shear them, and sell them out 
about August. 
After the lambs are weaned they require two kinds of food, 
and generally, so long as the vetches last, they have a fold 
of grass with them ; soon after the hay is cleared they get 
a run out on some of the inferior grasses which are not 
likely to produce good after-feed, and, when the vetches are 
finished, they fold on the best lattermath. Here it is that the 
lambs often get a check which it takes them months to recover 
from ; for in dry seasons, such as the last two have been, their 
supply of food is scanty till the rape is fit for use, which is not 
often the case till the middle of August. Upon this the lambs 
are sure to thrive if they have not been too much checked 
