Farmhuj of Yorkshire. 
123 
Leicester sheep, and breed as inany as the farm will krep ; 
the lambs are usually weaned in July ; put first on clover-fog, 
then on rape, followed by cut turnips, with an allowance of 
linseed-cake, which is increased in (|uantity till they each consume 
half a pound daily ; this continues till clippinjj-time, which takes 
place in April or May, after which they are sent to market. 
This system is practised from l^awtrv, in the south of the county, 
to Wetherby in the north, and on the west it extends as iar as 
Wakefield. The increased growth of roots supplies them with 
winter food, and in case of a wet season in the low grounds they 
are removed to grass-fields which have been drained. One of 
our largest lowland farmers mentioned to us that on his farm of 
1000 acres, now well drained, he has kept his sheep healthy and 
thriving during the last wet year, although his father on the 
same farm once lost his entire flock from the wetness of the 
season. We adopt this plan with great success ; the sheep have 
their usual allowance of cut turnips and linseed-cake given them 
on the grass-land, care being taken to have a few heaps of turnips 
ready for the time of need by taking them up and carting them 
during the first frost to avoid injuring the land. The plentiful 
keep which deep drainage allows the lowland farmer to provide 
for his sheep, induces him to have a stronger animal, and many 
farmers now obtain tlieir rams from Lincolnshire ; they can bear 
better food than the fine and smaller Leicesters, and are not so 
liable to rot. Others again buy Lincolnshire ewes and put them 
to a Leicester ram to obtain a longer staple of wool, but the 
custom is not general. 
In the parts west of Wakefield it is usual to buy Barnshire 
ewes, sell the lambs to the butcher as soon as they are fat, feed 
off the ewes for the same purpose, and then buy a fresh stock for 
another year. Some farmers prefer what are called north or 
cross-bred ewes, a cross between a Northumberland ewe and a 
Cheviqit or Barnshire ram. A few breeders cross a Leicester 
ewe with a Cotswold ram ; the produce is stronger, but not so 
good a feeder as the Leicester. Perfect symmetry of form, with 
a heavy weight of wool and lean flesh, may be said to be the aim 
of the sheep-breeders in this county, and a decided improvement 
within the last twelve years may justly be recorded. On an 
estate near Leeds, in consequence of the enlarged size of the farms, 
thousands of sheep, chiefly Leicesters, are now fed, where a few 
years ago they only numbered hundreds. 
Pi</s.- — -The county is pre-eminent for breeds of pigs ; the large 
\ orkshire and 1 ork-Cumberland are well known. On refer- 
ence to the prize lists of the Royal Agricultural Society, we 
find that in the " large-breed classes " the large white Yorkshire 
took the first and second prizes for boars and the first for a sow 
