300 
On the Farmiiif/ of the 
The district called Craven, wliich, as I have before said, com- 
prises the carboniferous or mountain limestone range, is almost 
exclusively in grass, the bulk being pasturage of a very su])erior 
liind, and the herbage possessing high feeding qualities. On the 
higher parts of the range are extensive grazings for young stock, 
which, from the character of the grass, a naturally drier soil than 
might be expected, and a consequently healthy atmosphere, thrive 
well. The iDreed of cattle is peculiar to the district, and is easily 
distinguishable by the long and wide-set horns. The sheep are 
also of a good size, with black faces and horns. In the more 
western part of the district, towards the Westmoreland boundary, 
the country presents such an irregular mass of rocks and moun- 
tains, that the valleys alone are accessible to cultivation, and are 
in fact barely sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. A few 
flocks of scattered sheep pick up a scanty living on the mountain 
sides, reminding one of the trite reply of a Yorkshire moorland 
occupier to that eminent and zealous agriculturist Sir John Sin- 
clair, who, when visiting some of these moorlands, amongst other 
questions, asked how many sheep to the acre they usually consi- 
dered to be fair stocking ? to which the answer was, " Why, mun, 
ye begin at wrang end first ; ye should ax how mony acres to'l a 
sheep." 
As respects the stock and breed of cattle generally throughout 
this Riding, it has been much less attended to than in either of 
the others. In the middle and eastern parts the horses are of a 
pretty good size, and in one or two localities which are favoured 
by circumstances, some better animals are bred. The districts 
around Doncaster, Welherby, and Ripon, are those chiefly to be 
noticed for the production of horses, particularly hunters of good 
breeding and power. The draught horses which are usually em- 
ployed both for agricultural and commercial purposes, are of 
mixed breeds; and not unfrequently selected without much regard 
to their appropriateness for the work. Those in the western 
parts are commonly small, yet active and hardy ; but are of no 
distinct breed. Of horned cattle, the short-horns, and the Craven 
long-horns, are the only distinctive breeds : — the first in the 
middle and east parts of the Riding, and the other almost wholly 
confined to their native district in the west. There are, however, 
a great variety of cross breeds of a most incongruous character 
spread over the whole Riding. And when we consider the great 
numbers of Irish beast that have of late years found their way 
here, and how many of these have been domiciled and bred from, 
there cannot be much surprise at the melange that exists. It has 
for some years too been tlie practice of the resident landowners, 
and the better class of farmers, to keep in their herds one or 
more Channel Island cows; and the fashion has also prevailed to 
