636 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 
conducted tlie lamb through eveiy stage, from the period of its birth 
till it became a full-gi-own teg. 
Mr. Dent, M.P., observed that, as the Professor's observations had 
treated almost exclusively of sheep in the southern and south-western 
counties, he would take the libei-ty of making a few remarks with 
regard to the system of rearing them in Yorkshire. In the north, 
they did not get their lambs dropped until the latter part of March or 
the beginning of April ; therefore the weaning time this year was yet 
to come, and it was usually in July and August. Upon nearly all 
farms where there was old grass-land it was a rare, and, according to 
his experience, not a good thing, to run the ewes in lamb upon turnip- 
land. In fact, the winter before last, his ewes had no tm-nips imtil 
after lambing, against the wishes of his shepherd ; yet, when lambing 
time came, he was compelled to acknowledge that he had never known 
a healthier season. There was great difficulty in managing a flock of 
ewes upon strong land. One or two years he had suffered severely 
from scour in lambs, when he had been tempted to put them back in 
the clover-field. During the two last seasons he had found the best 
plan was to place them upon old grass-land, which had not been 
stocked with sheep thi-ough the previous part of the year. From 
thence he put them upon white mustard, either sown by itself or 
mixed with rape, a remarkably healthy crop for young lambs, which 
would eat the young mustard upon its coming into flower before they 
would touch the rape. He thought the system of folding mentioned 
by the Professor must be a good one ; but it was not carried out that 
he was aware of anywhere in the north. Some time ago he read with 
much satisfaction a paper by Mr. Bond, of Suffolk, upon the manage- 
ment of breeding-flocks of ewes upon strong land. 
The practice of folding in simimer was not known in Yorkshu-e. 
There, too, a hurdle was scarcely ever seen, and they suffered much 
from game. When nets were used, they were bitten in holes by the 
hares, and took a good deal of mending. The sheep were, therefore, 
left to run over the seed-field. He recollected some endeavour" being 
made to fold ewes and lambs in meshes : but that year two lambs 
got hung in the nets, and he had known a case or two of tegs or full- 
grown sheep hanging themselves in the same manner : that, however, 
was not frequently the result. 
It was important to know what could be substituted for clover 
in the case of a flock of breeding ewes. In the north, great difficulty 
was experienced in gi-owing clover once in four or even five or six 
years, and he should be glad to see his way to the adoption of some 
rotation. The idea of vetches and rape together for feeding off seemed 
to be a very good one. In the East Riding it was a common practice 
to take a portion of land that ought to be in clover and sow it with 
vetches, to be eaten off early, and followed by rape. As to ewes pro- 
ducing pairs of lambs, he miglit mention an interesting fact. Last 
year he wanted some additional sheep, and purchased 45 Leicester 
ewes of capital quality and in excellent condition. After ho had them 
he put them with his other ewes upon rape and white turnips, with 
the same rams ; but out of the whole 45 nearly 30 wore barren, 
