448 
Farming of Cornwall. 
Breeds of Sheep, Cattle, Horses, and Pigs. 
73. Sheep. — In very few counties has so complete an altera- 
tion taken place in the character of sheep as in Cornwall within 
the last fifty years. The table of Mr. Luccock, in 1800, assigns 
to Cornwall 203,000 short -rvoolled sheep, producing 3382 packs 
of wool; while that of Mr. Hulabard, in 1828, makes no mention 
of the number of sheep, but of 5920 packs of long wool being 
yielded by the Cornish flocks. The county attributes this im- 
provement chiefly to the exertions of Mr. Peters, who com- 
menced as a flock-master in 1 790, when he introduced, to use his 
own expression, " a waggon load of ewes and a ram " of the im- 
proved Leicesters, and continued crossing this blood with the native 
breed up to the period of Worgan's survey in 1810. The Rev. R. 
Walker and Mr.Rodd also introduced some rams of this blood about 
this time (the produce being sold to the farmers for the improve- 
ment of their flocks), the effect of which may be imagined from 
]Mr. Worgan's description — " that we had as fine a breed of 
sheep as any county in England." About this period (1810) 
Mr. Peters introduced two rams from a Mr. Kimber's flock, in 
the north of Gloucester, who was a pupil of Mr. Bakewell, and 
who had, by mixing the new Leicester blood with the Cotswolds, 
become eminent as a breeder in that neighbourhood. These 
rams w-ere crossed with Mr. Peters's flock generally, until the 
year 1814, when he again introduced the new Leicesters from 
latter is washed out by the rains ; but when trap decays, the lime by which 
it is characterized is not readily dissolved, so that the marl which is pro- 
duced is not only fertile in itself, but is capable of being employed as a 
manure for other soils. On the ecu bonaceotts deposits'' {21) there is also 
a great breadth of waste, the whole of which would require thorough 
draining. I would recommend the enclosed land on this formation to 
be first drained and thickly planted, ere any attempt be made on the un- 
enclosed portions. 
The old tithe law was a great barrier to the cultivation of our waste 
lands. Mr. Wills of South Petherwyn, who has been employed in appor- 
tioning the rent-charges in lieu of tithes in a great many parishes, says, 
" Happily the question is amicably settled ; the apportionments in the 
county are with a single exception confirmed, and I am decidedly of 
opinion that after a few years we shall one and all find it an improve- 
ment on the old system ; for while it gives to the tithe-owner a better 
security, it holds out to the cultivator of the soil a great inducement to 
increase its produce, the good effect of which will be felt by the commu- 
nity at large. I conceive too that the settlement of this question will calf 
the attention of the owners of the waste lands in the county to their culti- 
vation and improvement (they being now tithe free), so many thousands 
of acres of whuh hold out to the capitalist a safe and profitable invest- 
ment, offering labour to a vast number of the unemployed poor, besides . 
incixasing the production of food required for an annually increasing 
population." 
