72 
The Farming of Cheshire. 
bred within it, except such as are sold when lambs to the butchers, 
and some which are reared from a few choice flocks in gentle- 
men's parks ; of these, the South Down and Leicester are the pre- 
vailing breeds. Those fed bv farmers consist chiefly of Cheviots 
(which probably form the greatest portion), Leicesters, Hasling- 
dens, Scotch, and Irish, and occasionally the Anglesea, Carnar- 
von, Shropshire black face, cluns, and the Derbys, or grit stones, 
commonly called Woodlands. The usual practice with many 
farmers is to purchase a few ewes about the month of September, 
which are kept in the stubbles until ploughed ; they are then 
turned into the cow-pastures, where they remain until the lamb- 
ing season commences, when they are put into a field of clover or 
old grass preserved for that purpose ; the lambs and ewes, when 
ready for the butcher, are sold ; wethers are seldom kept by the 
dairy farmers throughout the winter, but are frequently purchased 
in June or July, and sold off at the latter end of autumn. 
A great part of the land in Cheshire is at present much too 
wet for sheep; but if effectually drained, they would be found a 
profitable stock, and would improve the soil. 
The calculation as to the number of sheep in this county was 
first made in 1800, and afterwards in 1837, in a work from which 
I make the following extract : — 
" The river Dee, on the north-east border of Flintshire, divides the prin- 
cipality of Wales from England ; and the river being crossed, Cheshire 
first presents itself. This is by no means a sheep district ; the flocks bred 
in the county are comparatively few, and they are of all kinds, from the 
Welsh mountain sheep to the Leicester ; those which are grazed for home 
consumption are much of the same character. The Leicesters and the 
Cotswolds, and the Cheviots however prevail, and with every variety of 
cross ; but as they are mostly brought into the county for this purpose, they 
afford only skin-wool, and are not to be taken into account, when the cha- 
racter of the sheep and the fleece is inquired into. The sheep that are fed 
on the heaths and commons of Cheshire are short-woolled ; but the fleece 
is gradually increasing in length and weight as elsewhere. The only va- 
riety worth particular record is that found in the forest of Delamere, on 
the high grounds in the eastern parts of the county ; they have black, or 
brown, or grey, or spotted faces and legs, and usually small horns. They 
are not unlike a diminutive Norfolk. They weigh about 8 or 10 lbs. per 
quarter ; the meat is as good as that of other small breeds, and the wool is 
short and particularly fine, and weighing about H lb. per fleece. They 
are a variety of the true native breed of lingliind. The wool used to be 
much sought after by the Yorkshire manufacturers of fine cloths, and still 
bears a superior price, although it is also excluded with the rest from the 
finer cloths. The Delamere sheep is out of place in such a county as 
Cheshire. It is capable of a very material improvement, and especially 
considering the purposes for which wool of this kind is now used. In 
1808, Cheshire was supposed to contain 6!),000, all short-woolled, the length 
of the fleece various, and producing !)2G packs. The wool is still short, 
the average weight of the fleece 4i lbs., and the number of packs 1218.* 
How tar this estmjate may be correct I cannot pretend to determine. 
Hy 
