288 
Farming of Monmouthshire. 
In 1816. 
200 lambs at 8s. each £80 
40 old sheep, 20s. each 40 
£120 
In 1818. 
200 lambs at 8s. each £80 
30 old sheep, 20s. each 30 
— £110 
Value of total extra loss £230 
" Whereas on the farm of Bovverhope, belongings to the same 
farmer, and on which one-third more sheep are kept, the extra 
loss in those years was as follows : — • 
In IBIG. 
70 lambs at 8s. each £28 
10 old sheep, 20s. each 10 
£38 
In 1818. 
50 lambs at 8s. each £20 
8 old sheep, 20s. each 8 
£28 
Value of total extra loss £66 
Deduct from loss on Crosscleach .. .. 230 
Value saved in farm of Bovverhoije .. £164 
Few farmers in the neighbourhood of the hills carry out a 
proper rotation of crops, or indeed attempt to grow swedes, 
although the district is favourable to the growth of them, 
provided they are sown sufficiently early. The old system of 
breast-ploughing a piece of rough land, burning the ash upon it, 
and then growing cereals ad infinitum^ is now about played out, 
as it is found to impoverish the soil beyond all redemption. 
There is now a feeling, rapidly gaining ground in the locality, 
that the land, poor as it decidedly is, can be brought by good 
husbandry to produce more ; and the increased demand for every 
kind of produce, in consequence of the large population brought 
into the country by the extensive iron and coal woiks, excites 
the farmer to make an effort to supply it. There can be no 
possible doubt that if the lands still farmed as open commons 
were all enclosed, and the right belonging to each farm walled 
off for the exclusive use of the fanner, a very great and wonder- 
ful change in the agriculture of this part of Monmouthshire 
would at once become apparent. 
