On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
679 
or  121b.  a quarter.  Where  pains  have  been  taken  to  improve  a 
flock,  they  may  reach  on  the  average  161b.  or  181b.  a quarter; 
and  some  are  brought  up  to  24  lb.  a quarter,  when  fed  in  the 
Bridgewater  Marshes.  There  is  also  great  difference  in  the 
quality  of  the  wool  of  a common  and  of  a well-bred  sheep.  It 
is  the  practice  of  farmers,  who  have  good  land  as  well  as  com- 
mon, to  put  their  draft  ewes  with  a small-headed  and  high-proof 
Leicester  ram  ; to  sell  the  lambs  fat  in  May  and  the  ewes  as  soon 
as  they  get  fat.  Fifty  lambs  bred  in  this  way  were  sold  out  of  the 
Vale  of  Porlock  for  23s.  a head  at  Taunton  market,  in  May,  1848. 
The  ewes,  when  fat,  would  fetch  about  28s. 
There  are  great  objections  to  horned  sheep.  In  the  first  place, 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  prevent  them  from  being  infected  with 
the  scab  while  they  are  on  the  open  hill  : they  also  acquire  such 
restless  habits,  that  they  are  always  breaking  the  fences  when 
brought  into  the  enclosed  ground;  in  fatting  them  much  judg- 
ment and  practical  knowledge  is  required,  for  they  do  not  get  on 
well  in  hot  weather  ; and  it  frequently  happens  that  when  they  are 
first  put  into  turnips  they  lose  ground,  or  pitch,  as  it  is  called, 
for  two  months  in  the  autumn,  and  are  slow  in  regaining  it  after- 
wards. For  these  and  other  reasons  farmers  who  occupy  good 
land  in  the  vale  with  their  hill  farms  are  getting  tired  of  the 
horned  sheep,  and  use  their  hill  farms  only  as  summering-ground 
for  nott  sheep  and  bullocks.  When  they  change  their  flock 
they  generally  do  so  gradually,  by  repeated  crosses  with  Bampton 
or  Leicester  rams.  It  is  supposed  that  a nott  flock  raised  in  this 
wav  is  more  hardy. 
On  a farm  near  Dunkerry  Beacon,  which  includes  some  good 
land  in  the  vale  with  summering  ground  and  very  poor  heath  on 
the  hill,  a different  plan  is  in  course  of  trial.  Horned  sheep  are 
kept  with  a view  to  improve  the  breed  on  the  hills.  The  flock 
has  been  in  a steady  course  of  improvement  for  eight  or  nine 
years,  and  is  now  become  almost  too  tender  for  the  com- 
mons. A young  wether  is  more  valuable  before  he  is  turned 
out  than  when  he  is  a year  older  : it  has  therefore  been  de- 
cided to  fat  off  the  withers  as  early  as  possible.*  It  is  sup- 
posed that  they  will  reach  16  lb.  or  17  lb.  a quarter,  if  kept  on 
without  a check,  before  the  second  summer’s  grass  is  over ; or 
that,  having  acquired  no  restless  habits,  they  may  be  finished  on 
turnips  without  losing  time.  Some  hoggetts  were  folded  on  a 
hill  meadow  last  spring,  and  supplied  with  cut  turnips ; they  did 
remarkably  well,  and  greatly  improved  the  field. 
As  wTe  are  now  in  the  principal  breeding  district,  it  will  save 
* Since  this  report  was  sent  in,  I have  had  the  satisfaction  of  learning  that  two  of  the 
best  breeders  of  horned  sheep  have  decided  to  adopt  the  same  plan. 
