The Agriculture of the Cotswolds. 
35 
consumed by the sheep, who manure the arable land more 
economically than would be the case if the dung had to be 
filled, carted, and spread, and at the same time give it the 
requisite firmness. 
The position of the Cotswolds as regards railways is 
unfavourable for the sale of milk in the large towns, though 
this is done on a few farms that are not too far from a station, 
and are otherwise suitable. 
Some good herds of Shorthorns are found on the hills, the 
dispersion of the celebrated Sherborne herd in 1848 having 
been the means of distributing a number of animals of the 
highest breeding over the district. Among the purchasers at 
this notable sale were Colonel Kingscote, and Messrs. Bowly, 
Game (of Broadmoor), Lane, Mace, and Kendall, all of whom 
have now passed away, but whose names are well-known in 
the history of Shorthorn cattle. There is still a fine herd at 
Sherborne Park, and others in the neighbourhood in the hands 
of tenant farmers, and those at Cowley, Sarsden, Nether Swell, 
Brockhampton, Notgrove, and other places in the district, show 
that with skill and enterprise no better or sounder Shorthorns 
can be bred in England than are produced on the Cotswolds, 
and there is probably no herd in the world with a higher 
reputation than that at AldsAvorth, which contains the descen- 
dants of the old Broadmoor stock. Although the Shorthorns 
at Kingscote have been dispersed, there are good herds in that 
neighbourhood, at Crudwell, Chedglow, Pinkney, and round 
Badminton, and when low prices prevailed in the eighties and 
nineties of the eighteenth century many farmers had the fore- 
sight to secure well bred animals, and have started pedigree 
herds on modest but sound lines. 
Horses are not bred to any extent on the hills, although 
some farmers keep one or two brood mares to replenish their 
teams. The large arable fields divided by stone walls, and 
exposed to every wind that blows, are unsuitable for horse 
breeding, and most farmers buy suckers or sometimes two or 
three year old colts from their breeders, or at the fairs. Nearly 
all of the light horses come from Ireland, very few being bred, 
although Mr. Russell Swanwick has some thoroughbred mares 
of fashionable blood at the Royal Agricultural College Farm 
near Cirencester, and realises good prices for his yearlings at 
the Newmarket and Doncaster sales. 
The nature of the country being unsuitable for dairying 
is also unfavourable to pig breeding on a large scale. Those 
that are kept show a good deal of the influence of the Berk- 
shire breed, and the Large Black is seen in increasing numbers. 
There is a well-known herd of pedigree Berkshires at the Royal 
Agricultural College Farm. 
