fore me, large samples of the wool of my first crosses, from Lord Bathurst's ram on my Ryeland ewes, shorn in 1802, (having been shorn as lambs the year preceding,) and of the wool from the same sheep, shorn in the present year, 1806. The quality of the wool in the course of that time, has so much degenerated, that I should conceive the lapse of a similar period would reduce it to the coarseness of the maternal stock. It may be proper to observe, that these sheep have been kept on rich pasture land, and fed this spring on turnips and vetches; it must be observed also, that they were only the first cross from the Spaniard, which, as I shall afterwards explain, I do not consider as pos sessing equal preventatives with those of higher blood, against the causes of degeneracy."

The pure Spanish.-P. 396. “I have found also the wool of his Majesty's ram much degenerated, from the comparison of specimens in 1808 and the present year. He has been kept in the highest state possible, on the best pastures in the summer, and with corn in the winter, and has been very hard worked. I do not find such deprecia'tion in the wool of the female produce from his Majesty's ewes; they have not been kept in such high condition, and their fleeces are as fine as those of the original ewes, which died after bringing two lambs each.

"In the pure Spanish breed, there is a wonderful capacity for resisting the effects of climate on the quality of the wool. The extreme exudation from the body of the animal, yielding a yolky consistence at the interior of the Heece, and, by its mixture with the soil, forming a kind of coat of mail on the outside, makes the wool almost impervious to wet, and protects the sheep exceedingly from the injuries of climate. The same quality attends the mixed breed, in proportion to its approximation to the pure Spanish; and I have no doubt that the more it inherits of this quality, the more capable it will be of resistance to the causes of degeneracy."

The method of PREVENTING this DETERIORATION Or DEGENERACY of the wool of the mongrel breeds, is of course obvious and easy,-P. 397. "I do not consider the fact of deterioration under the common circumstances of the husbandry of the country, as affecting, in any serious degree, the value arising from the growth of fine-woolled sheep. The preventative is always at hand-a frequent recurrence to the Spanish ram will be necessary, and will at all times be adequate to remedy the evil. A sort of wool will be produced that will be highly valuable to the manufacturer;

and if we grow, in considerable quantities, wool worth 5s. 6d. per lb. which will be very practicable, (the comparative price of the best Spanish wool being taken at 6s. 9d.) we shall rival two-thirds of the import from Spain. It is to be observed, that the Spanish wool, coming in so much cleaner condition, adds 6d. per lb. to its value, compared with that of our own growth, washed on the sheep's back, of equal fineness.

"But in order to keep up the means of perpetuating the fine-woolled mixed breed, and of supplying the growers with the pure blood, there should be a depot of the real Spanish race carefully prescrved, and protected from any mixture or degeneracy. The flock now in his Majesty's possession is eminently fitted for the purpose; and, under such beneficent and patriotic auspices, I have no doubt, will have every attention paid to the preservation of its purity. I am satisfied that a breed of sheep so pure as those are, with strict caution both to the nature of their food, and to their complete protection from the effects of climate, would remain for a century in the same state of fineness and perfection: indeed, we have no experience that will assign any period-to their decline. In Saxony, under those precautions, the mixed breed retains the greatest possible degree of fineness: the best wools from that country equal, in smallness of fibre, and exceed in softness of feel, the finest wools of Spain, and are eagerly purchased, at even higher prices, by the manufacturers in this country, who have no difficulty in ascertaining the value and the waste, in the greasy and half-washed state they appear in; though the timid growers of fine wool here, are alarmed at the apparent difficulties which the sale of their wool meets with in similar condition. They may be assured, that, when a quantity can be produced sufficient to attract the manufacturer's attention, there will not be much difficulty in his ascertaining the value, let the condition or the grease be what it may.

"The mixed breed of English and Spanish, partakes very much of the soft and silky feel of the Saxon wool, and, was the same attention given to its culture, I have no doubt might be brought to equal fineness. That the cross with a coarser wool should have produced a softer and a finer wool than that of the fine parent fleece, is an extraordinary fact; but we now know it to be true from the indisputable proof of the Saxon wools. I am, however, disposed, to attribute much of the softness perceptible in Saxon, and Anglo-Spanish wools, to the management in

II h 4

washing.

washing. In Saxony, as with us, the wool is washed on the sheep's back, and remains for a long time afterwards in its native grease, till sent into this country, not hardened by any process.'

Mr. Sheppard then notices the races of Spanish sheep, in SAXONY, in SWEDEN, and in FRANCE; and M. de Lasteyrie's Treatise on Spanish wool;-concluding his admirable paper in the following instructive manner.P. 402. " To conclude-I do not assert, that it is impracticable to produce, and to preserve in England, wool equal to the finest quality in Spain, with the same management as is practised in countries under climates somewhat similar; but that, where land is so valuable, and where a regular course of husbandry is adopted on a comprehensive scale, as with us, I do not think such management can be looked for. The culture, however, of such wool, as I have before pointed out, may be pursued with the greatest ease, as well as advantage, in the many districts of less fertile land throughout the kingdom; where, I am convinced, the farmers, in the course of three or four successive crosses with the Spaniard, would obtain fleeces worth from 10s. to 15s. each, from almost any sort of short-woolled sheep.

"To those who can afford to chuse a sort of sheep to breed from, I should recommend a judicious selection of fine-woolled Ryelands, in preference to South Downs, or any other. The South Down flocks are equally mixed with the Ryelands, of coarse and fine woolled sheep; but the finest hair of the South Down sheep bears no proportion, in point of softness, to that of the Ryeland.

"Nor are the sheep from such cross with the Spaniard, less healthy, nor more subject to the foot-rot, or any other diseases. As lambs, they are tender; and it is necessary the ewes should yean as late as the month of March: the lambs fall very naked, and must be sheltered from bleak and exposed situations. After shedding their lambs teeth, they are as healthy and strong as any sort of sheep whatever they keep themselves in good order upon bare pastures; they go well to fold, which they stand equal with the South Downs; and I have found them fatten very handsomely. I have, in the past week, sold half a score six-toothed wethers of the first cross, fatted on grass and hay; for which I received from the butcher 221. 15s. exclusive of the wool. I cut 5 lb, of wool, in the grease, from one sheep, which, when clean scowered, produced 34lb. well worth, in that state, 5s. per lb. The other fleeces

average

average rather less. This great growth of wool since last shear-time, I attribute to the great fatness and enlarged size of the sheep, which weighed 21lb. per quarter; the average weight was 191b. per quarter; the whole value of carcase and wool exceeding 3 l. in addition to the fleece at last shear-time, worth 15s. I readily obtained a penny per pound more than the market price, on account of the beauty of the meat, and its great fatness; and I must not omit the testimony, both of amateurs and adversaries, to the mildness and excellency of the mutton."

IN the section, "Expence and Profit," (an Article which the Board's Reporters have given out to them) Mr. Rudge makes the following judicious remarks, concerning the RURAL PROFESSION; and the pecuniary profits attached to it.

P. 67. "The expenditures and profits of a farm, depend so much on the industry, attention, and activity of the occupier, that it is difficult, from the calculations of one, to form an estimate of all. The difference which a few years have made, both in the appearance and mode of living among the yeomanry, has generated an opinion, that the profits of farming are very high. In whatever degree this opinion may be just with regard to the great renters, it certainly does not hold good among the small ones they still, in a great measure, keep up the old appearance, live frugally, spend little, and seldom die in the possession of much property. Hence, it would seem, that the actual profits of agriculture are not considerably increased: where, however, a strong capital is employed on a large farm, the several small profits which would arise from divided parts of it, in the aggregate, make a considerable sum; and, surely, if a man brought up in the agricultural line, is possessed of more money than his neighbours, he is equally entitled to an increased return from it, with others, who by employing a less capital in trade, make a more splendid appearance, and perhaps a greater interest. If the departure from the ancient character of a farmer, in dress and living, has, in some instances, produced in the landlord a determination of raising his rents, the effect is felt by the occupier, and does not, I conceive, extend to the community. The little farmer, though he preserves the exterior of ancient manners, feels no relief from high rents on that account; but if there be a difference, he holds his estate at a higher proportionable rent than the other; and this, for the obvious reason, that his farm, being within the reach of many, excites a greater

degree

degree of competition, and is therefore often rented at a higher price, than is compatible with the reasonable profits of the cultivator."

Had the Reporter stopped, here, he would have left favourable impressions on the minds of practical readers; and have deserved well of the agricultural public, by his general sentiments on the subject. But an unpractised man to enter into the labyrinth of calculation, and blot twelve pages of paper with figures, arranged in the debtor and creditor manner, and this without experience, and of course without sufficient judgment, to guide him,-could only prove his own temerity. If nien not only of the very first ability, but of the most mature experience, in rural concerns, be liable to fall into error, in attempting this most difficult proposition in the whole circle of the agricultural science, it were in vain to look for any thing like accuracy of statement from one, who,-learned and capable as he may be, and, from what appears in the Glocestershire Report, doubtlessly is, in his own profession,can have no fair claim to such a qualification.

NORTH