56

13

May, or early in June, and will sell for 27s. each. The fleece of each ewe will weigh about 4 lb., and will sell for 1s. per lb. ; and, nine or ten weeks after the lambs are gone, the ewes themselves will sell for 30s. each. This is a fair average, if the season is mild; but, as that cannot always be reckoned upon, it is prudent to grow mangold wurzel or Swedish turnips in some corner

Entrance Front of Fortis Green.

of the garden, which, with a truss of hay (rowens) to each sheep, will provide for the winter, when the ground is covered with snow; and thus the ewes will be kept in good condition, and be better prepared to afford milk for the lambing season. Spare Brussels sprouts and Scotch kale are very useful to give to the ewes after lambing, as they are extremely productive of milk, but too much is apt to induce rot, therefore caution is required. The account on this first mode will therefore run thus :

Second Method. This is rather more profitable, with less risk in lambing, and also with less consumption of winter food. It consists in buying in autumn, as above, only two ewes per acre. The fair way, however, of reckoning upon this plan will be best made upon the three acres, because six ewes will, upon the average, produce 8 lambs, which are not divisible by three, without a fraction. Then, in March, buy eight tegs (that is the last year's late lambs), at 25s. each, the wool of which is more valuable than that of ewes by 3s. per fleece. The tegs will sell in autumn for 36s. per head.

The account upon this second method runs thus:

salesman in Smithfield, who will always be able to supply, when wanted, at about the above prices, though sometimes ewes are bought for 23s. each; and, if not convenient to the owner of the land to sell to his own butcher, the same salesman will sell them at 6d. per head commission, which is not deducted in the above accounts, because it can seldom happen that a butcher who is dealt with the year round will refuse to buy and give credit against his account.

The above modes of stocking apply only to good land in the neighbourhood of London, particularly if it is dry and has sweet herbage.

In the spring, when there is a prospect of a very abundant supply of grass, the three acres may carry nine tegs, if the ewes and lambs are in capital condition; overstocking, however, even with one head, is hazardous. On a small scale, like that in question, it is very desirable to divide the land by hurdles, so that the stock may be changed every ten days; since nothing advances sheep more rapidly than a "fresh bite," and the grass by this means is also less wasted.

Sometimes six ewes in eight will have twins; and an instance even more prolific than this occurred this season in a paddock on Muswell Hill, where four Leicester ewes produced eight lambs, which sold for 27s. each.

Should there be more mangold wurzel or Swedes grown than are wanted, the overplus is always extremely saleable to cow-keepers, the former from 21. to 31. per ton, according to the abundance or scarcity of turnips.

Sheep are kept at Fortis Green, in preference to a cow, because the family is small, and, the neighbourhood abounding in farms, the supply of milk and butter is cheaper than were it the produce of the three acres, considering the constant attendance, risk, and trouble, incidental to cow-keeping; whereas sheep are very ornamental, and give no trouble worth naming.

Fortis Green, Muswell Hill.

ART. II. The Derby Arboretum, and probable Influence of Mr. Strutt's Example; with some Remarks on the Advantages that would result from uniting Horticulture with Botany in Public Gardens. By W.

MR. STRUTT has made a munificent gift to the people of Derby, and there are two reasons for supposing that his liberality will not be thrown away. In the first place, you, Sir, have the laying out of the grounds, which will therefore become a model for all similar localities. Secondly, I hear that Mr. Strutt has made it an imperative condition that the garden shall be open to the public two days in the week, one of which is Sunday. If this is true, the artisans of Derby will enjoy a rare opportunity of expanding their minds by the contemplation of nature, and of refining and cultivating their taste by frequent observation of the noblest combinations of artistical gardening. That such an institution, thus auspiciously commenced, may be adequately supported, must be the ardent wish of every friend to popular improvement. For my own part, I confess I would rather that a town should never undertake or commence a public garden, than carelessly, ignorantly, or indolently, suffer it, when once completed, to go to decay. Such, I much fear, will be the fate of the noble and, in some respects, unparalleled Botanical Garden of Sheffield, upon which, in a late Number, you bestowed high and well-deserved commendation. Should that be the case, the fault will certainly not be with the working classes, who have as yet not been allowed to contribute towards its support; for, to a mechanic, the payment of a shilling, and exclusion on Sunday, the only day on which he has leisure for the contemplation of nature, form a violent prohibition against entering its precincts. At present the funds are very low, so low indeed that I hear it is doubtful how much longer they will suffice to keep the garden open. Evidently, then, the wealthier and middle classes of Sheffield are apathetic; they know not the value of the jewel which has fallen into their keeping. Such is but too generally the case with the inhabitants of our commercial towns; they toil all their lives for wealth, which, when accumulated, they know not how to enjoy. But why not allow the working classes an opportunity of one day in the week breathing a pure atmosphere, while they contemplate the wild grandeur of the Hallamshire hills, or gaze with wonder on the products of distant lands? Why not open the garden on a Sunday at a moderate charge? Alas! clerical bigotry forbids this simple, obvious, and effective means of recruiting the dwindled funds of the institution. The glories of nature are doomed to be a sealed book on the Sabbath, while the doors of the alehouse are left open to invite the listless passer-by. Thus are men debarred from rational and elevating