ON THE LIVE-STOCK

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they are not sold till shorn a second time, the dinmonts arefrequently kept upon sown grasses of the second year, thefirst year’s being pastured by the young wethers till they aresent to market early in June, when the fields are shut up fora crop of hay.

On most farms, few or none of the lambs are sold, thewhole being reared and carried forward to the butcher. Theannual sales consist, therefore, of dinmonts or young wethers,weighing from 20 lbs. to SO lbs. a quarter ; one-third of theewes, or more, with the worst of the gimmers, weighing,when fat, from 16 lbs. to 26 lbs. a quarter ; and wool, ofwhich 3 to 4 shearlings’ fleeces, 4 to 6 of breeding ewes, and2i to 4 of rams, make a stone of 24 lbs., which has varied inprice within these few years from 24s. to 30s. according tothe demand. Last summer it brought very nearly the sameprice with the Cheviot wool.

In none of the County Reports, is the proportion statedbetween the live and dead weights of these several breeds;nor is there any account of experiments made in Scotland ,respecting the weight of mutton gained from any givenquantity of either grass or turnips. In Berwickshire, “ anacre of rich old pasture is considered as equal to the fullkeep of five full-aged Leicester sheep for the six summermonths, and an acre of very good turnips ought to keepten such sheep for the remainder of the year in fullmeat. Hence, valuing the acre of pasture at L. 5, andthe acre of turnips at the same price, the complete year’skeep of a well bred sheep may cost 30 s. One material causeof the difficulty, in ascertaining the extent of land that willfully maintain a specific number of sheep, arises, from themixture of stock that is generally kept upon pastures; andbecause pastures are stocked in succession, according to cir-cumstances, with various descriptions of stock; and the stock