of Norbury. The buildings of the former, which are constructed with great regard to convenience, are sufficient to contain 600 head of cattle: they are regularly fed with one pound of linseed, one bushel of grains, and one bushel of chaff, all mixed together; and one truss of hay between eight or ten. Mr. Coles feeds his cattle with oil-cakes and hay, which indeed is the food principally given." DILEM SHEEP-Number.-P. 526. "Sheep are kept in considerable numbers in the middle part of Surrey; upon the chalk-hills; on the sandy loams that lie immediately between the chalk and the Weald, and those that occupy the south-west and west parts of the county, between Gadalming and Farnham; on the heaths between Farnham and Bagshot; on the mixed Joams that unite the sandy ridge which runs from Godstone to Dorking, with the clay of the Vale; and on the, sandy loams intermixed with clay, which lie to the north of the chalk-hills. Such farmers as possess land lying on or near the chalk-hills, are peculiarly well situated for keeping large flocks of sheep: on the Downs, the pasture is remarkably good, and well suited to this animal; and, there is no difficulty of finding, among the arable land of this part of the county, soils proper for turnip. In the more immediate vicinity of London, and in the Weald, very few sheep are kept: near London, the land is occupied to greater advantage under a different system; and the soil of the Weald, joined to its low and damp situation, renders it unfit for sheep." & 3

Breed of Sheep.-P. 526." It is only comparatively of late, that much attention has been paid to the peculiar breed of sheep in this county: the large Wiltshire, in the memory of many still living, occupied entirely the sheepfarms on the chalk hills, where folding or fattening for the butcher were the sole objects; while the singular breed of small ill-formed sheep then entirely occupied the extensive heaths in the west of the county, which they still (though not in so pure a state as formerly) continue to oc cupy. But there is reason to believe that, before the intro duction of the Wiltshire sheep, a small breed, affording remarkably sweet mutton, were generally kept on the hills for Mr. Evelyn, in his letter to Mr. Aubery, prefixed to the latter's History of Surrey, which was written about 25 years before the end of the seventeenth century, rather complains that the introduction of paring and burning bad, by destroying the fine pasture of the Downs, deprived them of their small and sweet mutton."

That letter shows, only, that the native breed of Surrey the grey faced, greylegged variety, which formerly occa pied the commons of England (see NORTHERN DEPARTS

MENT,) had then (1675-6) been recently banished; and the tall, heavy Wiltshire breed introduced in their stead. But it is altogether vague to ascribe that memorable change, to "paring-and-burning"!--that is to say, to the deterioration of the hill pastures!EVELYN, whose works I have had oc casion to study with attention, was more the man of learn ing and fashion, than the country gentleman. The introduction of the Wiltshire sheep, upon the hills of Surrey, was, more probably, a consequence of the introduction of cultivated herbage and turneps, on those hills. The young Wiltshire wedders have ever been depastured on the higher * maiden downs":-a proof, this, that the small, hardy, sweet-mutton breed were not driven from those hills by a want of pasturage to make room for a giant race that required vastly more support. See pp. 394, and n. 397. 15 In 1775, the chalk hills of Surrey were, and had long been, occupied, entirely, by Wiltshire wedders; and their lower lands, on their northern margin, by Dorsetshire ewes.

P. 527. "At present," (1806) "besides the Wiltshire and Bagshot sheep, the Dorsetshire, South Down, Somer sét, or Mendip, the Berkshire, the Romney, and the Merino South Down, are kept. The South Down, Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, are by far the most common: the last are kept for early lambs; the Wiltshire ate by some preferred for the fold; and the South Down for the butcher, and for their wool

"A cross of the Merino and South Down, and of the Ryland-Merino and South Down, is kept by many of the gentlemen, and by some of the farmers, in Surrey.'

P. 530. The South Down sheep in Surrey are not often quite pure; they are generally a little inclining to the Berkshire. The Bagshot sheep also are scarcely ever now found unmixed, the South Down beginning to occupy (either pure, or crossed with the native sheep) even the remote heaths of Surrey. A pure heath sheep is a very ugly crea ture, with very large horns: it seldom weighs more than 8lb. per quarter

"In some parts of the Weald, where a few sheep are kept, the breed appears to be a mixture of the Welsh and the South Down, or of the Welsh and the heath sheep. Few Leicester sheep are to be seen in Surrey, and the Romney are confined to one or two farmers in the southeast corner of the county."

Outline of Management.P: 532. "Most farmers pur→ chase their lambs at six of nine months old: some breed them. The South Down are bought at Lewes fair; the Wiltshire at Weyhill: both about Michaelmas. The former are usually fatted at two years old: the latter are folded

folded during two summers, and then fatted the following spring.

"The more attentive farmers carefully separate their flocks, especially if they be large, according to their age, &c. and thus ensure their feeding better, and fattening more regularly, certainly, and quickly. A shepherd is commonly allotted to each flock of 300 or 400: sometimes, but not often, he has 500 under his care. The shepherd's dog, on the Surrey bills, is remarkably sagacious and attentive."

P. 530. "The principal dependence of the farmers for the food of their sheep, is on turnips, rape, rye, tares, and trefoil: some put them on the sainfoin in the spring and autumn; but others object to this practice, as very prejudi cial, and often fatal, to that valuable plant.

"By sowing the common turnips at different times, and by having also a portion of the Swedish turnip, and of rape, rye, and winter tares, the Surrey farmers are en? abled to keep their sheep till the spring is pretty far advanced. If the turnips should fail, or the weather during the winter prove so severe, as to oblige them to bring their sheep into the farm-yard, hay, corn, and oil-cake are then given them, according as the purpose is either merely to keep or to fatten them. It is extremely difficult to get sheep to eat a sufficient quantity of dry hay; this, however, Mr. Birkbeck effected, by cutting the bay fine, and giving the sheep, along with it, plenty of pure water: by this method he got them to eat about 3 b. a-piece each day. It is a very common practice with the sheep farmers, to sow trefoil on the land which is to come in for fallow the next year; this, growing rapidly, serves as excellent food for the sheep after harvest: on this, or on the stubbles, where there are no downs attached to the farm, the sheep are kept till the turnips are ready; they are also put upon the clover, where it is not intended to cut it a second time, or to keep it for seed. Where downs are attached to a farm, a great advantage is derived, as the pasture they afford is not only re markably fine, but it is seldom much injured by the heats of summer."

Folding Sheep, in Surrey.-P. 531. "It has already been remarked, that the Wiltshire are generally used for folding. As the hill-farmers depend principally on folding for manuring their summer-fallow, it is a great object with them to keep large flocks for that purpose, even independently of the profit arising from fattening them.

"Three or four sheep are usually allotted to a square hurdle; and as there are 1030 square hurdles to an acre, the number of sheep sufficient to cover an acre, will amount

to

to about 3500. It is calculated that a flock of 500 will manure an acre in about a week. On the hills of Surrey, the hurdles run from seven to nine feet in length; but they are staked at the average distance of seven feet and a half: allowing three sheep to a hurdle, each sheep will have a space of 18 or 19 square feet: if the sheep are full grown Wiltshire, they are allowed 22 square feet."

House Lamb.-P. 533. "A few years since, Surrey was much celebrated for the number and excellence of the house. lambs, which were sent from different parts of it to the London market; but latterly, not nearly so many are reared, and the practice will probably remove gradually, first to the more remote parts of the county, and ultimately to counties more distant from the metropolis. There are, however, still some farmers who rear a considerable number of houselambs, about Ewel, Esher, Walton, &c.; though from the increase in the price of labour, and in the first cost of the ewes, the profits are not nearly so great as they were for merly.

"Dorsetshire ewes are the only ones employed for the purpose of rearing house-lambs. They are bought at the Michaelmas Weyhill fair, to which they come, full of lamb, from Devonshire and the adjoining counties, The earliest begin to lamb in October, and they continue lambing due ring the winter."

P. 534. The ewes are divided into mothers and dam ewes the latter are such as have lost their lambs, or whose lambs have been sold. The mothers are suffered to remain in the lamb-house with the lambs all night; they are also brought in to the lambs for an hour in the middle of the day, The dams are brought to give suck twice a-day, in the morn ing and afternoon. It is generally found necessary to put the dams into a yoke, while suckling the strange lambs.

"The ewes are fed well, while giving suck, upon grains, chaff, turnips, hay, oil-cake, bran, &c. Chalk mixed up with a few oats, or a little wheat, is given to the lambs, principally to prevent or remove the acidity of stomach to which they are liable. The lambs are very subject to sore mouths, which arises from the difficulty of cutting their teeth; it has been suggested that the most proper, and probably an effectual remedy for this disorder (of which many of them die), would be to lance their gums, and thus to enable them to cut their teeth without pain or trouble.

"The lamb-house is so constructed, as to keep the lambs separate in distinct pens, according to their age. It is kept very warm, and ought to be well littered frequently with clean dry straw."

Grass Lamb P. 535. "Grass lambs are also brought up

in considerable numbers about Guildford, Ewel, and in some other parts of the county. Such ewes are bought as will drop their lambs in January. The ewes and lambs are fed on turnips, oil-cake, &c. Great care must be taken not to suffer the lambs to touch the turnips or clover when the, frost is on them, as that would inevitably kill them."

"Grass-lambs, of course, do not bring so much at market as house-lambs; but then the trouble and expense attending the rearing of them is not nearly so great. They are ready for the butcher in April and May: the ewes are generally fattened and sold in the succeeding autumn."

PROFIT.-Mr. Stevenson, in this, as in other parts of his work, writes like a man of sense and consideration.-P. 107. "This is difficult to get at, both because farmers, like other people, are not very willing to lay open their affairs; and because many of them, from not keeping their books in very regular or minute manner, can only tell generally, the gross particulars of their expense and profit."

Nevertheless, he would seem to have felt himself in duty bound to offer some calculations on the subject, as others have done. He has, accordingly, set down sundry sums, as "the expence of stocking a farm of one hundred acres, and of managing it and keeping the family, and paying the rent, for one year." In doing this, the groundwork of calculation was within reach. Yet, even in this case, no two men of twenty would bring out nearly the same sum; namely £1077. And in calculating the "expence per acre" of different soils, and under different rotations; then calculating the produce of the erops; and, from these data, drawing the "net profit;"differences of not less than ten, fifteen, twenty, or more, percent, would assuredly be brought out, by different calculators.

What corroborates the idea that making calculations, on the profit and loss of farming, was undertaken, by this writer, as a thing of duty, not of choice, is the ingenuous acknowledgment, which the author has thought proper to make, near the close of his section.

P. 114." After all, we should constantly keep in mind, that no certainty can be attained on the head of expence and profit."