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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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THE 
 
 /' 
 
 NATURE AND PROPERTIES 
 
 OF 
 
 ILLUSTRATED : 
 
 WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH FLEECE. 
 
 * 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN LUCCOCK, WOOLSTAPLER. 
 
 J ‘ As an object of national attention, the coat of the sheep is of the first 
 importance ; and every wilful attempt to supplant, or debase it, is an act of 
 treason against the state.” Marshall. 
 
 — 
 
 LEEDS: 
 
 PRINTED BY EDWARD BAINES, 
 
 AND SOLD BY J. HEATON, LEFDS; AND J. HARDIN©, 
 
 st. James’s street, London. 
 
 1805 , 
 
<£nttrel> at Stationers’ l^alt. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The small volume, now offered to the 
 attention of the public, depends for acceptance en- 
 tirely upon its own merit. If it posses any, patronage 
 will not be wanting ; if it be destitute of interest, 
 the author is content that it should be consigned to 
 oblivion. He published, because he was vain enough 
 to think that he possessed some important informa- 
 tion which does not fall within the common line of 
 reading. The work was written hastily, and printed 
 as it was composed ; this circumstance will account 
 for some of the errors which it contains, and some 
 slight inaccuracies. It is true, we have no reason to 
 expect that the public will tolerate indolence, but 
 when persons employ the leisure hours, which busi- 
 ness affords them, in communicating their observa- 
 tions to the public, and in attempting to rouse 
 attention to a great national object, they must be 
 allowed to express themselves in unadorned language, 
 and sometimes in terms which the man of taste would 
 utterly discard. 
 
 The 
 
11 
 
 The reader will perceive, that the author has not 
 completed his original intention. Some hints are 
 thrown out which indicate a design of including a 
 decription, not only of the English fleeces, but also 
 of the wool produced in Scotland and Ireland. It 
 was found, however, that either the subject must be 
 treated very concisely, or the volume enlarged be- 
 yond a reasonable bulk. The first is not readily 
 submitted to when the author has some degree of 
 vanity, nor the last when he despairs of securing 
 attention. 
 
 In many instances the want of information is 
 lamented. — It is almost impossible to write with pre- 
 cision upon such general subjects as the culture, and 
 the quantity of English wool. Should any palpable 
 mistakes be observed, the author will be thankful for 
 better instruction. 
 
 J. L. 
 
 Leeds, September 25th, 1805 . 
 
THE 
 
 NATURE AND PROPERTIES, 
 
 Kc. 
 
 OOL is an article very closely connected with 
 the interest of every class of society. Considered as 
 a production of almost every farm in the kingdom, it 
 becomes the immediate object of attention to the 
 whole body of Agriculturists, and the same prin- 
 ciple which renders it desirable, that we should ob- 
 tain from the soil all its produce in the most perfect 
 state, applies with more particular propriety to 
 wool, than to most other articles. Indeed we cannot 
 help wishing that our fleeces possessed all the ex- 
 cellencies which the climate, and the circumstances of 
 the country will admit of, and that no limitation w ere 
 set to their improvement, below the point of absolute 
 and complete perfection ; for then only can the grower 
 receive from them that compensation for his labour, 
 and ingenuity,, which he deserves ; and the land 
 owner that interest upon his capital, and remunera- 
 tion for his confidence, which he has a right to expect. 
 
 If either the quality of wool be inferior, or its 
 quantity smaller, than it ought to be, the commu- 
 nity loses annually a portion of those advantages 
 which nature solicits it to receive ; and makes the 
 A most 
 
4 
 
 most ungrateful return for her liberality. The 
 more we can obtain from the ground of any va- 
 luable commodity, and the greater degree of ex- 
 cellency which it attains, so much the larger re- 
 ward we receive for our industry, and so much the 
 more we increase our wealth. 
 
 As an article of manufacture, wool assumes, at 
 least, the second place in the rank of importance. 
 It is closely connected with our comfort, and affords 
 many of the ornaments of social life. It fur- 
 nishes a large portion of our population with em- 
 ployment, and gives them their daily bread, con- 
 tributing at once, like all similar manufactures, 
 to the strength and the affluence of the country. 
 But if it were possible to suppose that these should 
 withdraw their support, or even languish for a con- 
 siderable period, the workmen would fall an heavy 
 incumbrance upon the land; they must derive their 
 subsistence from the wealthy, the active and the 
 benevolent. It is desirable therefore to maintain 
 them in their full vigour, and to render their happy 
 influence, if possible, uniform and permanent. The 
 best mode of attempting this, is to occupy the people 
 in working up the best of materials, to produce by 
 their labour goods of the most valuable quality, 
 and those which at once are in most request, and 
 afford the largest returns for the capital originally 
 employed. These, almost invariably, occupy a larger 
 number of hands in their completion than fabrics of 
 an inferior quality, they allow greater wages and 
 contribute most liberally to the comforts of the poor. 
 Fortunately, at present, the prevailing taste in Britain 
 is for cloths of the first excellency, and very few 
 amongst us are contented to appear in those of a 
 
 lower 
 
5 
 
 fewer order. Hence,, the demand for prime wools 
 is perpetually increasing, and the looms call loudly 
 upon the farmer, and the merchant, to supply their 
 deficiencies. Hence too, every man contributes, in 
 a much higher degree, a share towards the public 
 employment ; brings into circulation a larger capital 
 than is necessary in the manufacture of inferior 
 goods ; and gives that activity to it which is the 
 source of wealth. 
 
 If however instead of furnishing the raw material 
 from our domestic productions, we seek it from other 
 countries, or import it from rival nations, we do 
 ourselves a real injury,, and indirectly transfer a por- 
 tion of our advantages to the hands of strangers; a 
 conduct which, however noble and disinterested it 
 may appear in a personal view, deserves, in a political 
 one, the severest censure. We cannot justify, I 
 fear in this respect, the existence of our commerce 
 for Spanish wools without hinting, at the same time, 
 that our forefathers have been too indolent, or too in- 
 attentive ; a charge, from which, I trust, their sons 
 will be anxious to redeem their own character. 
 
 If the raw material be so far inferior as to render 
 it impossible to produce from it, with the utmost 
 ingenuity, the very best of commodities, we open a 
 wide door for the introduction of rival fabrics ; and 
 although we may endeavour to bar their way by pro- 
 hibitions and penalties, they will nevertheless insinuate 
 themselves amongst us, and too frequently become 
 the objects of envy, especially if their superiority in 
 my respect be strikingly evident. By this means, 
 also they silently sap the foundations of our own ma- 
 nufactures,, by producing an unfavourable opinion of 
 them, and, if brought into the country in consider- 
 
 A 2 able 
 
6 
 
 able quantities, tend to render them languid and un- 
 settled. What indeed can that country expect, 
 whose inhabitants are perpetually wishing for the 
 silentand secretintroduction of foreign manufactures, 
 but that those who are employed in similar ones at 
 home, will watch their conduct with a jealous eye* 
 and be ready on every occasion, when they think 
 themselves aggrieved, to seek a less precarious mode 
 of employing themselves and their property ? Where- 
 as, on the other hand, a confidence in the superior 
 excellency of their materials and their workmanship 
 induces them to push their trade, proves the best 
 stimulus to enterprize, reduces difficulties, renews 
 the vigour of genius, collects capital, and points out 
 new paths to riches. 
 
 Happily the manufactures of Britain have obtain* 
 ed an opinion in the foreign markets pre-eminently 
 favourable ; and it is sound and necessary policy to 
 do ail we can to render it more extensive and per- 
 manent, to subdue prejudices, remove difficulties 
 which still lie in the way of their introduction, and 
 to excite comparisons which we are sure must end 
 in our own advantage. But even, this superiority 
 produces jealousies, which must not be overlooked. 
 It incites those nations, which receive our goods, to 
 continual exertion, in order to prevent their impor- 
 tation ; and, to promote those fabrics of a similar 
 kind, which exist among themselves, they load ours 
 with very heavy duties, or entirely prohibit them. 
 In such a situation it is evident that we can re- 
 tain our trade no longer than we can produce 
 goods of superior materials, ^or better texture, or at 
 a lower price ; no longer than we can give to our 
 rivals new objects of imitation, and are careful that 
 
 they 
 
they do not overtake us in the competition for per- 
 fection. Thus do our manufactures perpetually call 
 upon those who produce the raw material, to im- 
 prove it rapidly, in order to render their superiority 
 over foreign ones more decisive; that; they may 
 gain a firmer footing in the countries which receive 
 them, and extend themselves to those where they 
 are not admitted. 
 
 The export trade of any article, the material of 
 which is produced at home, is of very great import- 
 ance ; for so long as the looms of our country do 
 more than supply our own consumption, ’tis by this 
 channel alone, that the surplus can find its vent. 
 It keeps our domestic markets free, and produces 
 that degree of competition which is salutary to all. 
 But the instant that surplusbecomes an incumbrance, 
 priceslower, employmentslackens,and discontent pre« 
 vails amongst those who are first affected, and who are 
 commonly too ill-informed todiscoverthe causeof that 
 difference which they perceive in their circumstances . g 
 Nor should it be imagined by him who produces 
 the material, from which goods are fabricated, and 
 upon whom any depreciation in their value must 
 ultimately fall, that a small surplus upon the market 
 Is of trivial consequence ; for it is scarcely to be con-* 
 eeived how much a circumstance of this kind will 
 affect the demand for goods, and the price of them. 
 
 These remarks apply to manufactures in general^ 
 but are more particularly suitable to those of wool, 
 not only as it is a production of our country, but 
 because the goods into which it is wrought, form a 
 principal part of the attire, and are used for man}? 
 household purposes, throughout most of the tem- 
 perate regions of the globe. 
 
 When 
 
8 
 
 When we recollect the number of succeeding 
 ages through which this valuable material has been 
 applied to some of the prime conveniences of life, 
 and the immense number of persons who have made 
 it an object of their regard, we are almost induced 
 to believe that it must already be produced in its 
 most perfect state, that its general properties must* 
 be universally understood, and that the most ready 
 means of rendering them useful, have been ev»*y 
 where adopted. But when we notice the state of 
 “ Wool-bearing Animals,” either in our own coun- 
 try, or as they exist among foreigners, we are com- 
 pelled to form a very different opinion ; and the 
 improvements which have been adopted in almost 
 every branch of the woollen manufactory, at diffe- 
 rent periods of its history, serve to convince us that 
 there is still much to be attained, even by nations 
 who have most reason to boast of their superior 
 proficiency^ 
 
 The imperfection of the British fleece has of 
 late years been very generally acknowledged, and 
 the mode of improving it most sedulously sought 
 after. The experiments of a Sovereign, anxious to 
 promote, by every means, the welfare of his subjects, 
 have ascertained that the soil and climate of Eng- 
 land are adapted to the growth of much finer wool 
 than has generally been produced there, and have 
 diffused an enterprising spirit among the gentlemen 
 of large landed property, from which the most 
 happy effects may be predicted. The exertions of 
 the British Wool Society, while it subsisted, did 
 much tov r ards depasturing the hills of Scotland wfith 
 an improved race of the most useful of quadrupeds, 
 and lead us to expect that the time is not very remote, 
 
 when 
 
9 
 
 when the fleeces of the northern part of the island 
 will be in no respect inferior to those of the southern 
 districts; and when their number shall be increased 
 in a very large proportion. The efforts also of 
 private individuals, who have taken pains to stock 
 their farms with a better race of sheep, whether 
 they have been chosen from the cotes of the 
 most eminent breeders, or judiciously selected from 
 the lambs of their own rearing, entitle them to 
 the gratitude of every one, who is capable of seeing 
 with an honest pride the growing riches of his 
 country. 
 
 Influenced by an earnest desire of promoting, so 
 far as it shall be in his power, the amelioration of 
 the British fleece, and by no means pretending to a 
 superior degree of information respecting its pro- 
 perties, cr the improvement of which it is suscepti- 
 ble, than may be easily attained by all who are engag- 
 ed in growing, or manufacturing it,, the author of the 
 following pages, commits them to the candour of the 
 public, convinced that he has undertaken a task, 
 which, in many respects, must be imperfectly exe- 
 cuted. No one, at least to the best of his know- 
 ledge, has hitherto attempted to describe? the 
 essential qualities. of wool,- — the circumstances up- 
 on which its adaptation to manufactures depends, 
 the peculiarities of the British fleeces,— nor the num- 
 ber of them which these islands produce ; although 
 the discussion of such subjects appears to be an object 
 of some importance, in the present state of political 
 inquiry, and agricultural experiment.. Whatsoever 
 he has met with upon these points, in the course of 
 his reading, is either too general to afford much 
 satisfaction, or scattered too widely through a num- 
 ber 
 
10 
 
 her of detached publications to be of general utility^ 
 Of all the assistance, however, which he could de- 
 rive from the writings of others, he has most freely 
 availed himself, and here embraces the opportunity 
 of acknowledging his obligations. Some of the re- 
 marks, which he has met with and adopted, were 
 new to him ; many have been comfirmed by his own 
 observation, in almost every district in England, and 
 through the course of several years attention to his 
 occupation as a woolstapler. The deductions which 
 he has made, he trusts, will be authorized by the 
 premises from which they are drawn, and though 
 they cannot always be supposed to arrive at the cer- 
 tainty of demonstration, yet he hopes that they will 
 always approximate to truth. And if, upon the 
 whole, it shall appear that he has treated subjects 
 interesting to his countrymen, in a manner worthy of 
 their attention, his utmost expectation will b§ grati- 
 fied. 
 
 SECTf 
 
SECTION r. 
 
 Wool in General . 
 
 YV E are so accustomed to consider this substanc* 
 as the exclusive production of the sheep, and indeed 
 as the peculiar characteristic of that tribe of animals, 
 that it excites some degree of suspicion, lest the per- 
 son who first informs us, that these opinions are not 
 well founded, should be only amusing* us with tales, 
 or trying the extent of our credulity. If by acci- 
 dent a sheep, which never produced wool,, attracts 
 our attention, we deem it an animal in whose forma- 
 tion nature has departed from her established course. 
 Yet, with whatever suspicion such accounts may be 
 received, it is a fact, ascertained beyond the possibi- 
 lity of doubt, that there are sheep, whose backs are 
 as perfectly destitute of wool as those of a deer, or a 
 greyhound. In every other respect, they are truly 
 and properly sheep. It is as impossible to class them 
 otherwise, as it is to deny, that the different varieties 
 of dogs belong to the same family, merely because 
 one has a sleek, and another a shaggy covering. 
 
 Most of those sheep however, which are destitute 
 of wool, have some kind of ooat. Sometimes short, 
 stiff, opaque hairs start fromidieir pelt, at considerable 
 distances from each other,, somewhat in the manner 
 
 that. 
 
12 
 
 that bristles do from the sides of the hog, and shew 
 between them the fleshy colour of the skin ; others 
 have a coarse, but smoother coat, whose silky lusture 
 invites the touch, and which under the management 
 of an eastern shepherd, assumes a compactness supe- 
 rior to that of our well dressed horses. Sheep of 
 this description, are found in a large proportion of 
 Tartary ; while those of a roughercast, disperse them- 
 selves in Africa, in the East Indies, and the Chinese 
 empire. 
 
 Another kind of sheep, if we distinguish them by 
 the coat alone, bears a much longer and shaggy hair, 
 placed not very thickly upon it, but hanging down in 
 a close and waved staple. These, to the eye, seem to 
 resemble in some degree theoldlong-wooled sheep of 
 the midland counties; but upon a close inspection, their 
 covering is found to be decidedly a hairy substance, 
 which concealsabout its roots, a fine short and downy 
 wool. This, by means of instruments adapted to the 
 purpose, is separated from the hair, and employed 
 in manufactures. This variety of fleeces abounds in 
 the north of Europe, in many parts of the Russian 
 empire, on the shores of the Black Sea, among the 
 Tartars of Asia, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in 
 South America. 
 
 These fleeces differ very considerably from 
 each other in the length of the pile, their weight, 
 colour, and the porportion of short and silky wool, 
 which maj' be separated from them. In some, the 
 pile is very long, and seems adapted to withstand 
 the rigours of the Arctic winters. In others, it is 
 better adapted to the milder regions by its lightness, 
 and to the animals, which wander in search of food 
 over wide extended wastes, whose saline soils yield 
 
 but 
 
13 
 
 but a scanty herbage. It is not possible to state* 
 from what we at present know of these flocks, any 
 opinion of the average quantity of the softer sub- 
 stance which they yield. Perhaps it can scarcely ex- 
 ceed four ounces. The “ hair” of this wool, i. e. the 
 fineness or coarseness of the pile, the first object of a 
 stapler’s concern, is of a very inferior kind, such as we 
 should appropriate to almost the lowest of purposes. 
 
 Most of the other sheep, that we meet with, fur- 
 nish that substance which we denominate wool, 
 although the diversity of its properties, and of the pur- 
 poses to which it is applied, is much greater than is 
 commonly imagined ; for almost every country, and 
 every province, has its peculiar fleece, and its distinct 
 manufacture. These animals, producing a more or 
 less valuable coat, abound in the western, and the 
 southern parts of Europe; on the northern shores of 
 Africa; in Syria, and Persia^ and most probably in 
 some parts of Tibet. They exist in Denmark, Swe- 
 den and North America* being recently introduced 
 there. 
 
 It seemed necessary to give this general descrip- 
 tion of fleeces, not onlyfo correct the common error 
 t)f those, whose opportunities of attaining more cor- 
 rect information are very limited, but also to lead 
 them to remark, that as some varieties of the sheep 
 possess a covering which differs but little from that 
 of other quadrupeds, so also, there are beasts, which 
 yield a fur in many respects resembling wool, and 
 which is used for precisely the same purposes. We 
 allude particularly to the goat, the camel, and the 
 dromedary, in the East, and the vicuna in South 
 America. When these animals are stripped of that 
 covering, which nature has given to them, it is 
 sometimes called wool, and in reality possesses so 
 
 many 
 
14 
 
 many of the properties of that which we obtain from 
 sheep, that we are compelled to consider them as 
 substances of a similar kind. 
 
 It is not easy to point out the precise difference 
 betwixt wool and hair ; for though, in general, when 
 both are presented to us, we decide without hesitation, 
 yet, in many instances, their properties so blend with 
 each other, as to oblige the best judges to determine 
 differently, and the same person, after a short inter- 
 val, will sometimes contradict his former opinion. 
 In fact, it is not very uncommon to find filaments, 
 which, in different parts of their length, exhibit both 
 substances too visibly to be mistaken. This pheno- 
 menon, however, so far as I have had opportunities 
 of observing it, appears most frequently in the 
 fleeces, which have received from culture but 
 little alteration ; which approach nearest to the state 
 of those obtained from sheep, "of which little or no 
 care has been taken since the period, when their first 
 progenitors were turned upon the mountains, where 
 the race has existed through such a number of 
 successive generations, that their origin is now un- 
 known. Such kind of hairy wool is so very common 
 in the north of England, and among the rougher 
 fleeces of the hilly tracts of Scotland, as to leave no 
 doubt of the fact. It may easily be attested by taking 
 the kemps, or coarse hairs with which it abounds, 
 from the staple, and observing them minutely. Some- 
 times it will be clearly a hairy substance., about one 
 half its length, and the remainder wool ; in this case, 
 the wool is generally finer than the other part, and 
 is more inclined to assume a crumpled form, like a 
 line drawn in very irregular curves. The hairy part 
 is sometimes found at that end of the filament, which, 
 
 at 
 
15 
 
 at the time of shearing, was nearest the skin ; not im~ 
 frequently at the other ; it has also been observed in 
 the middle part of it. Conclusions upon this point, 
 however, ought not to be hastily formed, for there 
 are millions of fleeces in which no such appearance 
 can be discovered, and those who meet with only 
 such, perhaps may doubt the correctness of the state- 
 ment. Nevertheless, such kinds of filaments have been 
 observed, and with proper pains may doubtless be 
 found again, with sufficient frequency to convince us 
 that there is a much nearer alliance between the two 
 substances than has been generally supposed ; and 
 that by some unknown process, while growing, they 
 may be converted from one to the other. When 
 we attend closely to the state of the staple, in many 
 parts of the kingdom, we find that the points of it are 
 'very different from the other part ; a small portion is 
 often much coarser, more brittle, and opaque than 
 the rest, and is such as very few, who are accustomed 
 to discriminate between the two kinds of substance, 
 would scruple to call hair. But these points are pre- 
 cisely the portion of the fleece, which was left upon 
 the back of the animal by the shearer, when he last 
 performed his office. At that period it was doubtless 
 wool, for the part of the staple through which the 
 shears passed to separate it from the sheep (and 
 which is commonly called the leech of the fleece) is 
 wool in the best state which that animal could pro- 
 duce it ; and yet we see that it has gradually chang- 
 ed its nature as it proceeded in its growth, so as, in 
 the space of a year, to become a very different sub- 
 stance. This is another, instance of transmutation, 
 which deserves the attention of the grower, and 
 points out the very intimate connection that subsists 
 B between 
 
16 
 
 between two binds of filaments, which have generally 
 been considered as totally distinct from each other. 
 
 The cause of this gradual alteration we have sought 
 for in the exposure of the pile to the coldness, and the 
 moisture of the atmosphere, to thescorching heatof the 
 summer’s sun, and to the influence of the soil upon 
 which the animal reclines. We have considered whe- 
 therit might not be owing to the perspiration which ex- 
 udes through the skin, an'd mingles with the wool, or 
 to the want of that yolk which, from the external parts 
 of the fleece, is so easily washed off by the showers, 
 or whether it be not the effect of all these causes 
 unitedly. At present we have not met with any rela- 
 tion of experiments which decide our opinion, and 
 have no means of performing them ourselves in order 
 to obtain satisfaction. It is obvious, however, that 
 sheep which are kept in the richer pastures, and in 
 good condition, do not yield a fleece with such hairy 
 tops as those whose lodging is upon dry fallows, and 
 which are obliged to travel over a large space, with 
 a heavy load, in order to obtain their food. 
 
 From the circumstance of the same animal pro- 
 ducing both wool and hair, in different parts of its 
 body, which are sometimes separated from each 
 other by a bold and regular outline, drawn by nature ; 
 and as this line does not always occupy precisely the 
 same portion of the skin ; and more especially as the 
 two kinds of filaments are often observed to grow 
 most intimately mingled with each other ; we may 
 conclude that the fluid, or whatever it be which pro- 
 duces the one, does not differ much from the secretion 
 which forms the other. We find two kinds of hair, 
 it is true, upon many other animals, as the mane and 
 ihe tails of horses, which differ very greatly from the 
 
 covering 
 
17 
 
 covering of the other parts of their body, but then we 
 always find them upon the same parts, and never in- 
 termingled with each other over the whole surface of 
 the skin. Hence, therefore, we conclude that there 
 is in these parts, where each is observed to grow* 
 some peculiar secretion formed which is adapted to 
 its peculiar production. But in sheep we sometimes 
 find the whole head, and legs and belly, covered with 
 a short stiff hair, sometimes enveloped in a close and 
 thick wool. Some fleeces are quite pure from kemps, 
 while others are very full of a short and brittle hair* 
 which has been produced with the staple, and grown 
 almost from the same root as its wool has done. 
 
 While attempting to illustrate the transmutation of 
 wool, and the little difference that exists between that 
 substance and hair, I alluded only to the British 
 fleeces, because they fall more readily under the 
 notice of every one who wishes to inspect them. In 
 these coats, however, the intermixture of kemps is 
 considered as an accidental circumstance, and the 
 proportionate weight of them is generally small, when 
 compared with that of the whole fleece. But there 
 are foreign breeds, in which, as we have already' 
 stated, these are more prevalent, and where, con- 
 trary to what is observed amongst us, the production 
 of wool is considered as the surprising and accidental 
 case. Probably in them we should find more striking 
 objects to confirm or correct our opinions. At present 
 I cannot help thinking that there is originally but 
 little difference between the coat of sheep and that of 
 other animals ; that it is only a fur of a particular 
 species, and with properties which render it better 
 adapted to manufactures. 
 
 The covering with which Providence, always afc- 
 
 B 2 tentive 
 
18 
 
 tentive to the wants of his creatures, has furnished 
 most quadrupeds is peculiarly adapted to the cli- 
 mates which they inhabit. In those, where the thick 
 and heavy coat would prove an incumbrance, we 
 find even the sheep destitute of its usual fleece. 
 On the other hand, from latitudes where the 
 rigours of winter are more severe we import those 
 furs which contribute to the comfort and elegance 
 of our own attire ; while the native, contented with 
 the more common and less expensive produce of his 
 folds, wraps himself in sheep skins, and blesses that 
 hand which made their pile thick, warm and pon- 
 derous. 
 
 Carefully examining the furs of these animals 
 which differ most from the sheep in their disposition, 
 their habits, and theirforms, we shall observe that they 
 are generally composed of two very different kinds of 
 hair ; the one straight, glossy, and very elastic ; 
 the other more pliable, curled in its appearance, 
 and much softer to the touch. Frequently they 
 are very greatly intermingled with each other, and 
 none of the more downy kind appears upon the sur- 
 face, being greatly overtoped by the rest, corres- 
 ponding exactly, in this respect, with that kind of 
 fleece which is observed to be the production of 
 sheep, in most countries, where it has been greatly 
 neglected ; and the down, or wool, which may be 
 obtained from both, is not only very similar in its 
 appearance, but capable also of being wrought into 
 the same kind of goods, and by precisely the same 
 process ; the best proof of their being not very dissi- 
 milar in their nature. There are furs too of another 
 description, in which these two kinds of hair, instead 
 of being mingled with each other, form a particular 
 
 portion 
 
19 
 
 portion of every filament. In this case, the point of it, 
 or exterior of the pile, is generally more brilliant, brit- 
 tle, and elastic ; that which is nearer to the skin 
 more soft, curled, and woolly ; and the part where 
 the transmutation takes place, is commonly discerni- 
 ble and definite. To be convinced of this, no per- 
 son need do more than examine, with common atten- 
 tion, the furs which are usually worn by the ladies; 
 and he will also remark that, when they have been 
 long exposed , to friction, the brittle hair breaks off, 
 and leaves the muff and the tippet of a ragged and 
 woolly appearance, which totally unfits them for use. 
 ’Tis then, however, that they have become the most 
 proper for manufactures, and having lostthe longand 
 unmanageable hair, they are reserved as a substitute 
 for wool, and offer another reason for believing that 
 the two substances are very nearly allied. 
 
 When, from the notice of animals, which are so 
 dissimilar from the sheep as the bear, the beaver, and 
 the fox, we turn to those which bear some relation to 
 it, as the moufion and the goat, we shall not be sur- 
 prised to find a much greater resemblance in their 
 fleeces. The long shaggy hair of the latter, it is well 
 known, is spun in the same manner as wool, and used 
 as the common yarn fabricated from our fieeces ; 
 and so very nearly are they alike, that it is uncertain, 
 to this day, whether the celebrated shawls of Cash- 
 mire, though often examined, be wrought from a ma- 
 terial which is produced by the sheep or the goat. 
 The shaggy covering of the goat, it must be con- 
 fessed, is very different from that which v r e find in 
 most of our well attended flocks ; but in many parts 
 of Asia, it appears that they feed together, and are 
 said by some to produce a mongrel offspring, which 
 B 3 bears 
 
20 
 
 bears a very exact resemblance both in carcase and 
 in fleece to the worst kind of sheep. Even in our 
 own island it has been maintained, by those whose 
 opinion was determined (perhaps too hastily) by the 
 similarity of their coats, that a variety of the sheep 
 which extends itself very widely over the Highlands 
 of Scotland, is indebted for its peculiarity to the 
 blood of this baser animal. 
 
 The mouflon, the argali of Dr. Pallas, which is 
 now, perhaps, entirely banished from Europe, bears 
 so great a resemblance to our domestic sheep, and 
 possesses so many of its properties, as to be deemed 
 by naturalists the parent stock. Their fleeces are 
 indeed so much alike, that the description of one 
 almost answers equally well for that of the other. 
 They consist, “ in summer, of a short hair, sleek, 
 and resembling that of a deer.” In winter of 
 ■wool, like down, mingled with hair, every where an 
 inch and half long at least, concealing, at its roots, 
 a fine woolly down, of a white colour in general.” 
 This is the description given of it by Dr. Anderson, in 
 his very excellent “ Account of sheep found in the 
 Russian empire,” and communicated by Dr. Pallas 
 himself. Other authors have represented it of a 
 “ nut brown colour,” “ a grey,” anda“ feruginous 
 gre «” Perhaps it may assume this variety of hues in 
 the different situations where it has been found. It 
 is now confined almost, if not entirely, to Asia, and 
 is so shy, that as new colonies settle it retreats from 
 their observation to the most wild and naked rocks, 
 where it delights to bask itself in the unintercepted 
 rays of the sun. For a larger account of it we refer 
 the reader to the work quoted above, and to other 
 writers on natural history. The skin of one has been 
 presented to the British Museum by Mr. Pennant. 
 
 Observing 
 
Observing in this manner the different kinds of 
 fleeces, which are produced in countries where the 
 domestic animals have undergone the least alteration, 
 and remarking how nearly they correspond with 
 the coats of those which retain their native wildness, 
 we perceive the astonishing effects of cultivation. 
 The celebrated burdens borne by the sheep of Spain, 
 Persia and Cashmire, were, doubtless, in their ori- 
 ginal state, as coarse and hairy as those which are 
 now produced on the wastes of Tartary, or among 
 the morasses of Siberia. It is probable that in most, 
 if not all these countries, the race which now inhabits 
 them is a breed imported from some neighbouring 
 region. But history, which is always defective in the 
 narrative of rural affairs, is not sufficiently explicit to 
 enable us, at this distant period, even to guess at the 
 time when they were first introduced ; nor can we 
 trace from it the different stages of their improve- 
 ment. Those of Spain, probably, were brought 
 from the opposite coast of Africa ; and England is 
 undoubtedly indebted for the flocks, which adorn her 
 pastures, to various parts of the Continent. It seems, 
 however, from hints casually thrown out by early 
 writers, and by circumstances which exist in many 
 parts of the East, that the sheep were at first intirefy 
 of a black colour, or very nearly approaching to it. 
 This was most certainly the case with the flock of 
 Laban, the first of which we have a particular account, 
 even by the earliest historian. His shepherd and 
 son-in-law was, in that day, the most scientific of 
 breeders, and knew not only how to multiply his sheep 
 in a larger proportion than was then common, but was 
 well acquainted with the art of preserving any acci- 
 dental varietjq which might contribute to his own 
 
 wealth. 
 
Q2 
 
 wealth, and the advantage of society. The altera- 
 tion seems to have taken place very gradually in the 
 southern parts of Europe ; for it had not reached its 
 western side until a very late period. So slowly were 
 agricultural improvements adopted in these ages, that 
 no less than eighteen centuries passed away while it 
 travelled from Syria to Spain ; and the most ready 
 way by which it could proceed was through the nor- 
 thern kingdoms of Africa, for there it met with the 
 speediest reception, and the fewest obstacles to its 
 progress ! At what period this alteration in the co- 
 lour of wool established itself in Greece I know not, 
 and leave it for those to determine who are better ac- 
 quainted with the early state of that country ; but if 
 it had not taken place before the Argonautic expedi- 
 tion, may it not be conjectured that the celebrated 
 golden fleece bears some allusion to the yellowness 
 / which the yolk generally gives to white fleeces be- 
 fore they are washed ? 
 
 Certain it is, however, that the amelioration of 
 the flocks has always been closely connected with 
 the progress of the arts, and of civilization ; for we 
 uniformly find, in countries where these have flourish- 
 ed, a race of sheep which yield wool much superior 
 to that which we And all around them. Where the 
 best blessings of social life have been but little culti- 
 vated, we sometimes meet with the strong and shy 
 argali, which bounds before its hunters, anxious for 
 those recesses which never were imprinted with the 
 human footstep. But where the mattock of agricul- 
 ture turns the soil, the goat, and its kindred sheep, 
 little differing from each other in their shape or their 
 fleece, croud around the tent of the herdsman, and 
 demand that care which is necessary to their subsist- 
 ence. 
 
23 
 
 ence. Such coarse animals as these, which even afe 
 present wander over the plains of old Scythia, are 
 the strongest proof that they have never been cheered 
 and invigorated by the sunshine of science. But in 
 other countries, beyond the Alps for instance, we 
 notice the descendants of a race which flourished in 
 the better days of Borne. In Turkey, even under 
 its present mental degradation, we trace the vestiges 
 of flocks which once spread over the plains of Ar- 
 cadia, the delight of their shepherd, and the subject 
 of bis song. In Syria and Persia, the influence of 
 antient manufactures is still visible in the superiority 
 of the fleece which is collected from their folds. 
 Nor is the monument of Lybian luxury less conspicu- 
 ous on the shore of Africa, where we meet with 
 fleeces not unworthy of European envy. Perhaps 
 also it may not be destitute of foundation if we con- 
 jecture that the acknowledged superiority of the 
 wool of Taurida was derived from the early establish- 
 ment of the Grecian colonies, and from the fostering 
 care of those sent out in later times from Venice and 
 Genoa, which diffused, through that delightful coun- 
 try, taste wealth and luxury. The hills of Spain also 
 could notboast of their well attenuated pile, untill the 
 country rose into eminence for knowledge, and com- 
 mercial spirit ; nor have we reason to think that she 
 has improved it since the period when she disturbed 
 her manufacturers, and despised their employment. 
 The most prosperous days of Britain, we trust, are 
 still to come, when the ingenuity and spirit which she 
 displays shall have compleated that improvement of 
 of her flocks, which was begun almost seven centuries 
 ago, and which, with respect to one class of her 
 fleeces, gave her a long pre-eminence above her 
 
 rivals 4 
 
24 
 
 rivals. A change in the seat of manufactures, an al- 
 teration in fashions, the interruption of the usual 
 channels of commerce, and the impolitic laws which 
 have been passed in order to secure it, for a time 
 checked her progress, and disheartened her husband- 
 men. But, fortunately, their spirit is again revived, 
 and extends itself, with additional energy, both to the 
 long wool and the short. Let not the recollection of 
 former disappointment damp your ardour, or lead 
 you to depasture the richer plains, which you cultivate, 
 with a woolless sheep, or even with one which is too 
 light for the soil. Manufactures, if worth pursuing, 
 must ultimately reimburse you. Let both kinds of 
 wool receive a due proportion of your regard, and 
 proceed with an equal and unimpeded step towards 
 compleat perfection. Then if the period should ar- 
 rive, may it be very far distant, when strangers shall 
 contemplate the symmetry of British flocks, and the ex- 
 treme beauty and utility of their fleece, they shall be- 
 hold one of the least changing monuments of departed 
 glory, and confess to what an elevated pitch of re- 
 finement and of science you had attained. 
 
 Perhaps the furs ol other quadrupeds are not so 
 susceptible of improvement as that of the sheep, or 
 this species, it is probable, would not have been the 
 only one selected as the object of culture. Experi- 
 ments, however, are wanting to decide the question ; 
 and it behoves us to hold our judgment in suspence, 
 for I recollect no instances in which the trial has 
 been made, except in the most casual and imperfect 
 form. Yet if it be fair to reason from the effects which 
 take place upon the coats of our cattle and our horses 
 b}' attention and cleanliness, and also by a judicious 
 selection of the male and female parent, we are in- 
 clined 
 
25 
 
 dined to suppose that every kind of fur may be ren- 
 dered either beautiful or useful to a degree yet un- 
 thought of. A pursuit of this kind would be Very 
 impolitic in a country where land is valuable, and im- 
 portant manufactures already established, if we could 
 suppose that it would occupy the attention of farmers 
 in general. Their time and their ingenuity is much 
 better applied to the raising of materials, for which 
 there is already a demand, and where their success is 
 certain. But the parks of our nobility, and the 
 lawns of our wealthier graziers, might, very proper- 
 ly, become the theatres of experiments, where all 
 the useful combinations of stock might be exhibited, 
 and the alterations which it is possible to produce in 
 the carcase or its covering minutely displayed. To 
 the honour of the age, this is in some good measure 
 the case. But the system might be extended with 
 advantage, and we should soon find that the more 
 the attempts at improvement were multiplied, so 
 much the more rapidly, and certainly, would the 
 country derive information, and adopt what appears 
 to be of decided importance. In such places, and 
 under such influence, there can be no reason to dread 
 the contemptuous smile of ignorance and folly, nor 
 can there be danger of misapplying that industry 
 upon which a family depends. 
 
 If it be possible to produce a beneficial alteration in 
 the furs of animals in general, there seems noreason to 
 set bounds to our conjectures ; and it would certainly 
 be an important point gained, if the same animal 
 which we rear for food could be formed to till the 
 soil, and yeild from its sides an annual tribute to its 
 owner. It must be long, we are well aware, before 
 the common beeves of our country could be made to 
 ' do 
 
26 
 
 do so, even if it were possible to effect it ; but there 
 are cattle, enumerated b}^ Dr. Anderson, and de- 
 scribed with his usual candour, ingenuity, and judg- 
 ment, which claim a larger portion of our attention 
 than they have yet received. 
 
 
 SECT. 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 On Cultivated Wool. 
 
 HP HR domestic sheep is an animal so feeble and de- 
 fenceless, that it depends for its subsistence, almost 
 entirely, upon the care of man, and is never found at 
 great distances from his habitatiop. Left to itself, it 
 becomes the subject of disease, and the prey of more 
 ferocious creatures ; or if these should spare it, its 
 own fleece becomes the abode of insects, which con- 
 tinually nourish themselves with its blood, and de- 
 stroy its constitution. Its enemies indeed are so nu- 
 merous, and constantly at hand, that it has no chance 
 of escaping them. 
 
 But every sheep of this kind does not produce 
 what we call cultivated wool, although it should re- 
 ceive a considerable share of attention from its shep- 
 herd, and its fleece a casual benefit by the improve- 
 ment of the carcase, such as we find in many parts of 
 the north of Europe, and in some districts of Asia. 
 We include, under this general description, only that 
 class of fleeces, which have at one time constituted a 
 distinct object of the grower’s attention ; and which 
 have received from it some degree of alteration. In 
 some cases, the grower’s care has been long since re- 
 c laxed 3 
 
28 
 
 laxed, and perhaps the quality of his wool may have 
 degenerated several degrees ; yet there are few, I be- 
 lieve, in which it has lost all the benefit of his regard, 
 and returned entirely to its original condition. 
 
 An idea of what we mean by the original state of 
 wool will be formed by those who have perused the 
 preceding section, much more precisely than if we 
 were to attempt an accurate definition of it. They 
 will observe, that we do not think it necessary to refer 
 to that age when there was no difference in the fleeces 
 of sheep, if we can suppose that such an one ever 
 existed, but that we deem it allowable to consider it 
 as in its primitive state in any country where it is 
 universally neglected, and where we can trace no 
 particular instances of improvement. Such is the 
 wool in Iceland, Guinea, and Siberia, although in 
 each country it differs very materially from that 
 which is produced in the others* 
 
 To trace all the alterations which the substance 
 has undergone, is in this age utterly impossible, nor 
 does my acquaintance with ancient history permit 
 me to be positive as to the period when they were 
 successive^ introduced into different parts of the 
 civilized world. We must satisfy ourselves with 
 mentioning some circumstances, which appear to 
 have had a considerable influence in promoting its 
 improvement, hoping that some literary gentleman 
 will, at a future time, condense the information which 
 is scattered through the ancient writings, and gratify 
 the public curiosity upon a subject so interesting. 
 
 The laniferous animals were very early diffused 
 over the western parts of Asia ; the time, when 
 they were introduced into Europe, is too remote to 
 come within the range of authentic history. At first 
 
 probably 
 
29 
 
 probably they were domesticated for the sake of 
 their milk, t lie common nutriment even now of most 
 pastoral nations. But this was not long the sole ob- 
 ject of their owner’s care, for he soon found that 
 their skins also were capable of contributing very 
 materially to his comfort, especially in damp situa- 
 tions and mountainous countries. In this state of 
 society, sheep and goats appear to have been thought 
 of nearly equal value ; and, if there was any prefer- 
 ence, it was given to the latter animal. 
 
 Perhaps the amelioration of the fleece, like the 
 improvements of mankind in most of the useful arts, 
 was less the result of design than of accident ; and if 
 the Argali were really the parent of the domestic 
 sheep, it must have advanced considerably before we 
 have a particular account of its changes. The first 
 flock, which is minutely described, was found about 
 seventeen hundred and sixty years before the Chris* 
 tian sera, in Mesopotamia, or that part of Persia 
 which lies between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. 
 It was perfectly domesticated, consisting both of 
 goats and sbeep, the former of which were black, and 
 the latter a brown colour, a circumstance which 
 proves that it had undergone less alteration than 
 might have been expected. The state of the flock 
 excited no surprize in the mind of a traveller, who 
 had gone thither from Syria, which it probably would 
 have done, had it not been familiar to him in his own 
 country ; and appears to intimate that black and 
 brown were the usual colours of these animals 
 throughout the extent of both countries. In his na- 
 tive land, moreover, he bad superintended the de- 
 scendants of flocks and of herds, which, about a 
 hundred and fifty years before, were brought out of 
 C 2 ' Egypt ; 
 
30 
 
 Egypt ; and, if these continued to be of a dark and 
 clingy hue, it is more than probable that their proge- 
 nitors were of no other colour, and that the flocks of 
 the then known world were, in this respect, nearly 
 similar. During his residence in a foreign land, he 
 continued the orofession of a shepherd, and produc- 
 ed little or no alteration in the colour of his fleeces 
 for the space of fourteen years. At the end of this 
 term, the capricious temper of his master induced 
 one to offer, and the other to accept, as the reward 
 of continued service, that portion of the flocks which 
 had anv white in them, and those lambs and kids 
 which should be produced with a mottled coat, whe- 
 ther their dams were like themselves, or of one uni- 
 form colour. As a skilful breeder, he took proper 
 measures to produce a ring streaked and spotted 
 race ; while, as one determined to enrich himself, he 
 concealed the superiority of his knowledge, and the 
 means which he adopted. From this apparently tri- 
 vial circumstance arose that entire change in the 
 breed of the flocks, which was first witnessed in the 
 eastern world, and which is known to have established 
 itself, at successive periods, in the western. It was 
 not owing to the demands of manufactures, nor even 
 to the volatility of taste ; but is one of those numerous 
 circumstances in human affairs, which history often 
 hints at but never pursues, although they are found 
 to have an influence upon all succeeding generations. 
 
 This new variety of flocks soon established itself 
 in the country where it was produced, and gra- 
 dually diffused itself southwards, as far as the desart 
 of Arabia, so that in the space of three hundred 
 years, its tvhiteness had become proverbial. Indeed 
 the colour of the fleece must have been particularly 
 
 attended 
 
SI 
 
 attended to, and have attained a high degree of ex- 
 cellency, for a devout poet of that age, in the subli- 
 mity of his description, compares it to the snow ; and 
 an amorous one, shortly afterwards, asserts that the 
 teeth of his swarthy mistress were like a dock of sheep 
 new from the washing ; and although in these cases 
 we may be disposed to make allowance for the fancy 
 of the poet, and the strength of eastern comparisons, 
 yet we cannot but suppose that the beauty of the 
 fleece gave some propriety to the simile, and delica- 
 cy to the compliment. In the desart, where people 
 were less associated, and the influence of wealth and 
 taste less prevalent, the sheep perhaps retained their 
 original colour for nearly five centuries longer. 
 Another striking instance of the slow progress of 
 agricultural improvements, especially among people 
 who adopt a wandering and unsettled mode of life. 
 
 This alteration in the colour of wool evidently 
 took the line of the richest soils, and spread its in- 
 fluence most readity through countries where the arts 
 of husbandry had made the greatest progress, but 
 seldom passed their boundaries. From Persia, de- 
 scending the Euphrates, and passing over the richer 
 countries of Syria, it reached the borders of the Nile. 
 But it is unreasonable to suppose, that it proceeded 
 only in that direction. If it extended itself north- 
 ward, and ascended the river, it must soon have 
 reached the banks of the Phasis, and have been spread 
 through the old kingdom of Colchis. In later ages, 
 as we have already conjectured, it passed frem thence 
 into Greece. 
 
 When it was found possible to procure a white 
 kind of wool, the taste of the world appears to have 
 been favourable to its production \ otherwise it must 
 C 3 soon 
 
32 
 
 soon Lave degenerated to its primitive colour. How 
 it comes to pass that this taste existed, and even con- 
 tinues to display itself in most nations where wool is 
 produced in any shape, we have no need to enquire ; 
 the fact is sufficiently obvious, and certainly had some 
 influence in promoting its culture, both in the earlier 
 and later ages. And when we investigate the causes 
 which have contributed to the improvement of our 
 flocks, we ought not entirely to overlook it. The su- 
 perior cheerfulness which sheep and goats, with white 
 fleeces, communicate to rural scenery, the cleanli- 
 ness which wool of that description is calculated to 
 promote, when used as an article of furniture or 
 dress, and above all the greater variety and vividness 
 of the artificial tints with which it may be imbued, 
 which always gratifies the taste for gaudy trappings, 
 so common among the ruder nations, have doubtless 
 conspired, in some good measure, to render it more 
 valuable than that, which was remarkable only for its 
 brown and dusky appearance. 
 
 Among a people, however, whose possessions and 
 comforts are almost equally distributed, the influence 
 of taste must be small, when compared with that 
 which results from their absolute w’ants. As an arti- 
 cle of clothing, the furs of animals were soon adopt- 
 ed, and the skins of sheep, among those of other 
 beasts, were worn without distinction, but became 
 more common as flocks became more numerous, and 
 the wilder animals were extirpated. In this state of 
 society, that kind of fur would be sought after which 
 was best suited to the climate and the condition of 
 the people. The two chief requisites were most cer- 
 tainly a proper degree of warmth, which was 
 essentially necessary to the comfort and health of the 
 
 wearer. 
 
83 
 
 wearer, and that adhesion of the pile to tlie pelt 
 which would render the garment more durable. The 
 tendency of some sheep to cast their coat at one sea- 
 son of the year would render those skins less valua- 
 ble which were procured in the height of summer ; 
 and if it were possible to produce those which might 
 retain their pile with equal firmness through every 
 variation of the heat, one considerable object would 
 be gained. In some of the northern regions, and 
 those of lower latitudes where the temperature is 
 irregular and uncertain, and if no artificial altera- 
 tion has been produced, we find a kind of shaggy 
 coated sheep, whose fleeces are attached to them with 
 a great degree of firmness. In the warmer regions 
 so many changes have succeeded each other, and so 
 little has been said of the particular kind of wool 
 which they formerly produced, that it is impossible 
 to ascertain its peculiar qualities ; yet we cannot sup- 
 pose that the state of society would have less influ- 
 ence upon it there, than we have reason to think it 
 had in other countries, from whence better accounts 
 have reached us. 
 
 So long as the skins of the sheep, dressed with 
 the wool on, were used for domestic purposes, it is 
 obvious that only one fleece could be obtained from 
 the animal ; and that if its coat detached itself every 
 succeeding summer through which it Jived, there 
 must be an immense waste of its produce. Happily, 
 however, it was soon observed that even the detached 
 fleece, by means of moisture arid pressure, might be 
 made to produce a compact and pliable substance, 
 equally applicable to the common purposes of life, 
 quite as durable, more convenient, and more elegant 
 than the skins were which had been formerly used. 
 
 This 
 
3 4 
 
 This appears to have been the first effort of genius to 
 produce a woollen manufacture ; and when the proper- 
 ty upon which it depends was once applied to this 
 purpose, the knowledge of the art was widely diffus- 
 ed. The tents of the Arabs, the T urcomans, and the 
 Tartars, all of which are made of felt, manufactured 
 from the wool of sheep, mingled with the hair of 
 goats, camels and other quadrupeds, are probably 
 the remains of it ; and these, together with the taste 
 for that kind of substance, which even at present pre- 
 vails in Persia and other Eastern countries, manifest 
 how permanently customs and habits establish them- 
 selves and triumph over the revolutions of empires 
 and of mind. The discovery of such a valuable pro- 
 perty in wool as the felting quality, must greatly 
 have increased the value of every kind of hair 
 which was found to possess it ; and by promoting 
 the comforts of society, it contributed to the 
 amelioration of the fleece. 
 
 So soon as men exchanged a wandering life for 
 one that was more settled, and congregated in towns, 
 their new mode of living gave rise to new wants and 
 other habits, and ingenuity was exercised to supply 
 their demands. In Egypt they attended to the culti- 
 vation of flax, and soon attained a great degree of 
 proficiency in its manufacture. In that country, the 
 arts of spinning and weaving were firstinvented, and 
 probably employed in the fabrication of that fine 
 linen which was so justly celebrated. But when 
 they were first introduced into the woollen manufac- 
 ture is by no means certain. About the year fourteen 
 hundred and ninety before the vulgar rera, we observe 
 them in Arabia, under circumstances which intimate 
 
 that 
 
35 
 
 that they had not been long known there ; perhaps 
 introduced by a wandering people who had lately 
 left the borders of the Nile, and were finally settled 
 upon those of the Jordan. There are hints, it is 
 true, which might lead us to suppose that they had 
 been adopted in the land of Canaan, and the country 
 of Uz, more than four hundred years earlier, but 
 when the expressions are carefully examined, they 
 appear rather the proverbs of the historian’s day than 
 those of that age whose events he was relating. At 
 whatsoever periods these arts were invented, and ap- 
 plied to general use, it is certain that, when first 
 mentioned, the garments composed of both a warp 
 and a woof were the common dress of those coun- 
 tries, which lie at the eastern extremity of the Medi- 
 terranean sea, and that flocks which produced the 
 raw material had undergone a considerable alteration. 
 We hear much less respecting goats in this than in 
 the preceding ages. The reason of general taste for 
 woollen clothing, upon which the effects of the loom 
 and the shuttle had been employed, is very easily dis- 
 coverable in the superior pliability of that substance, 
 and the more convenient shapes which it may be 
 made to assume. Among its benefits we enumerate 
 the readiness with which it could be fabricated in 
 every family, the taste which might be displayed 
 in its texture, the quantity of employment which it 
 furnishes, and the stimulus which it gave to inge- 
 nuity and exertion, by diffusing a spirit of competi- 
 tion among the people. The value of the manufac- 
 ture is evident from the comfort which it diffused in 
 the country where the art of weaving was first in- 
 yented, by the wealth which it collected there, and 
 the superior polish and influence which it gave to the 
 
 inhabitants. 
 
36 
 
 inhabitants, from its gradual adoption in neigh- 
 bouring countries, and the alteration which it pro- 
 duced in the dispositions, the activity, and the pur- 
 suits of man, and above all, from its existence in 
 modern ages, in every country, and throughout all 
 changes. 
 
 While the woollen manufacture was thus enlargr- 
 
 O 
 
 ing its influence, and producing a proportionate 
 effect upon the raw material, it derived considerable 
 advantage from the invention and the improvement 
 of those instruments which were adopted by its ar- 
 tists to aid their efforts, and to shorten their labours. 
 After the arts of spinning and weaving were intro- 
 duced, it was impossible to work without the assist- 
 ance of some kind of machinery ; but the distaff and 
 the loom, in their first form, were little more in the 
 hands of the manufacturer, than the spade in those 
 of the husbandman. Spinning and weaving, as we 
 have already observed, were in use at least fifteen 
 hundred years before the sera of common reckoning, 
 but the manner in which they were performed is not 
 related until about three centuries afterwards. Then 
 the loom consisted of a frame of wood, in some respect 
 different from the modern one, but well adapted to 
 the same purposes. The alterations, which have been 
 made in it, consist perhaps more in the position of the 
 beam, and the mode of opening the web for the pas- 
 sage of the shuttle, than in any other circumstance. 
 Nor was the earliest mode of spinning less perfect 
 than that'which was practised in the most celebrated 
 manufacturing countries for many ages afterwards. 
 It was performed by means of a rod or staff, about 
 which the wool to be spun was carefully wrapped, 
 and held in the left hand, while a rough kind of spin- 
 dle, 
 
37 
 
 die, quickly twirled betwixt the right hand and the 
 thigh, was suffered to continue its motion when sus- 
 pended by the thread, which the artist gradually 
 lengthened with her fingers. This least complex of 
 spinning machines is not entirely laid aside even now. 
 A few years since it was not uncommon in the coun- 
 ty of Norfolk, and its continuance in use through so 
 many ages is the best proof of its excellency. Re- 
 specting the mode of preparing the wool for this ma- 
 chine, in the first stages of the manufacture, we have 
 met with no information ; probably before the intro- 
 duction of the card, it was performed either by the 
 fingers or the thistle, which, with its rough and hooked 
 awn*, was admirably adapted to the purpose, and 
 has continued in use, with a similar view, to the pre- 
 sent hour. Rut the invention of implements adapted 
 t© agriculture and manufactures is seldom mentioned 
 in the records of time. Their introduction has gene- 
 
 * A gentleman, distinguished for his knowledge of bota- 
 ny, informs me, that “ the Fuller’s teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, 
 was called a thistle, Carduus, by the older botanists, on ac- 
 count of its prickly nature and general appearance ; but is 
 now known to differ essentially from plants of that genus, in 
 many botanical characters. It is at this day called Cardere in 
 French, and aptly denotes the use to which it ha? long been 
 applied. That part of the structure, which has recommended 
 it to the notice of the woollen manufacturers, is the singular 
 hooked awn, or spinous termination of the scales of the recep- 
 tacle, which separate the florets of the general capitulum, or 
 head. It was considered by Linnaeus as merely a variety of 
 the Dipsacus sylvestris, or wild teasel, common on ditch 
 banks, and waste places on the borders of fields, in many 
 parts of England ; and which differs from it chiefly, if not 
 solely, in having the termination of the scales perfectly 
 straight, and therefore unfit for the purposes of the manufac- 
 turer. 
 
 rally 
 
38 
 
 rally been slow and unperceived ; or if conveyed to 
 us by tradition, the accounts of them are so mingled 
 with conjecture, that it is not always wise to credit 
 them. This remark is scarcely better exemplified 
 than in the instances of the card, the comb, and the 
 spinning wheel, which have been applied to the ma- 
 nufacture of woollens, perhaps at different periods of 
 its history, with a degree of silence which throws con- 
 siderable doubt upon the time of their introduction. 
 Probably the first of them was a substitute for the 
 Roman carduus or teasel, and as is most natural to 
 conjecture, was used before that empire had suffered 
 the total subversion of order and of science. But the 
 name of its inventor, the time when he lived, and the 
 place where he practised the art which he improved, 
 are not conveyed to us even by the vague whispers of 
 tradition. The comb, another instrument well 
 known and in common use, is said, according to vul- 
 gar report, to have been invented b} T Bishop Blaise, 
 to have been used by him in Alderney, conveyed 
 from thence to Flanders, and afterwards to England. 
 Probably the latter part of the account may be cor- 
 rect, but we greatly doubt whether the Bishop is en- 
 titled to the honour of the invention. Perhaps it was 
 not known until after his days as an instrument ap- 
 plied to the manufacture of wool, nor does it appear 
 that he was Bishop of Alderney. lie lived in Ar- 
 menia, was raised to the episcopal dignity about the 
 time of Dioclesian, and suffered martyrdom under 
 that merciless tyrant. Before he was beheaded, he 
 endured great torture by means of iron combs, with 
 which his flesh was torn ; and hence, when an instru- 
 ment of that kind was brought into common use 
 among the workmen, they chose him for their patron 
 
 saint. 
 
39 
 
 saint, but without any reference to the inventor* 
 The application of the wheel to the spindle, for the 
 purpose of spinning, is likewise unnoticed in any 
 history which has fallen into our hands. Had it taken 
 place so early as the Catharine who was first canno- 
 nized, it would probably have been more generally 
 adopted in the early ages of the revived manufac- 
 tures*, Perhaps here also, when the instrument was 
 generally adopted in the Low Countries, those who 
 used it, according to the custom of the times, chose 
 for themselves a patron saint, and selected Catharine, 
 because she had suffered upon the wheel. But 
 though we know so little of the early introduction of 
 these instruments, yet when actually applied, their in- 
 fluence in promoting the manufacture and the cul- 
 ture of wool, was no less certain and efficacious than 
 if they had been announced in the most pompous lan- 
 guage, and the memory of their inventors celebrated 
 from year to year. They imperceptibly improved 
 the raw material, by rendering it better adapted to 
 their own operation. 
 
 Among the collateral arts which sprung up with 
 the manufacture of woollens, which derived from it 
 aid, and afforded reciprocal assistance, that of giving 
 to substances an artificial colouring, was one of the 
 most considerable. Dying was practised in an early 
 age, and without doubt was promoted by the taste 
 for showy attire, which is so common among the 
 ruder nations, and which scarcely can be thought to 
 have had less influence in the early ages than in the 
 present. Blue, purple and scarlet were the 
 tints most admired ; and though the ingredients, by 
 means of which they were produced, are in some 
 measure unknown, yet we have the most indubitable 
 D testimonies 
 
40 
 
 testimonies to their excellency, and the estimation in 
 which they were held. To produce them in their 
 richest lustre a selection of the wool most adapted to 
 receive them must be made, and this would operate 
 with great precision upon the sorter’s attention, al- 
 though it might more slowly arouse the shepherd’s 
 care. In a succession of ages, however, its effects 
 upon the fleece could not be inconsiderable. 
 
 While the manufacture of wool was confined to 
 the houses of the grower, and the business of it trans- 
 acted by his domestics in a secluded manner, there 
 was less room for the stimulation and exercise of -ge- 
 nius than in after ages, when it became the appropri- 
 ate calling of one particular part of the community, 
 and their success depended upon the opinion which 
 others formed of the fabric. Yet in the simplest days 
 of Greece it was not deemed an employment unsuit- 
 able to palaces, nor did a princess degrade her dig- 
 nity by superintending the labours of the loom, the 
 distaff* and the dying vat. It was in such occupa- 
 tions that she contended for the prize of fame, and 
 often with her own fingers drew the lengthened 
 thread, or conducted it through the dividing web, 
 happy to form a more splendid, a finer, or richer gar- 
 ment than her rivals could. By such innocent com- 
 petition the} 7 produced the most salutary effects upon 
 the workmanship of each other, the classes immedi- 
 ately below them, and upon the fleeces of their coun- 
 try. Doubtless they were at first compelled to exert 
 their ingenuity upon imperfect materials ; to attempt 
 the production of soft and attenuated threads, like 
 those which they saw in the linens of Egypt, from 
 coarse and elastic wool, to give the beauteous colour- 
 ing of the several flowers to dark and dingy fleeces. 
 
 Under 
 
41 
 
 Under such disadvantages, and excited by an almost 
 unbounded spirit of emulation to display their taste, 
 and gratify the vanity of their masters, the golden 
 fleece of Cholehis must have appeared to them a trea- 
 sure sufficiently valuable to become in part the object 
 of a voyage full of dangers, and to be celebrated in 
 the songs of Orpheus. Perhaps the intrepid adven- 
 turers, who went to seek it, did not return with the 
 living sheep ; nor were they to be procured in these 
 early days by the individual exertions of commerce. 
 
 After the manufacture had obtained that degree 
 of perfection which we have observed in the East, it 
 received no very considerable and general improve- 
 ment during many ages. It continued to diffuse it- 
 self* indeed, more widely along both shores of the 
 Mediterranean, and by improving the flocks in its 
 progress, bestowed comfort upon the people. It 
 would be tedious to follow it from Greece into Italy, 
 to observe its establishment in Rome, and its progress 
 with the arms of that mighty empire, through Gaul 
 to Britain, and to Spain. In Persia, -where the domi- 
 nion of luxury was most absolute, after that the ma- 
 nufacture of woollens had been generally adopted, 
 the materials were produced in the most perfect 
 form, and the workmanship obtained a degree of ex- 
 cellency beyond the competition of rivals. But after 
 the dissolution of that empire, of the Macedonian 
 monarchy, and especially in still later days, when 
 the Saracens, with more than brutal ignorance, like 
 a swelling torrent, had** overflowed the country, and 
 borne down what remained of its best distinctions, 
 wealth, and luxury, and enterprise fled from their 
 ancient seats, and manufactures assumed the pallid 
 hue of contagion. The ruins of these celebrated fa- 
 D 2 brics 
 
42 
 
 brics are yet conspicuous, and astonish the reflecting 
 mind as greatly as the proportioned pillar, the sculp- 
 tured wall, and the widely scattered fragments of 
 Balbec, of Palmyra, or Persepolis, do the eye of the 
 wondering traveller. 
 
 The introduction of the woollen manufacture into 
 the different countries of Europe, has been attended 
 with circumstances much more similar than might 
 have been expected. It always followed the increase 
 of wealth, and the exertion of the human faculties, 
 the promotion of taste, learning, and luxury. It 
 commonly followed the progress of the Roman ar- 
 mies, when they passed through a country less civiliz- 
 ed than Italy, and continued to extend its influence 
 until the capitol tottered to its foundation, and bar- 
 barians sacked the provinces. At that eventful pe- 
 riod, the artisan driven from his loom, and the hus- 
 bandman from the quiet culture of the field, sought 
 to forget in solitude the oppression which had al- 
 ready fallen upon the cities, and must soon extend 
 its influence to the loneliest retreat. Then the hu- 
 man faculties, destitute of stimulus, lost their vigour, 
 and were no longer employed to render social life 
 either elegant or pleasing. Every one sought only 
 what was essential to his existence, and bore with 
 sullen apathy the privation of those comforts to 
 which he had been accustomed. The presence of 
 the Vandal, utterly unacquainted with the enjoy- 
 ment connected with refined manners, soon convert- 
 ed the busy towns which he had subdued into haunts 
 of ignorance, brutality and rapine, and their once 
 cultivated districts into barren wastes or widely ex- 
 tended forests, where the bear and the wolf, or men 
 of character more ferocious than either of them, 
 
 roaqaed 
 
roamed in search of prey. In circumstances like 
 these, the subsistence of the farmer was most preca- 
 rious. His herds and. his flocks grazed only by suf- 
 ferance. And when tyranny had reached utmost its 
 height, the man himself was claimed as the indubita- 
 ble property of a master who had marked the boun- 
 daries of his estate with the point of his sword, and 
 Avho disposed of the fate of his inferior vassals almost 
 as he pleased. Such oppression, it is true, could not 
 destroy the existence of the fleece, nor render the 
 sheep naturally incapable of producing wool of the 
 same quality as it had done in former years. But it 
 rendered the pasture where the animal fed less fer- 
 tile, and the herbage it cropped more scanty. It 
 was the means of converting the once appropriated 
 plains into barren heaths, where the woolly tribe wan- 
 dered promiscuously, and propagated the species 
 without selection. ’Tis not possible to say how far 
 the sheep degenerated, but he who supposes that it 
 could improve either in its shape or its fleece, must 
 be extremely ignorant of rural concerns. He must 
 have forgotten, that all agricultural improvement de- 
 pends upon a free a spirited and happy peasantry ; 
 that whensoever they are rendered careless and su- 
 pine, the best formed schemes of their superiors to 
 advance the interest of their own estates, and their 
 country’s welfare, will prove abortive. The barba- 
 rian chiefs, however, in the eighth century, were not 
 acquainted with this political axiom, and their op- 
 pression continued, in many parts of Europe, through- 
 out almost five hundred years. 
 
 Yet these ages of darkness, as they have been fre- 
 quently called, did not totally destroy that spirit of 
 enterprise which had been previously excited. Ve- 
 D 3 nice 
 
44 
 
 nice arose out of the ashes of Rome, being selected 
 by a few of the fugitives from that inhuman enemy 
 of mankind who had been justly stiled the “ Scourge 
 of God,” as a situation too obscure or too contempti- 
 ble for his notice, and maintained the connection be- 
 tween Italy and the East. This city, together with 
 Pisa, Florence, and Genoa, instituted the manufac- 
 ture of woollens, and soon became celebrated from 
 their success in the arts, and in commerce, while 
 their example, their wealth, and the consequent de- 
 mands of luxury, operated most favourably upon the 
 husbandman and the shepherd. But had they been 
 less jealous of each others rivalship ; had their flocks 
 never been disturbed by the din of arms, nor driven 
 from the plundered fold to feed the encamped batta- 
 lions ; had they united with ardour in the prosecu- 
 tion of that commerce, which one could not mono- 
 polize, and which was sufficient for the employment 
 of all, they must have become strong in union, and 
 rich without a rival. Their manufactures would 
 have been more firmly established, and more widely 
 dispersed, and perhaps they would have remained 
 much longer the emporia of the world. While these 
 manufactures continued, their influence was very 
 considerable, and they promoted improvements, whose 
 effects upon the fertile soil are still perceptible. In 
 general, the wools of northern Italy, either from the 
 superior culture which they received under the Ro- 
 man government, or that which was given to them 
 by the succeeding republics, or perhaps because 
 there was less time for them to degenerate, are in a 
 better condition than those which w r e meet with on 
 the other side of the Alpine mountains. 
 
 In pursuing the influence of manufactures upon 
 
 the 
 
4 5 
 
 the folds in the other parts of Europe, we find no- 
 thing extraordinary, from the fall of the western em- 
 pire until the conquest of Spain by the Moors. Be- 
 fore that event, which occurred about the year seven 
 hundred and thirteen, the flocks of that country were 
 very much neglected ; but these industrious people 
 soon introduced the improved sheep of Africa, and 
 established the woollen manufacture upon broad and 
 useful principles, contributing to the wealth and the 
 power of the districts which they had conquered. 
 How far they might have pushed these improve- 
 ments, had they not been harrassed by the Christians, 
 who continually gained ground upon their invaders, 
 is uncertain ; but it is remarkable that the wool of 
 Spain was used in England for the fabrication of fine 
 cloths so early as the twelfth century, and was, no 
 doubt, superior to the native produce. If this ame- 
 lioration was really the effect of Moorish industry, 
 and if it was not partly owing to the superior quality of 
 the fleeces which were produced in Spain before the 
 conquerors arrived there, it is one of the most asto- 
 nishing alterations which we meet with in modern 
 agriculture, and a striking instance of the effect of 
 manufacture. But this influence, in whatever de- 
 gree it exist d, was greatly impaired when the Ca- 
 tholicism of her princes compelled the industrious 
 African to leave the soil which he had so greatly 
 contributed to enrich, and to Garry back with him the 
 arts which he had practised with so much success*; 
 anci this too at a period when the population was di- 
 minished by that thirst for gold which had drawn the 
 natives in crowds across the ocean ; when the de- 
 mand for the fabrics was becoming more clamorous 
 by the establishment of colonies ; and when the Spa- 
 
 niard^, 
 
46 
 
 niartl, by the influx of the precious metals, was ren- 
 dered too haughty and too indolent to practise the 
 humble and laborious duties of the field and the 
 workshop. Since that time, we have no reason to 
 think that Spain has greatly improved her flocks, or 
 increased their numbers ; for besides providing for a 
 large internal consumption, which was lessened by 
 the expulsion of the Moors, she exported a conside- 
 rable surplus of her wool to Flanders and to England, 
 and its quality was such as to ensure a market in 
 either country. The laws of the Mesta, i. e. those 
 by which her wandering flocks are regulated, have 
 not contributed to their improvement so much as has 
 generally been supposed. The utmost that could 
 reasonably be expected from them was the preven- 
 tion ofthe sheep mingling with those of an inferior kind ; 
 and they are such as could be endured only in a most 
 wretched country, a miserable substitute for agricul- 
 tural energv. But the fifteenth century did not by 
 any means compleat the wretchedness of this ill-fated 
 people. It was reserved for the seventeenth to give 
 the decisive blow to the manufactures and their in- 
 fluence, by the extermination ofthe workmen, with 
 a degree of inhumanity which can be attributed only 
 to long fostered rancour, inflamed by religious zeal. 
 If any improvement of her wool can be expected 
 now from Spain, it must be derived, not from her ma- 
 nufactures, although exertions have been made to re- 
 vive them, but from her connections with other coun- 
 tries, and a desire to supply them with an unrivalled 
 article. The operation of this principle must always 
 be feeble, and perpetually exposed to obstruction, 
 when it is perceived that others are treading fast 
 upon her heels, and are almost ready to bear away 
 
 the 
 
47 
 
 the palm, A disheartened competitor, tvho depends 
 upon the export of a commodity which is produced 
 by every country around him, and who already feels 
 that the superiority of his own is of a doubtful na- 
 ture, may be expected to resign the contest without 
 any violent struggles, and relax his attention to an 
 object the demand for which rests principally upon 
 the exertion of foreign manufacturers, and the scan- 
 tiness of that supply which they yet procure from 
 other nations. 
 
 The art of producing from the fleece a warm and 
 substantial clothing was never lost, even during the 
 darkest days of ignorance. It began to revive, and 
 became the separate occupation of one class of the 
 community, about the middle of the tenth century in 
 the Low Countries, where it remained the glory of 
 the people, and the source of their opulence, through 
 more than four hundred years. The wool which it 
 consumed, for the first few years was the produce of 
 their own pastures, which had but lately been re- 
 claimed from the forest ; but as the manufacture ex- 
 tended itself, the demands became larger, and were 
 supplied from a greater distance. The wealth which 
 it distributed was soon visible, and people crouded 
 into the country, engaged in its commerce, and 
 pushed their speculations with encreasing vigour 
 through a hundred and fifty years, when an inunda- 
 tion of the sea threatened to involve the art, the ar- 
 tist, and the country in one general destruction. The 
 dispersion of the people, who fled from the calamity 
 which appeared to overwhelm their hopes, instead of 
 destroying the infant manufacture, gave it additional 
 vigour, and was the means of establishing a con- 
 nection between the Netherlands and foreign coun- 
 tries. 
 
48 
 
 tries, which proved of the highest importance 
 to commerce. It contributed to a much more 
 speedy recovery of the arts connected with the 
 woollen manufacture from the ruin which seemed to 
 threaten them, and gave a striking instance of their 
 partiality for the seats where they have once flourish- 
 ed, under the patronage of a government liberal 
 enough to encourage, and sufficiently powerful to 
 protect them, even though the places should be at- 
 tended with great natural disadvantages. The influ- 
 ence of these manufactures upon the fleeces of the 
 Low Countries must have been very considerable, 
 for before the year nine hundred and sixty we have 
 no reason to suppose that their quality was superior 
 to that which we find in the neighbouring districts ; 
 yet it was not very long ere Flanders and Brabant 
 became famous for the manufacture of fine cloths, 
 even at a period when they imported but little foreign 
 wool. Perhaps the fabrics might not be equal to 
 those which we now produce from the fleeces of 
 Spain, or even from the improved ones of our own 
 sheep, but they were preferable to those of England 
 and the nations of the continent, Italy and Spain ex- 
 cepted. It was about the year twelve hundred that 
 the merchants began to import the wools of other cli- 
 mates, to extend their connections much more wide- 
 ly, and to grow, by this means, still more rich and 
 powerful. The manufactures had required a larger 
 quantity of the raw material than usual, and the po- 
 pulation of the country had reached that degree 
 which does not admit of a great number of sheep 
 being kept, even though the employment of the 
 people depend upon the fleeces, and their subsist- 
 ence upon the food which they furnish. We shall 
 observe instances of a similar kind, when we treat 
 
 more 
 
49 
 
 r e , PartiCU,arl ^ of E "g Ia " d - The operation of 
 the=e two causes was evidently sufficient to induce 
 the manufacturer to go farther from home, and to 
 seek the most convenient methods of supplying his 
 
 have t' • Vj ght baYe been ex P ected ‘hat he vfould 
 e turned his attention to France and to Germany • 
 
 but independent of the hostile dispositions of some 
 or the neighbouring sovereigns, the raw material was 
 too bulky to be conveyed, at an easy expence, 
 through the bad roads of a half cultivated country- 
 and theships of Spain and of Britain, who found an ini 
 terest m supply, ng the wants of the Netherlands, un- 
 laded the.r cargoes almost at his very door, and soli- 
 cited m payment but little else than the goods which 
 ie had manufactured. Hence we perceive the rea- 
 son why these flourishing woollen manufactures had 
 so little effect upon the fleeces which were produced 
 on the continent, while they influenced most power- 
 fully those of England; for the merchants of the 
 staple would prefer that kind of fleece, which was best 
 adapted to the wants of his foreign correspondent, 
 and found the readiest sale abroad. It could scarcely 
 be expected that a people so conversant with marl- 
 |t.me affairs as the English were, and who possessed 
 so much spirit for commerce as thev did, should lone 
 pursue a traffic in raw materials produced within 
 their own is and, without endeavouring to promote 
 the manufacture of them at home. In fact, they be- 
 came the successful rivals of their former customers, 
 
 which tT l ° * hei j ° Wn P° rts t!lat commerce 
 which had hitherto found its way to those of Flan- 
 ders, and soon exported a considerable quantity of 
 those very articles to the Netherlands, which thev had 
 once drawn from thence. Unfortunately, at that time, 
 
 the 
 
50 
 
 the resources of the manufactures of the Low Coun- 
 tries failed them, the work people were disturbed, 
 and the population considerably diminished ; the 
 plough again took the precedence of the shuttle, and 
 their fields, instead of being thronged with men, were 
 again more thickly studded with the flocks of sheep. 
 But they were of a race very different from those, 
 which had formerly adorned their plains and contri- 
 buted to the renown of the fine cloths which had been 
 the source of their affluence, and the envy of rivals. 
 They exchanged their stock for sheep of a longer 
 staple, whose pile was better adapted to the manufac- 
 ture of worsted goods, and every species of the new 
 drapery. In this line, the artisan had fewer compe- 
 titors; and as the demand increased beyond all reason- 
 able calculation, it was attended with profit which 
 most amply repaid the labours of genius, and induc- 
 ed the manufacturers again to seek in' England the 
 supplies of their looms. But as a different kind of 
 wool was necessary to promote the new species of 
 manufacture, they could procure it from few other 
 places than the marshes of Kent and Lincoln, and 
 the low track which lies near the mouth of the Hum- 
 ber. From these places they were in some measure 
 supplied, and there the influence of the new fabrics 
 w as most sensibly perceived. The kind of sheep, 
 which was then encouraged, has been preserved ever 
 since, and bears some affinity to those which were 
 reared on the other side of the water, whose descend- 
 ants have been emphatically stiled the flower of 
 Flanders. 
 
 From the middle of the fifteenth century, when 
 the woollen manufactures of Brabant, and the Nether- 
 lands in general declined, chiefly owing to the turbu- 
 lence 
 
Si 
 
 lence of the people, the impolitic restrictions which 
 were laid upon the trade, and to religious persecu- 
 tions, the workmen withdrew to Holland, Germany, 
 France, and England, where they were received with 
 hospitality, and contributed, by their knowledge and 
 connections, to promote that rivalry which proved 
 fatal to their native country. In Britain they were 
 treated with great attention, and in return established 
 those works which have so long benefited, and at pre- 
 sent enrich the country. 
 
 The fabrication of woollens was introduced into 
 Britain by the Romans, Avho not only taught their 
 rude subjects the art of weaving, but succeeded so 
 far as to induce them to exchange the skins in which 
 they had hitherto been clothed, for the more comfort- 
 able attire of their conquerors. They established a 
 manufacture at Winchester, so extensive as to sup- 
 ply the Roman army ; and it cannot be supposed, al- 
 though history besilent upon the subject, that it should 
 either be confined entirely to that city, or easily aban- 
 doned byRiat people, so long as they had possession, 
 of the country. It is more probable that as the other 
 arts, which are immediately connected with the com- 
 forts of society, advanced through that whole period, 
 so the knowledge of spinning and weaving would be 
 more widely diffused and generally practised. Per- 
 haps the employment of the loom was not always se- 
 parated from that of the field. He who sometimes 
 directed the shuttle, at others guided the plough, or 
 handled the flail ; and the old Britons, in this respect, 
 resembled the inhabitants of the continent. If the 
 manufacture subsisted under the patronage of the 
 Romans about the space of four hundred years, it is 
 not at all probable that it should be neglected by the 
 E natives 
 
•natives after that their friends had left them. Nor is 
 there, that I know of, the most distant hint in the re- 
 cords of history to support such a conjecture. In- 
 deed the silence of historians upon this point, if it 
 prove any thing, shows that the practice of convert- 
 ing wool into cloth was so common as to excite no sur- 
 prise. Improvements could scarcely be made either 
 in the manufacture or in the flocks during the ravages 
 of the Piets, the Saxons and the Danes, for property 
 was then too precarious, and the spirit of the natives 
 too much humbled. But Alfred was born to noble 
 purposes. He subdued the invaders, and recovered 
 his kingdom. He established a strict police, and 
 rendered property secure. He gave encouragement 
 to the arts, by exciting the emulation of his subjects. 
 He had travelled far, and seen the comforts of other 
 countries ; and it is scarcely possible to believe that a 
 person of his sagacity, and who had done so much to 
 promote the welfare of his people, should totally over- 
 look a mode of disposing of their wool most intimate- 
 ly connected with their enjoyment, their health and 
 their civilization. Hence then we have some reason 
 to conclude that through the first nine hundred years 
 cf the Christian sera, the wools of England were not 
 entirely neglected, although it does not appear, from 
 any documents which now remain, that they were in 
 any respects superior to those produced at that time 
 upon the continent. 
 
 From the prices of wool which are mentioned as 
 the current rate of the fleece, in the early periods of 
 our history, we are induced to think that the article 
 was cultivated with considerable attention. About 
 the year nine hundred and twenty five a fleece was 
 valued at two-fifths of the whole sheep, a proportion 
 
 much 
 
S3 
 
 much greater than that which it bears at present, and 
 which shows that either the demand for the carcase 
 was much smaller, or that for the fleece was much 
 more considerable than it is in our own times. The 
 value of the sheep continued nearly the same through 
 several hundred years ; but in eleven hundred and 
 thirty five it declined fifty per cent, while wool afe 
 the same time greatly advanced in price, and conti- 
 nued to do so through the space of two centuries. 
 This was most probably owing to the improvements 
 which it received from culture, and to the increased 
 demand for it at home and abroad. 
 
 From the obscure hints which remain of these pe- 
 riods, we conjecture that the number of sheep in the 
 kingdom was very inconsiderable ; and the existence 
 of wolves before the reign of Edgar have retarded 
 their increase. But the measures adopted by that 
 prince in nine hundred sixty six to destroy those 
 animals, which are the natural enemies of sheep, ma- 
 nifest a degree of solicitude for the preservation of 
 the flocks, which we could scarcely have expected 
 at a period so early, and were admirably adapted to 
 promote that attention to them, which contributes to 
 their improvement. 
 
 It appears, however, that the amelioration of the 
 fleece did not keep pace with the inclination of the 
 people for fine cloth. In the reign of Henry II. Spa- 
 nish wool, doubtless on account of its superior excel- 
 lency, was imported and manufactured in this king- 
 dom * but the policy of the age did not long permit 
 it, and the Mayor of London was ordered to burn 
 every piece in which it was found. The statute 
 which enjoined this was framed for the encourage- 
 ment of the British farmer, and the improvement of 
 E 2 his 
 
54 
 
 his wool ; yet we cannot think that the principles 
 upon which the measure was adopted were sufficient- 
 ly enlarged even for that day. It tended to destroy 
 that commercial spirit which began to manifest itself, 
 and threw the best of materials into the hands of fo- 
 reigners, who already knew their value, and who 
 soon afterwards supplied even England with the 
 goods which were made from them. About twelve 
 hundred and forty, the importation of fine cloth into 
 England began to be encouraged ; although its effects 
 upon the fleeces of that country, and upon the inter- 
 ests of its farmers, must have been more pernicious 
 than the manufacture of Spanish wool could possibly 
 have been, had not the restless spirit of commerce 
 counteracted the evil tendency, and carried out the 
 surplus of wool which it was calculated to create. 
 This kind of traffic between England and Flanders 
 subsisted about a hundred years, without interrup- 
 tion. But a people, which had displayed so much en- 
 terprise as was observable among the British, could 
 not long continue satisfied with conveying their own 
 produce in an unmanufactured state to others, from 
 ■whom they received it again at a much higher rate. 
 About the year thirteen hundred and thirty, they be- 
 gan seriously to encourage the manufacture of wool- 
 lens among themselves. Conscious of the superior 
 expertness of the Flemings, some of these people were 
 tempted to come over and settle in the country. 
 They taught the natives to exercise the art of trufhu- 
 facturing wool with dexterity equal to their own, 
 and contributed to promote the true interest of the 
 community. This important step being once taken, 
 the sanguine temper of the legislators induced them 
 to suppose that the English fabrics would soon be ex- 
 tensive 
 
55 
 
 tensive enough to require all the wool of the king- 
 dom, and in order to anticipate their wants, or per- 
 haps rather to create them, a law was passed totally- 
 prohibiting the exportation of it. The event suffi- 
 ciently manifested how much influence the looms of 
 the Netherlands had exercised over the pastures of 
 England, and how greatly they had contributed to 
 the production and improvement of her fleeces. It 
 shows the folly of attempting to compel the current 
 of commerce to take a new direction, and the ease 
 with which, by gentler means, it may be allured to 
 change its channel. 
 
 The surplus of wool, from the time of Henry II. 
 down to that of Edward III. appears to have con- 
 stantly increased ; and the exportation as regularly 
 took it off the hands of the grower. But it is not 
 probable that while the demand for fine wools was 
 so great abroad, the stapler should be utterly in- 
 attentive to the quality of that which he sent to mar- 
 ket ; nor while the taste for superior cloths continued 
 at home, that the manufacturer would be careless re- 
 specting the kind which he made use of. Both cir- 
 cumstances contributed to operate upon the grower’s 
 attention, and induced him to prefer those kinds 
 which met with the readiest sale, and procured him 
 the best prices. Accordingly we find, in the southern 
 parts of the island, where the manufacture was most 
 attended to, and from which the largest quantity was 
 exported, that there the flocks are in the best condi- 
 tion, and the quality of the staple most desirable. 
 The growing influence of the foreign trade may be 
 estimated with some degree of accuracy by the quan- 
 tity which it took off at the commencement and the 
 close of the period. In the beginning of the thir- 
 E 3 teenth 
 
56 
 
 teenth century, it was probably less than one thou- 
 sand and sixty-eight sacks ; about the year thirteen 
 hundred and forty, it was scarcely less than thirty 
 thousand, each of them weighing three hundred and 
 sixty-four pounds. 
 
 After the grand experiment which prohibited the 
 exportation of wool had entirely failed, England 
 adopted a much more rational sj stem to promote the 
 interest of her woollen manufactures, and saw them 
 rise by degrees to an importance which she had not 
 calculated ; beheld them diffuse their influence not 
 only over the most fertile parts of her own provinces, 
 but also to the most barren comities, to the pastures 
 of Ireland, and the sheep walks of Spain. She saw 
 the hills of Scotland depastured with an improved 
 breed, and sought a supply of the raw material not 
 only from thence, but also from the circles of Ger- 
 many, the banks of the Tagus, the states of Italy, 
 the islands of the Archipelago, the coasts of Barbary, 
 and even the snowy summits of the Cardilleras. She 
 has taken pains to furnish her parks with the wool- 
 bearing animals of other countries ; has ascertained 
 with care the respective value of each, and has min- 
 gled, with incalculable advantage, the blood of the 
 Negretti with that of her native flocks. Nor are the 
 products of her looms at present confined within nar- 
 row bounds. She disperses them through the greater 
 part of Europe, along the shores of Africa, in the 
 plains of India, to the confines of Persia, to the 
 farthest Tartary, in the empire of China, and upon 
 both continents of America. In the bay of Aboukir 
 her artillery re-opened the passage to the Levant. 
 
 The measures, which have been adopted to pro- 
 mote the extendon of the manufacture, have not al- 
 ways 
 
57 
 
 ways been suggested by wisdom. Sometimes they 
 have disheartened the farmer, and made him careless 
 as to the kind of wool which he produced, and at 
 others have induced him to cultivate that sort which 
 has been least valuable ; seldom have they excited 
 him to try whether he could not supply the looms of 
 his country with a material equal to that which our 
 merchants imported, and have too often draw n from 
 him complaints of the selfish temper of the manufac- 
 turer, and the partiality ot the legislature ; com- 
 plaints which have too great an appearance of justice. 
 Some of the restrictions were most certainly wise so 
 long as the manufacture had powerful and long 
 established rivals to contend w ith ; but became unne- 
 cessary the instant that it took a decided lead 
 in the markets, and hurtful the moment they induced 
 us to seek those supplies from abroad which ought to 
 have been first cultivated at home, and which it is now 
 ascertained might have been produced here. Since 
 the days of Edward III. the state of the woollen ma- 
 nufacture in Britain is totally altered. Then it was 
 necessary to provide a channel by which the annual 
 surplus of our w'ools might be vended ; now it is as 
 absolutely required of us to supply their deficiency. 
 At that period the British fleeces w ere admirably adapt- 
 ed to the kind of cloth w'hich w^as in greatest request ; 
 now they are generally unequal to the production of 
 that which is sought after. Formerly foreigners paid 
 a duty upon the wool w'hich they received from us ; 
 now we as frequently pay one upon that which we 
 require from them. Surely this change in circum- 
 stances demands a corresponding change in legisla- 
 tive prudence. 
 
 But we must not attribute the success of the 
 
 woollen 
 
58 
 
 woollen manufacture in Britain entirely to the mea- 
 sures which were adopted by the state to promote it, 
 even when governed by wisdom. The improvement 
 of agriculture, and the increase of wealth and popu- 
 lation both at home and in the colonies, contributed 
 to its support in no small degree. The greater ex- 
 tension of trade gave us more celebrity abroad, and 
 induced other nations not only to become our cus- 
 tomers, but to disperse our manufactures through 
 their own connections, and the influence which 
 they possessed in distant countries was of conside- 
 rable service. The influx of wealth into Europe 
 from the mines of Peru, and the commerce of 
 the East Indies, diffused more money among those 
 who purchased our fabrics, and the share of it which 
 was exchanged for them encouraged both our mer- 
 chants and manufacturers. Even the calamities 
 which have befallen other countries, through the dis- 
 pensations of Providence have contributed to the 
 welfare of our own. Thus when the plague prevail- 
 ed in the south of France, when the Moors were in- 
 humanly extirpated from Spain, when the Due 
 d’ Alva ravaged the plains of Flanders, when the Edict 
 of Nantes was revoked and the confidence of protes- 
 tants failed them, the manufactures of England were 
 promoted and triumphed by the fall of rivals. 
 
 In later years the genius of our countrymen has 
 contributed to give permanency to our manufactures, 
 and to extend them more widely than any cir- 
 cumstance which is noticed in commercial history. 
 The combination of the mechanical powers in the 
 machines of Arkwright, and the application of elastic 
 fluids for the purpose of producing motion in the im- 
 proved steam engine of Watt, have given us a degree 
 
S9 
 
 of power adapted to manufactures, which could never 
 have proceeded from the largest increase of popula- 
 tion, and an energy of mind never before exhibited 
 even in the pursuit of wealth or of fame. With these 
 advantages we shall not be deemed fanciful if we ven- 
 ture to predict the most happy result, and to assert 
 that our commercial consequence is only in its child- 
 hood, and that (unless checked by political events) 
 its career will become more rapid through succeeding 
 generations. The effects which the manufactures 
 have already produced upon the fleece are such as 
 confirm our conjectures, and encourage the belief 
 that we are yet unacquainted with the extent to 
 which its improvement may be carried. 
 
 It might have been expected that the neighbour- 
 hood of France to the early seats of the woollen ma- 
 nufacture would have induced that country to esta- 
 blish a similar one upon its own territory. Yet it 
 does not appear that she took all the advantage, 
 which her situation afforded her. Too much occu- 
 pied with military affairs, engaged too often in war 
 with her Northern neighbours, and induced by cir- 
 cumstances to pay attention to the manufacture of 
 silk, she greatty neglected the fabrication of wool- 
 lens. It was practised indeed in a domestic form, 
 but made no figure as a distinct object of pursuit until 
 the sixteenth century. Under her two great minis- 
 ters, Iiichlieu and Cobbert, it made considerable pro- 
 gress both in the nature of the establishments at home 
 and demand for it abroad. More happily situated 
 for the Turkey trade than the English and the Dutch, 
 and perhaps feeling more readily the convenience of 
 light cloths in the southern part of the kingdom than 
 they could amidst the dampness of their climate, she 
 
 gained 
 
CO 
 
 the ascendency in the East, and almost beat them out 
 of the market. To secure her advantage, she took 
 great pains in the improvement of her fleeces, and 
 procured a selection of the best native and Spanish 
 breeds to graze her pastures. But the revocation of 
 her solemn pledge to the protestants disturbed her 
 manufacturers, and drove them to foreign countries,, 
 where they might enjoy greater liberty of conscience, 
 and prosecute their callings with more personal se- 
 curity. Those who fled to Saxony were received 
 with that humanity which distress is entitled to, and 
 with a liberality of welcome which might be expected 
 from an enlightened and patriotic sovereign. They 
 contributed to perfect the manufactures of the coun- 
 try, and laid the foundation of that fame which it has 
 since attained on account of the perfection of its co- 
 louring. They were the first who introduced among 
 the work people that particular tint which is deno- 
 minated the Saxon blue. In every place where the 
 fugitives fixed their subsequent abode, they contri- 
 buted, by their exertion, their skill, connections and 
 capital to the success of the native manufactures, and 
 enabled them with more decided superiority to rival 
 those of France. The late disorders of that unhappy 
 kingdom have occasioned new emigrations, distress- 
 ed her artisans, and destroyed her commercial con- 
 nections ; and thus have contributed amazingly to 
 the preponderancy of the trade of Britain. 
 
 The manufacture of wool has been long establish- 
 ed in Ireland, and doubtless its influence upon the 
 fleece has been no less certain there than in other 
 places. Yet hitherto only that kind has been pro- 
 duced which is suited to the low cloths of country 
 consumption, and to the fabrication of worsteds. 
 
 The 
 
61 
 
 The former are adapted to the demand of a poor dis® 
 trict, and the latter has been promoted by the expor- 
 tation of her yarn. 
 
 In Sweden and in Russia the woollen manufac- 
 ture, considered as a distinct occupation, is compari- 
 lively new ; yet it has subsisted long enough to 
 produce amazing alteration in their flocks. As it 
 was attempted in later periods, and conducted by 
 scientific men, the best means were adapted to pro- 
 mote the improvement, and new breeds of sheep 
 have been introduced into both countries. The 
 same general remark applies to Saxony and other 
 ; circles of the German empire ; and even Hungarian 
 flocks are not without evident marks of change for 
 the better. 
 
 Besides those general effects which the applica- 
 tion of woollens to the common purposes of life have 
 produced upon the flocks of different kingdoms, we 
 ought also to notice that more particular and partial 
 influence which must be attributed to the invention 
 of new kinds of woollen articles, and the cessation of 
 the demand for old ones. It is now too late to as- 
 certain all the changes which the manufacture has 
 { Undergone in the different periods of its history, and 
 it would lead us too far from our purpose to attempt 
 I the investigation. It is possible that many kinds of 
 goods may have been produced by the loom of which 
 we have lost the very names, and there are others 
 which have but recently attracted notice. When 
 the manufacture was in a more simple state we ob- 
 serve only two kinds of substance, that which was 
 distinguished by the name of Felt, and that which 
 was peculiarly denominated Cloth, although under 
 each there was probably a diversity of article. At 
 
 this 
 
 . 
 
62 
 
 that period the wants of man were very easily satis- 
 fied, and he sought not by variety to multiply his 
 comforts, or the objects of his caprice. But in later 
 times the felt was applied not only to the con- 
 struction of the tent, it became a part of the house- 
 hold furniture and was made a covering for the divan 
 and the floor ; while the cloth was compelled to assume 
 a vast variety both of colouring and of pattern. In 
 subsequent ages the invention of the comb, or the 
 application of that instrument to the manufacture of 
 wool, was the means of giving fresh scope to genius 
 in the production of a multitude of different articles. 
 The catalogue of their names alone soon became so 
 extensive as to be tedious in the repetition, and yet in 
 still more recent years it was enlarged by the addi- 
 tion of those articles in which the woollen and wor- 
 sted threads are combined with each other, and also 
 by those textures in which either of them are inter- 
 woven with those of silk, linen and cotton. Every 
 one of them as they rose into request, as the de- 
 mand for them became greater, and as it diminished, 
 must have had a corresponding influence upon our 
 flocks, and induced their proprietors to regulate the 
 length of the staple, and to attempt the production of 
 proportioned supply. 
 
 As we know not the age when the comb was in- 
 vented, so we are unacquainted with the period when 
 worsted goods were first manufactured. It is pro- 
 bable that they were originally woven in the East, 
 and that the knowledge of them was brought into 
 Europe either by the Armenian merchants or those 
 who returned from the extravagant expeditions 
 which were undertaken for the recovery of the Holy < 
 Land from the dominion of infidels. The garment t 
 
 which ; 
 
63 
 
 which are now worn by the Turks, some of which 
 seem to have been produced by means of the comb, 
 the incidental mention of that instrument in an ac- 
 count which we have of Angora, and the demand for 
 worsted goods through the Levant confirm the con- 
 jecture, and lead us to suppose that there exist 
 very considerable manufactures of this kind in the 
 Turkish empire, although we know little more of its 
 domestic and rural condition than can be obtained 
 from the most vague accounts and uncertain deduc- 
 tions. After the art of spinning worsted yarn was 
 known in these western regions, the looms of the Ne- 
 therlands became active in converting it into those 
 peculiar kinds of goods to which it was adapted, and 
 it seems as though the distinction between these and 
 
 O 
 
 woollen articles was not generally noticed until some 
 years afterwards. Norwich, the first seat of them in 
 England, in the year thirteen hundred and forty 
 eight, had attained to some degree of eminence in 
 this particular branch of manufacture, was already 
 large and populous, and the artists were spread 
 through the county of Norfolk ; yet the quantity 
 produced was by no means adequate to supply the 
 demands of the kingdom, for in that very year we 
 observe new regulations which respect the importa- 
 tion of worsteds from foreign countries. Never the- 
 less in the short space of twenty seven years, we find 
 that this 'trade had so greatly increased as to allow 
 of a considerable exportation, even after the demand 
 | for the articles at home had been supplied. There 
 exis ed, in ail probability, a kind of barter of worsteds 
 between this country and the Netherlands for a very 
 | considerable date. We sent to them the peculiar 
 I fabrics of our looms., and received in exchange those 
 
 F kinds 
 
64 
 
 kinds which were wrought only in foreign ones. 
 During the remainder of the fourteenth and the first 
 half of the next century, the manufacture continued 
 to make the most rapid advances ; extended itself not 
 only through the county of Norfolk, but even through 
 Suffolk and Cambridgeshire ; in process of time sent 
 its colonies into Essex, the midland and southern 
 counties, and even into Yorkshire. In the season of 
 its prosperity it received encouragement both from 
 the increase of the demand for worsted goods at 
 home, and the persecutions for conscience sake which 
 arose abroad. The Flemings, oppressed by religious 
 bigotry in their own country, sought for that secu- 
 rity which ours seemed to promise them, and found 
 employment in the workshops of the eastern district. 
 In all the different seats where the woollen manufac- 
 ture established itself we may easily observe its influ- 
 ence upon the fleece. They were undoubtedly se- 
 lected on account of their neighbourhood to some of 
 the richer tracts of the island, whence they might be 
 supplied with that kind of wool which was essentiallv 
 necessary to their existence, and which, when the 
 arts of husbandry were less improved than at present, 
 could not be produced upon the thinner and dryer 
 soils. The looms of the eastern parts of the kingdom 
 depended for their supply upon the lowlands of Nor- 
 folk and Lincolnshire ; those of the southern upon 
 the marsh of Romney ; in the midland counties they 
 were furnished from the rich meadows which abound 
 there; and in Yorkshire from the divisions of Holder- 
 ness and Cleveland. The effects of the manufactures 
 upon the fleeces of their respective districts, through 
 the course of several hundred years, must have been 
 very considerable ; and we are not surprised to ob- 
 serve 
 
65 
 
 serve in them those sheep which have departed the 
 most widely from the state of nature. 
 
 In the lapse of ages the manufacture of worsteds, 
 like that of every other article, has been subject to 
 changes. At present many kind of goods which were 
 once in great request are no longer sought after, and 
 the materials from which they were produced must 
 have ceased to be cultivated, or have fallen as a dead 
 weight upon the hands of the grow-er, had not the ap- 
 plication of genius converted them to other purposes, 
 and the enterprize of commerce conveyed them to 
 distant markets. This will be sufficiently illustrated 
 by adverting to thedemand for cambletsand shalloons, 
 which was so very great only a few years ago in this 
 country, but which has now become nearly extinct. 
 The wool, from which they were produced, is at pre- 
 sent wrought by other means into articles which re 
 quire a long and woolly knap ; or being fabricated 
 into substances similar to the old ones, is exported to 
 other climates. 
 
 Among the articles, which have gone out of fashion 
 with us, tapestry is one of the most singular. Like 
 old paintings, the remnants of it exhibit the manners 
 of former times ; and though the designs may not 
 always be correct nor applicable to the age when it 
 was wrought, yet it displays a great degree of 
 invention and most excellent workmanship. The 
 specimens which I have seen have generally been 
 very old, and the wool of which they were composed 
 proved to be excellent beyond my utmost expecta-* 
 tion. So long as the demand for it prevailed in Eng- 
 land, as it does at present abroad, it would have a 
 proportionable effect upon the quality of the wool ; 
 
 F 2 but 
 
66 
 
 but the want of that influence is most amply supplied 
 by the more general use of the modern carpet. 
 
 Prior to the year fifteen hundred and sixty one 
 the coverings of the legs were made of woollen cloth, 
 as they are at present in some parts of Asia ; but 
 about that time, when the art of knitting stockings 
 was introduced, and the knowledge and practice of 
 it generally diffused among thrifty housewives, a new 
 stimulus was given to the cultivation of long wool 
 by the increase of its consumption, and the grey fleece 
 was dedicated to domestic employment. This kind 
 of manufacture also became the object of undivided 
 attention, and was instituted with most success in the 
 counties of Leicester and Nottingham, at Aberdeen 
 in Scotland, and at Bala in North Wales. The in- 
 vention of the steel frame so soon as twenty seven 
 years after the needles had been applied to the for- 
 mation of stockings shows an attention to the rising 
 art, which must have contributed greatly to its success, 
 and to render its influence upon the fleece more per- 
 manent and extensive. It soon demanded a finer 
 wool than was cultivated upon the richer soils, and 
 one longer than that which the card required. It 
 was supplied with that middle kind which was not 
 well adapted either to worsted or to woollen goods. 
 
 The art of knitting, however, was not unknown 
 in this country previous to the time when it was ap- 
 plied to the purposes just mentioned. The knitted 
 cap had long been the usual covering for the head, 
 and those who manufactured it complained of the ge- 
 neral adoption of felt hats as a circumstance which 
 would deprive them of employment. These had 
 been more or less in use from the year fourteen hun- 
 dred 
 
67 
 
 dred and eighty two, but the contest between the 
 manufacturers did not subside for more than a hun- 
 dred years. In the reign of Elizabeth the cappers 
 made a violent struggle to counteract the trade of 
 their rivals, and to restore their own article to its ac- 
 customed estimation. As they used different kinds 
 of wool the influence upon the fleece would vary as 
 one or the other prevailed. 
 
 The effect which the finer cloths produced upon 
 wool, when the taste for them began to prevail, has 
 been noticed already, and these instances may be 
 sufficient to give an idea of the changes which are 
 perpetually taking place in the different branches of 
 the woollen manufacture ; one article is continually 
 and almost imperceptibly trenching upon the demand 
 for another, and this again resuming its former im- 
 portance. Yet it is not often observed, when the 
 taste for a particular kind of goods has subsided, that 
 it rises again to its former consequence. Political 
 assistance may support the demand some time longer 
 than it would have existed without it, but can pro- 
 duce no permanent and but little valuable effect ; 
 the continued operation of those causes which pro- 
 duced the decline, countenanced by the public incli- 
 nation, will finally prevail over all artificial means to 
 counteract them. In this light we view the late mea- 
 sures adopted in the county of Lincoln to promote 
 the consumption of long wool, and to establish the 
 manufacture of it within the country where it grows. 
 Notwithstanding all the advantages which are point- 
 I ed out, and the efforts made to realize them, it is 
 more than probable that the scheme will fail ; ror it is 
 j 3n vain for ladies to appear at balls and public places 
 in stuffs of domestic manufacture, so long as the 
 F 3 greater 
 
 ' 
 
68 
 
 greater part of females in the district prefer the 
 showy attire of the printed callico, or the more flow- 
 ing robe of transparent muslin ; so long as dimities 
 are preferred to calimancoes and cotton to worsted ; 
 or while kid, Spanish leather and morocco take pre- 
 cedence of everlasting stuff. It is of much greater 
 consequence and more congenial to their nature that 
 our ladies should mark the rising taste ; and, if it be 
 advantageous to the community, that they should 
 afford to it all the aid of their fascinating charms, ra- 
 ther than lend them to support a mode of dress that 
 is growing obsolete. At present almost every article 
 of female habiliment, and many of those which are 
 connected with household convenience, are drawn in 
 the raw material from foreign countries, the produce 
 of a distant soil, almost new within a centurv and 
 many of them in less than three score years. It is 
 certainly wise in Britons, notwithstanding the de- 
 cline of home consumption, so long as foreign mar- 
 kets can be found to take off the goods of old English 
 fashion, to produce them both in the loom and in the 
 field ; to exert their utmost power to supply, as we 
 do at present, with our own wool the wants of those 
 who cultivate the cotton shrub, while in order that 
 we may spare it for them we clothe ourselves in the 
 more elegant fabrics which are produced from the 
 materials they send to us in exchange. While this 
 kind of barter continues there can be no danger of a 
 superfluity of fleeces, and the numerous woollen ar- 
 ticles which we now produce, and the variety of 
 new modes in which they are applied to use in this 
 and other countries give the grower of the wool the 
 most ample security that there will be no surplus left 
 upon his hands for many years to come, if he only 
 
 i take 
 
take care to observe what is in demand, and to culti- 
 vate it with attention. 
 
 Such is the operation of the grand cause upon 
 1 which all improvement in wool depends, the ap- 
 plication of it to useful purposes. I have endea- 
 j voured to trace it from the earliest ages and to give 
 an historical sketch of its progress ; of the arts which 
 I are connected with the manufacture ; of the instru- 
 ments employed in conducting it ; of the changes to 
 which it lias been liable, and of the policy of England 
 with respect to it, at all times taking for granted these 
 obvious principles that the value is in proportion to 
 the demand, and that every man is desirous to pro- 
 duce that article, which he supposes will afford bun 
 the largest return for his labour. In order to have a 
 compleat view of the subject, it will be necessary to 
 apply ourselves to the consideration of those more 
 particular causes which operate directly upon the 
 fleece. 
 
 In attempting this we feel more than usual diffi- 
 dence, for although if be a subject compleatly experi- 
 mental, and in connection with which all unsupported 
 theories are idle and delusive, truth and candour com- 
 pel us to acknowledge that we have performed no 
 agricultural experiments, and that we are totally un- 
 acquainted even with the rudiments of farming. Con- 
 fined almost entirely within the precincts of com- 
 merce, rural concerns reach us only by report, and 
 render us always liable to commit palpable mistakes, 
 when we apply to preconceived theories, facts which 
 are related, and deduce from them conclusions. 
 Should these pages therefore fall into the hands of a 
 professed grazier, we commit them to his candour 
 and solicit information. 
 
 The 
 
70 
 
 The Naturalist has commonly classed the tribe of 
 sheep by their fleece, the colour of the face and legs, 
 by the structure of the ears, the horns, the tail and 
 the rump. The Grazier classes them precisely in 
 the same manner, but instead of using the term spe- 
 cies, he considers each class as a distinct “ breed 
 and in order to distipguish the varieties which he per- 
 ceives he calls them “ cross breeds.” The term, it 
 must be confessed, arises naturally from his peculiar 
 pursuits, and is by no means improper. The wool- 
 stapler on the other hand, whose attention is confined 
 chiefly to the fleece, has his peculiar arrangement ; 
 he distinguishes the hairy sheep, that which yields 
 wool mingled with hair, and the pure wool-bearing 
 animal. The first of these classes is evidently uncon- 
 nected with his profession. In the coats of the two 
 last he observes numberless dissimilarities, and 
 arranges them according to the colour of the pile, the 
 length of the staple, the soil upon which the fleece 
 was produced, and the country where it was shorn. 
 These are the principal points to which he attends. 
 The last is of no consequence except so far as it is 
 connected with his knowledge of the district. It then 
 serves to give him a general idea of the wool which 
 happens to be the subject of discourse. Hence he 
 most commonly connects with his description of the 
 fleece the name of the kingdom or the county where 
 it was grown. He speaks of the wool of Spain, of 
 Portugal, or of Germany, of the fleeces of Sussex, of 
 Norfolk, of Shropshire, of Northumberland or of 
 Scotland ; and conveys to the ear of another sta- 
 pler, by the epithet which he uses, an idea of the 
 properties of the wool as correct as the graziers do 
 
 of 
 
71 
 
 cf sheep when they speak to each other of the Norfolk, 
 the Ryeland, the Cheviot or the Dishley breeds. 
 
 The division of fleeces into distinct classes, which 
 the woolstapler so constantly adopts and finds so use- 
 ful in his business, is intimately connected with a fact 
 in natural history, which has been long since esta- 
 blished beyond all possibility of doubt ; that the 
 sheep is so constituted as to yield a fleece peculiarly 
 appropriated to its distinct breed ; and that at every 
 annual return of the season for shearing, the same 
 animal, under the same circumstances, will afford a 
 similar kind of wool. If therefore the colour of the 
 pile was once white, it will be found so again ; if the 
 staple was long, it will return in the same form ; if 
 it was coarse and hairy, it will be so still. A tempo- 
 rary and partial alteration may be produced in the 
 fleece, by circumstances which we shall notice here- 
 after ; but there is no reason to suppose that in any 
 case the constitution of the animal is so changed, as 
 to yield a kind of wool permanently different from 
 that which it once afforded. The operation of 
 slighter causes upon wool is constantly visible, and 
 their effects have been noticed with some degree of 
 precision ; but the consequences which some of the 
 more violent ones produce, such as affect very sud- 
 denly the temperature to which sheep are exposed, 
 theirnourishment and their health, have been suffered 
 to pass unrecorded and perhaps too often unobserved. 
 The degree of information we at present possess, in- 
 duces us to attribute the slight variation, which we 
 perceive in the fleeces of the same flock at different 
 seasons of shearing them, not to. the constitution of 
 the animal, or to any ch nge which takes place in its 
 characteristic peculiarities, but to the influence of 
 
 external 
 
7 2 
 
 external circumstances, which are perpetually vary- 
 ing, and seldom if ever change in a similar manner 
 throughout two succeeding years. If the fact, that 
 the fleeces which the sheep produces are similar to 
 each other, be well established, and if it be not in the 
 power of the less violent causes to produce a material 
 difference in them ; then nothing can more strongly 
 evince how important it is for the wool grower to 
 mark well the peculiarities of his flock ; to place no 
 dependence upon accidental and external circum- 
 stances for the production of good fleeces, but to rely 
 entirely and with confidence upon the properties 
 with which nature has endowed his sheep. 
 
 The perpetuity of animal properties is scarcely 
 any where more strikingly exhibited than in the cer- 
 tainty and regularity with which the parent sheep 
 convey to their offspring their own distinguishing 
 characteristics. It is easy to trace the features and 
 to observe the disposition and the fleece of both its 
 progenitors in the lamb, but so blended and softened 
 as to produce a character distinctly its own. What 
 an amazing field for the exercise of human genius 
 and assiduity has the Great Disposer of nature open- 
 ed by this arrangement! In this as in most other in- 
 stances he has committed to man’s own hands the 
 management of his comforts. By this means the 
 shepherd is enabled to combine the peculiarities of 
 his flock with those of another, and to improve them 
 both. It w r as upon this circumstance that the great 
 Bakewell seized, and by means of it produced a race 
 of sheep which will convey his name to future gene- 
 rations. His example diffused a spirit of experimen- 
 tal enterprise among his brethren, who have acted 
 upon his ideas with the most happy success, and pro- 
 mises 
 
73 
 
 mises to extend its influence until the first of human 
 arts has attained a degree of perfection, which it is not 
 possible to describe. ’Tis upon this combination of 
 j the parents’ properties in their offspring that we de- 
 i pend for the future improvement of the British fleece, 
 and hope that those to whose superintendance it is 
 entrusted will not be satisfied until every individual 
 I quadruped, which produces wool, shall possess its 
 full share of utility. 
 
 The improvement of wool, it should ever be re- 
 
 i i collected, consists in rendering it better adapted 
 
 to manufactures. Alterations which fail of this 
 i! grand purpose, if produced by design, are trifling and 
 S contemptible. If they render it less susceptible of an 
 ! application to useful purposes, they and the abettors 
 
 ii of them deserve the severe reprehension of an en- 
 lightened agriculturist, who declares that “the de- 
 basement of the fleece is an act of treason against the 
 
 I state.” But manufactures are so very changeable, 
 and their demand for the raw material has been so 
 uncertain in past ages, that the grazier ought to ob- 
 
 ! serve with the keen eye of a statesman the public and 
 the domestic occurrences of the moment, if he would 
 q produce from the backs of his sheep a commodity, 
 
 1 which shall possess the highest intrinsic value, and be 
 most assiduously sought after. 
 
 ( It would be folly to attempt the description of a 
 sheep, which would yield in every country the most 
 valuable fleece. The circumstances of nations differ 
 so widely from each other, and their manners their 
 clothing and their manufactures are so very various, 
 that the wool which is of the utmost value with one 
 j people is very lightly esteemed amongst others. The 
 ) agricultural system adopted in Bucharia, an exten- 
 sive 
 
 1 1 
 
74 
 
 sive country in Asia, where sheep are cultivated 
 with as much attention as in many parts of Europe, 
 furnishes one of the most striking illustrations of this 
 remark. In these western parts of the old world the 
 preference is given to white fleeces, and that for rea- 
 sons which are deemed the most weighty ; but there 
 black sheep are more esteemed because they furnish 
 a kind of fur which is much worn, and sold for a great 
 price among the neighbouring people. In Europe 
 we rear them on ac'count of the carcase ; but in that 
 part of Asia they are kept for the sake of the skin. 
 Here the older sheep are slaughtered, and the lambs 
 are nourished to supply their places; but there the 
 lambs are destroyed, and the ewes are preserved so 
 long as they are productive. Among us a woolly 
 coat is an object of the first importance, but the in- 
 habitants of that region are solicitous that their flocks 
 should be distinguished for their covering of soft and 
 silky hair. So greatly do nations differ in their ideas 
 of beauty, utility and intrinsic value! In a country- 
 like England, therefore, whose woollen manufactures 
 are established, and where many of the articles are 
 destined to a foreign market, it behoves the inhabi- 
 tants to observe the taste and the prejudices of every 
 people, to suit their goods to the ideas of excellency 
 which their, customers entertain, and to push their 
 trade to the utmost extent. While endeavouring to 
 attain these grand objects, the manufacturer calls 
 perpetually upon the wool grower to assist him by 
 adopting those breeds of sheep, which yield a fleece 
 the best adapted to the purpose. He intreats him 
 not to be so prejudiced to old families and to ancient 
 modes of management, like his ancestors, as to sub- 
 mit with reluctance to the constant and imperious 
 
 influence 
 
75 
 
 influence of manufactures. He solicits him not to 
 counteract the efforts of the loom, but to anticipate 
 as much as possible its demands. He assures the 
 breeders of sheep that their interests and his own run 
 precisely in the same direction ; that fabrics well 
 supported and abundantly supplied with the raw ma- 
 terial have the best chance of maintaining their 
 ground, that then they afford the largest return for 
 capital and labour and that the profits are always di- 
 vided between them both. He entreats them to recol- 
 lect that he has in no case deserted his coadjutors but 
 | with the utmost regret, that it has always been in 
 | consequence of circumstances over which neither he 
 nor they had any controul, and that he has been the 
 first to point out to them the new kind of wool which 
 | they ought to cultivate. 
 
 The causes which produce such an astonishing 
 j variety in fleeces are in a great measure unknown to 
 us ; and when attributed to the constitution of the 
 animal, it is.traced to a source calculated to convince 
 l|| the world of our ignorance. But as the effects which 
 i proceed from the influence of blood are always uni- 
 i form, it affords a basis upon which the sheep master 
 may found his conduct with the utmost confidence, 
 and enables him to foretell the result of combinations 
 in the breeding system with wonderful precision,, 
 Yet how it is that the colour of one fleece differs so 
 i, totally from that of another; that one portion of an 
 : animal should produce an opaque and brittle hair, 
 
 ' while another yields a transparent and elastic wool ; 
 
 why in some breeds the fleece should be confined to 
 | the carcase, and in others envelope almost the whole 
 
 ( j animal ; why some families of sheep produce white 
 J wool, although their faces and legs are black ; and 
 
 G whence 
 
 I 
 
 - 
 
 ■ 
 
76 
 
 whence it is that we never find the converse of this, 
 a race of sheep with white faces and legs producing black 
 fleeces, we cannot tell. Ourignoranceuponthesesub- 
 jects is universal and compleat ; and perhaps like many 
 questions of a similar kind, which may be very easily 
 asked both with respect to sheep and quadrupeds of 
 a different description, all enquiries instituted with a 
 view of removing it, must long remain unanswered, 
 notwithstanding the illustrations of the learned, and 
 the practical observations of the most attentive gra- 
 zier. The breed of spotted sheep, so common in the 
 parks of our nobility, is very different from that 
 which is intended when we speak of one with white 
 faces and legs producing a black fleece. In the vast 
 variety, which the characteristic marks of this tribe 
 assume in their distribution over the body of the 
 sheep and in their dimensions, it is possible perhaps 
 to find an individual whose fleece is black, and its 
 face and limbs entirely colourless ; yet we have no 
 reason to think that there exists a breed of this de- 
 scription, a race which has communicated the pecu- 
 liarity from the parents to the offspring through a 
 number of succeeding generations. 
 
 There is no other breed of sheep, in which nature 
 distributes the colours so capriciously as in the spot- 
 ted one. Most of these, which yield a fleece of a hue 
 different from that of their extremities, exhibit a ten- 
 dency to produce lambs of a darker cast than them- 
 selves ; so that the flock, if left without the superin- 
 tending care of its possessor, would in the course of a 
 few generations become entirely black. This remark 
 has been made by some of the most intelligent 
 breeders. It is deduced from their intimate know- 
 ledge of the animal, and from the care and watchful- 
 ness 
 
77 
 
 ness which they find absolutely necessary in order to 
 preserve the beauteous whiteness of its fleece. Had 
 they recollected the early history of the sheep, when 
 it had departed but little from the undomesticated 
 state, had the facts which have been mentioned in 
 the former part of this section recurred to their me- 
 mory, it is probable that the circumstance would not 
 have surprized them. They would have pronounced 
 with less hesitation their opinion, u that nature in this 
 instance was only endeavouring to return to that 
 course from which the genius and industry of man 
 had long compelled her to deviate.” So pertinaciously 
 does she seek this ancient path as sometimes to pro- 
 duce even from unstained mates, in whose formation 
 and fleeces culture has produced its most compleat 
 and boasted alterations, a sooty coloured lamb, as if 
 to remind us that though constrained in these well 
 bred flocks to wear a fashionable garb she is ready on 
 every relaxation of discipline to exchange it for a 
 more loose and humble attire. The flocks also with 
 black and dingy faces, in whose fleeces the tendency 
 to degenerate has been most frequently noticed, and 
 whence the conclusion was drawn that the original 
 breeds were entirely of a dusky hue, are very widely 
 scattered over the surface of the globe. Even in coun- 
 tries of the highest polish, and where the utmost at- 
 tention has been given to their wool, they range al- 
 most without a variety, and evince how much may 
 still be expected in the cultivation of an animal which 
 both feeds and clothes us. The breed which is dis- 
 tinguished by the whiteness of its face is confined 
 within' much narrower limits, abounds most in the 
 richer districts, is generally found both at home and 
 abroad to produce the longer wools, and even in 
 G 2 countries 
 
78 
 
 countries where it ranges over wide extended hills is 
 commonly deemed the most tender animal. 
 
 But the peculiarities of blood are connected not 
 only with the colour of the fleece, they have also a 
 most material influence upon the structure of the 
 pile. The filaments, which different breeds of sheep 
 produce, are much more various in their nature than 
 those who are not accustomed to observe them will 
 readily conceive. When examined with the assist- 
 ance of the microscope, the only mode of becoming 
 acquainted with the minuter properties of wool, the 
 filaments of white fleeces appear perfectly transparent 
 and colourless ; they bear a very great resemblance 
 to shreds of nicely spun glass. Some very good 
 judges of wool have spoken of it as though they 
 doubted the correctness of this description, and seem 
 to consider it as an opaque but polished substance ; 
 yet it appears to be indubitably transparent by the 
 effect which it produces upon the rays of light when 
 thrown through it from a good mirror to the lens of 
 the instrument. It refracts them agreeably to the i 
 laws of transparent substances, and precisely with the 
 same appearances as the crystallization of salts by 
 means of the solar microscope. But the hairy 
 parts of the staple, when seen through similar in- 
 struments, appear perfectly opaque ; where they 
 change to wool, the filament becomes clear and trans- 
 picuous ; another circumstance if an additional one 
 were wanting to convince us that the coat of the 
 sheep does not differ very essentially from that of 
 other quadrupeds. The pile of a black sheep, al- 
 though it seems to possess every quality of wool 
 when examined by an unassisted eye, is nevertheless 
 destitute of that clearness which the combination of 
 
 lenses 
 
79 
 
 lenses exhibits. Its opacity however is not always 
 uniform. I have sometimes seen a black filament stud- 
 ded with white transparent spots dispersed through 
 its whole length ; which shows most evidently that its 
 opacity and colour is rather the effect of the arrange- 
 ment in the particles composing the pile, than any 
 particular secretion formed b}^ the skin of the animal. 
 The surface of black filaments appears so far as can 
 be discerned smooth and uniform like that of whiter 
 ones, and their outlines as well defined, so that the 
 colour is probably owing to something distinct fro m 
 that arrangement of surface which absorbs or dissi- 
 pates the light. The transparency of wool, which 
 has been found most perfect in the best kind of 
 fleeces, seems to be connected with the breed of the 
 sheep, and is therefore an object worthy of the wool 
 grower’s attention. 
 
 There are some other breeds of sheep which yield 
 a wool remarkable for its brilliancy ; although the 
 pile be not perfectly opaque, yet the surface of it 
 seems to possess very fine polish , like that of a metal- 
 lie needle ; and the lustre with which it reflects the 
 rays of light has given it among workmen the appro- 
 priate appellation of silvery haired wool. This is 
 most frequent!}^ found upon the backs of sheep whose 
 pile is remarkably Jong and hairy. ’Tis not so fre- 
 quent in England as it formerly was, and the farmer 
 willfflo well if he banish it entirely. There are still 
 other breeds, which afford fleeces whose pile is ob- 
 servable for a wan and sickly appearance, destitute 
 of lustre and almost without elasticity ; and some, 
 both in their general appearance and the structure of 
 the filament, bear a resemblance to unwrought cot- 
 ton. In the Vigonian wools we meet with a' staple 
 G 3 nearly 
 
80 
 
 nearly opaque, but remarkable for its smooth and 
 silky texture. 
 
 The particular shape of the filament is most pro- 
 bably determined by that of the pore in the skin, 
 through which it is protruded. In some families of 
 sheep we observe the pile perfectly round and even, 
 like a very nicely drawn wire ; and in others it is 
 uniformly flat and smooth, like a small bar of finely 
 polished steel. This difference is frequently disco- 
 verable by inspection alone, but becomes more obvi- 
 vious if one end of the filament be held fast while the 
 other is rolled round its own axis betwixt the fingers. 
 It then reflects the rays of light if it be flat in the 
 same way that the metallic shreds, which we obtain 
 from gold and silver lace, do when they are treated 
 in a similar manner, and concerning whose shape 
 we can have no reasonable doubt. This variety of 
 arrangement which we observe in the particles com- 
 posing the filaments peculiar to different breeds of 
 sheep, and the laws by which it is regulated, are sub- 
 jects not entirely unworthy of their notice who have 
 time and inclination to pursue them, nor of his whose 
 object is to produce wool in its most perfect form. 
 
 Another topic, which might with great propriety 
 be recommended to their attention, is the quality of 
 that substance which is most commonly found inti- 
 mately mingled with the pile of our fleeces, which 
 on account of its yellowness and consistency, its egg 
 like appearance, is aptly denominated yolk. The in- 
 vestigation of its properties, and of the good effects 
 which it produces upon the fleece while growing, is 
 more properly the business of the grazier than of the 
 wool-stapler, and he has the most abundant means of 
 acquiring information. Hitherto it must be acknow- 
 ledged 
 
81 
 
 ledged that they have been too much neglected ; yet 
 he few facts with which we are furnished indicate 
 that without the assistance of yolk, or the application 
 of some other substance which shall act as a substi- 
 tute for it, wool possessing the best qualities cannot 
 be produced. The celebrated breeds of Berry, of 
 Castile and of Persia, we are informed, furnish the 
 most copious supply of yolk, and at the same time 
 yield those valuable fleeces which are eagerly sought 
 after by the manufacturers of the countries where 
 they are shorn, in order that they may be able to 
 supply even distant markets with the most valuable 
 commodities. The attempt to improve the fleeces 
 of England, of Germany and of Sweden, by the intro- 
 duction of foreign blood, has uniformly exhibited 
 proofs of the value of this nutritious substance ; not 
 only by communicating to the offspring a more soft 
 arid attenuated pile, but by enabling them to yield 
 for its support and preservation a much larger supply 
 of this valuable fluid. And even the native breeds of 
 our own island, whose unmingled blood has flowed 
 through several ages, if attentively examined, evince 
 that the power of producing a copious supply of 
 healthy and nutritious yolk is one of the most im- 
 portant qualities of wool-bearing animals, and that 
 there is scarcely any property in which they differ 
 from each other more widely. The fleece itself 
 when shorn without washing most clearly shows that 
 the breast and shoulders of sheep have generally 
 | yielded it much more freely than parts remote from 
 the vitals ; and the good qualities of the pile which 
 is produced there are distinguishable by the most un- 
 taught observer. On the hinder parts of those ani- 
 mals which have been long neglected a coarse and 
 
 shaggy 
 
82 
 
 shaggy staple is most commonly observed, and the 
 wool becomes finer and more valuable as it ap- 
 proaches the fore quarters ; but in cases where the 
 sheep have been improved, and a larger quantity of 
 the animal juices directed to the thighs, the breech 
 of the fleece has not only become less extensive, but is 
 also composedof smaller hair, a circumstance which on 
 many accounts is well worth the attention of the gra- 
 zier. The quantity of yolk which our native breeds 
 produce is in general smaller than that of foreign 
 sheep, yet even among them the variety is so consi- 
 derable as to furnish data for very useful conjectures. 
 In the southern parts of the island it is sufficient for 
 the production of a coat which enables the flocks to 
 endure the rigours of winter without any additional 
 covering, sufficient also to prevent the fleece from 
 becoming thin or hairy ; but in the northern parts of 
 the kingdom, and upon the hills of Scotland, some of 
 the breeds of sheep produce it in such small quanti- 
 ties as to render it unsafe for the farmer to expose 
 his flocks to the severities of the winter quarter, un- 
 less he furnish them with an artificial covering of 
 grease mingled with tar, in order, as he says, to keep 
 them warm. Yet he confesses that he finds this dirty 
 coat as indispensibly necessary to the good qualities 
 of the fleece as it is to the health of the animal ; with- 
 out it the wool becomes hairy, thin and light, with it 
 the fleece is full, soft and rich, possesses a sufficient 
 quantity of healthy yellow yolk, and appears to thrive 
 much better after the tar has been laid on than it did 
 before ; the nature, the qualities and the condition of 
 the wool are most wonderfully improved. From 
 these circumstances we conclude that the yolk, a sub- 
 stance which has been so greatly neglected, yet has so 
 
 long 
 
83 
 
 long deserved the attention of the grazier ; which 
 has been perpetually under his eye through a long 
 course of ages, is not only necessary to the produc- 
 tion of a valuable fleece, but is the very pabulum of 
 wool. The French have taken much greater pains 
 to ascertain the nature of this valuable oil and its 
 effects upon the fleece than the English, although 
 we can boast of much older manufactures than 
 theirs, and the assistance of the legislature through 
 more than four hundred years. On the other side 
 of the channel, intelligent manufacturers have been 
 encouraged to institute experiments, and perform 
 them with such ease as to convince themselves 
 that some of the best qualities of wool depend 
 greatly upon the quantity of yolk in which the fleece 
 is produced. The English wool which they tried, 
 and found remarkably deficient in this respect, they 
 pronounce to be “ hard, dry and rotten.” When 
 they assumed the character of experimental philoso- 
 phers, and endeavoured to elicit the secrets of na- 
 ture, we trust that their judgment was not influenced 
 by the prejudices, which too often exist between 
 rival artists ; nor should ours so far prevail as to ren- 
 der us too proud to learn even from a junior and 
 a foe. 
 
 Some who have thought upon the subject have 
 concluded from the oiliness of the yolk, that it con- 
 sists of the common perspirable matter, which all ani- 
 mals exude, mingled with a portion of that greasy 
 substance which sheep so copiously secrete. But 
 M. Yauquelin who has submitted it to the test of che- 
 mical analysisdeclares as the result of hisexperiments, 
 that 4 4 the greater part of it is a soap with a base of 
 potash,” and that the remaining portion consists of 
 
 that 
 
84 
 
 that salt in a state of combination with other sub- 
 stances. The whole of it he considers as the produc- 
 tion of the animal, without the addition of any ingre- 
 dients which the fleece might accidentally collect 
 from the soil or the litter upon which the sheep repos- 
 ed. The account which this learned chemist has 
 . published upon the subject, together with some re- 
 marks upon the method of scouring and bleaching 
 wool, may be found in the Philosophical Magazine, 
 vol. 1 y. We are sorry that a person so well qualified 
 did not push his experiments farther and endeavour 
 to ascertain whether the yolk be similar in all the va- 
 rious breeds of sheep, and how far it differs from the 
 matter perspired by other laniferous quadrupeds. 
 
 The manner in which the yolk acts upon the wool 
 is not accurately known. Some have considered it as 
 the superabundance of that substance which forms 
 the filament, and which by some unknown process 
 while the pile is growing is consolidated into a trans- 
 parent mass ; while others conclude, perhaps more 
 reasonably, that it is a peculiar secretion, which ex- 
 udes through the skin, and by intermingling with the 
 pile renders it soft, pliable, and healthy ; affecting it 
 much in the same way as oil does a thong of leather 
 when kept immersed in it and perfectly saturated. A 
 very curious and intricate question has been asked re- 
 specting the mode in which the wool imbibes the yolk, 
 whether by means of the root alone, or also by the 
 pores which it is supposed may be scattered through 
 the whole length of the hair. But as this question, 
 if solved, promises no useful information, we shall 
 leave it to the advocates of the respective hypotheses 
 to determine, and satisfy ourselves with having bare- 
 ly mentioned it. 
 
 Much 
 
85 
 
 Much need not have been said upon the nature of 
 yolk and its intimate connection with the good quali- 
 ties of wool, when speaking upon the peculiar consti- 
 tution of sheep, had not this distinguishing feature of 
 their different families been too much neglected. In 
 general this substance has been noticed without any 
 particular reference to the breed of the animal, or 
 the qualities of the fleece which it bears ; sometimes 
 as totally disregarded as the sand, or the hay seed, 
 which are accidentally mingled with the pile. Yet the 
 disposition to produce this valuable animal soap is 
 certainly as important as some other characteristics 
 of the sheep, and ought not to be overlooked when 
 we describe their different varieties, or select them 
 for our farms. 
 
 I have not yet seen any of those animals or their 
 produce which are said to afford a staple equally fine 
 from every part of the body, but conjecture that if 
 this breed were, minutely examined it would appear 
 that the yolk is produced in equal quantity'on every 
 part of the carcase. The sheep also which produce 
 wool upon their bellies and shanks, like the Merino 
 family, most probably yield a good and healthy 
 yolk down to the very fetlock ; while those which 
 cover these parts with a short and opaque hair, 
 like the Wiltshire breed, afford the secretion so 
 beneficial to the staple only from the upper parts of 
 the half covered body. The dissimilarity of the 
 fleeces yielded by these two kinds of sheep, the com- 
 pleat envelopement of the one, and the scanty coat of 
 (the other, leads us to suppose that the quantity of wool, 
 which we produce from an individual sheep, is in a 
 great measure regulated by the conduct of the grow- 
 er. It he approach the purity of the Spanish blood 
 
 he 
 
86 
 
 he clothes his flocks in a kind of surtout which en- 
 wraps every part of the animal, except the lower ex- 1 
 tremity of the face and the feet ; and by selecting his 
 rams from the Downs of Marlborough, if he were am- 
 bitious of such a distinction, he might probably pro- 
 duce a race entirely devoid both of wool and of yolk. 
 
 It has already been suggested that it would be the 
 extreme of folly to point out any particular breed of 
 sheep as that which, in all circumstances, might be con- 
 sidered as the best. On this point the opinion of the 
 wool-grower must be determined by the demands of 
 the manufacture and the circumstances of his farm ; 
 yet he may always depend upon it as an indubitable 
 fact, that whether he produce long wool or short, of a 
 coarser or a finer pile, it will be good or bad, adapted 
 to the purposes for which it is designed or not so, in 
 proportion to the quantity of sound and healthy yolk 
 in which it is produced. 
 
 Here, as in every other case, the breed is of the 
 utmost consequence. It is the basis upon which all 
 improvements of the flock must be founded ; the only 
 source of hope that attempts to produce fine wool of 
 the first quality will be followed by success. Other 
 circumstances are generally imposed upon the shep- 
 herd, and he has little more controul over them than 
 over the storms of winter or the sultry heat of autumn. 
 
 He may preserve his flocks from their extreme in- 
 fluence, but cannot entirely counteract it. But the 
 breed, the constitution of his sheep, he can change al- 
 most at will ; it is submitted to his own direction and 
 deserves his first regard. The temperature to which 
 sheep are exposed has long been considered as one of 
 the prime agents in the production of fine wool. This 
 valuable substance was observed to abound most in 
 
 countries 
 
87 
 
 countries, which enjoy the influence of a mild and 
 generous climate, exposed neither to the oppressive 
 heat of the torrid zone, nor to the chilling winds of 
 the frigid. The best fleeces are grown in Spain, 
 Italy and Persia; countries which lie under almost 
 the same parallels, and enjoy a temperature sufficient 
 to maintain that copious and regular perspiration of 
 the animal, which is undoubtedly favourable to the 
 production of good qualities in wool, although not 
 absolutely essential to the fineness of the pile. It was 
 supposed that a greater degree of heat by dissipating 
 the juices of the sheep prevented them from nou- 
 rishing the wool ; and that the fleece by this means 
 became short, thin and hairy. On the contrary, in 
 regions where the climate was less warm, it was con- 
 jectured that the yolk, or whatever it be that pro- 
 motes the growth of the hair, was rendered unsuitable 
 to the production of an attenuated pile, and caused 
 the fleece to be coarse, long and shaggy. The opi- 
 nion was supported not merely by observing the situ- 
 ation of the countries where the better fleeces are 
 grown, but aiso by remarking that when a sheep 
 changed its climate it produced an offspring not so 
 much resembling itself as the lanigerous animals 
 which surrounded it ; and that in a few generations 
 its descendants were scarcely distinguishable from 
 the native sheep. The instances, which have been 
 adduced with the greatest confidence, as affording a 
 sufficient demonstration of the all-powerful influence 
 of climate, were collected from accounts, which have 
 been given of English sheep exported to the West 
 Indies ; of Spanish to South America, the Cape 
 of Good Hope and some other countries ; and of 
 those, which were regularly conveyed by the Dutch 
 
 Ii to 
 
88 
 
 to the island of Java. The degeneracy of their off- 
 spring has been thought a sufficient reason for sup- 
 posing, that the constitution of the wool-bearing ani- 
 mal was incapable of enduring without injury the ex- 
 cessive heats of these southern regions. But. in these 
 instances the intermixture of blood was entirely over- 
 looked, and the animal absurdly expected to produce 
 a lamb exactly similar to that, which it had dropped 
 in its native country when mated with one which car- 
 ried a fleece resembling its own. The insufficiency 
 of this argument is now generally acknowledged, for 
 by more accurate observations it has been discovered 
 that the sheep of England, when transported to Ja- 
 maica, yield the same kind of “ burly fleece” as they 
 did at home, and if prevented from mingling their 
 breed with that of the native stock, their offspring 
 afford a wool exactly similar to that which they 
 would have done in this climate. Even the hairy na- 
 tive sheep of the island, which probably came origi- 
 nally from the Spanish main, and were supposed to 
 possess a coat without any admixture of wool, are 
 found to produce that substance in small quantities 
 concealed beneath their stronger and more brittle co- 
 vering, and would most probably produce it in a 
 larger proportion if proper measures were taken to 
 cultivate it. But in a country where the fleece is not 
 shorn, and in a climate where the woolly pile is little 
 used, it is not wonderful that the flocks should be 
 neglected or their produce little regarded. The 
 samegeneral remarks apply to those sheep of Spain, 
 which have been exported to the American colonies. 
 So long as they were suffered to intermingle with 
 those, which had been introduced from other quar- 
 ters, the race invariably degenerated ; hut since care 
 
 has 
 
has been taken to preserve them distinct, as good wool 
 has been imported into Spain from Buenos-Ayres as 
 the individuals would have produced at home. At 
 the Cape of Good Hope the Spanish flocks have uni- 
 form!}' exhibited the same phenomena.- When pre- 
 served pure from the native blood, the lambs have 
 been distinguished for the beauty of their fleece ; 
 and the descendants of a pair, which have been car- 
 ried even to the distant shores of New South Wales,, 
 whose progenitors were conveyed from Spain to the 
 United Provinces, and from thence to Africa, pro- 
 duce a fleece so correctly beautiful as to rival, it is 
 said, the best produce of the Leonean mountains. 
 The animals also which have been observed to cast 
 their fleeces, when sent on shore in Java, most evi- 
 dently do so not because the heat of the climate is in- 
 compatible with the growth of wool, but because the 
 land about Bantam is naturally ill adapted to the 
 i constitution of sheep. They are driven to the moun- 
 tains, a more cool and dry situation, not so much 
 with a view of preserving their fleece, as to secure 
 their health, and prolong their lives. 
 
 The existence of fine wool in the more temperate 
 regions has been accounted for upon principles very 
 different from the natural tendency of those climates 
 to promote its growth. The superiority of the Spa- 
 nish, the Italian, and the Persian fleeces, has been 
 traced already to the establishment of ancient manu- 
 factures, which continually affected the flocks through 
 a long succession of ages. To this cause it is most 
 naturally attributable, and there is no occasion to 
 seek for an auxiliary one. Had the superior kind of 
 wool derived its excellency only from the influence 
 of the sun, of the clouds and the soil, the fleeces of 
 
90 
 
 the southern parts of France, of Turkey and Arabia, 
 even those of the northern portion of Hindoostan and 
 of China, must have borne to each other a very consi- 
 derable resemblance ; nor could the pile of Spain 
 have greatly degenerated by being conveyed to the 
 hills of Mexico or of the United States of America. 
 If a moderate degree of warmth had been absolutely 
 necessary to the existence of wool-bearing sheep, none 
 of them would have been found on the coast of Gui- 
 nea, nor in the scorching regions of Bengal ; it would 
 have been impossible that both distinctions, those 
 which produce a valuable pile, and those destitute of 
 it, should exist together almost in the same plains, 
 and crop with equal avidity the same arid grasses. 
 The production of wool even under the Equator is 
 one of the most convincing proofs that the fleeces 
 of sheep are not so greatly affected by the sultry and 
 oppressive heat of the climate, as by the constitution 
 of the animals which produce them. 
 
 But the effect of heat upon wool is nevertheless 
 very remarkable. Dr. Anderson, in his observations 
 upon the fleece, has clearly proved that the pile, pro- 
 duced during the prevalence of hot weather, is visi- 
 bly coarser than that, which the same sheep affords in 
 the colder season. He supposes that the superior de- 
 gree of heat expands the pores of the skin, and that 
 the absence of it tends to contract them ; so that the 
 pile which is protruded through them becomes 
 thicker or thinner in the same proportion as the 
 diameter of the aperture is larger or more con- 
 tracted. It is to be regretted that he did not extend 
 his experiments farther, to different breeds of sheep, 
 and observe whether the effect was similar in all of 
 them ; for it appears that his flock furnished a copious 
 , supply 
 
91 
 
 supply of the wool-producing humor, and that the 
 the pores through which it passed were constantly 
 full. We acknowledge that these experiments, so 
 far as they proceed, are compleatly satisfactory, and 
 they convince us that 44 a great degree of heat pro- 
 duces upon the fleece an effect totally opposite to 
 that which has been generally ascribed to it ; that it 
 tends to render the hair coarser instead of finer.” 
 Probably it might be easy to ascertain the influence 
 of temperature, even in its extreme degree, if a 
 sheep were conveyed to distant climates, shorn there, 
 and the fleeces compared with those which it had 
 yielded at home. If the manner in which wool is 
 produced were more accurately noticed, if the effects 
 of changing seasons were diligently noted, if care 
 were taken to preserve the fleeces which an indi- 
 vidual had afforded in different situations, and under 
 varied treatment, so that they might be compared 
 with each other, and if the staple were either measur- 
 ed, or marked at regular intervals of time, we should 
 ascertain a number of facts respecting the production 
 of wool which we are at present ignorant of, and per- 
 haps might be able to procure it in a much more per- 
 fect state. Until our knowledge becomes more per- 
 fect we must consider the influence of temperature 
 as reduced to a single point, which requires only 
 that the shepherd do not unnecessarily expose his 
 flocks to the extremes of heat or of cold, nor to any 
 capricious changes. If he wish to produce the best 
 of fleeces he muct cultivate the breed with sedulous 
 attention, and no longer attempt to apologize for the 
 want of exertion, by complaints that his flocks do 
 not bask themselves upon the sunny mountains of 
 JLeon, nor crop their winter herbage on the genial 
 
 H 3 banks 
 
92 
 
 banks of the Douro. The most celebrated flocks of 
 these regions have already dispersed their colonies, 
 without injury to the fleece, over the gentler hills of 
 England, the plains of France and Saxony, through 
 some of the dells of Sweden, to the banks of the 
 Plata, to Southern Africa, and the utmost regions of 
 the Asiatic isles. 
 
 The effects of dryness and moisture upon wool, 
 although not frequently distinguished from the gene- 
 ral influence of climate, are very considerable, and 
 deserve the close attention of the grazier. No mea- 
 sures I believe have been adopted to ascertain the de- 
 gree in which these causes affect the fleece, and our 
 information respecting them must be deduced from 
 general cases and the prevailing opinion of those, 
 whose employment calls upon them to observe the qua- 
 lities of wool. There are few persons conversant with 
 this article, who do not perceive when they examine 
 the fleeces of a district, of which one part is much 
 dryer than the other, a remarkable difference in those 
 which each submits to their inspection. Upon the 
 lower grounds, and in marshy countries, we almost 
 invariably find a sheep producing a longer and 
 coarser pile than its neighbours, which pasture upon 
 the more elevated farms. Sometimes the husband- 
 man of these more dry and healthy spots prefers a 
 breed of sheep smaller than that which occupies 
 the pasture of the richer farms, one able to roam 
 much more widely in search of food, and to travel 
 with less fatigue to a distant fold, such as yields -a 
 fleece so different from that of the heavier flocks as to 
 admit of no comparison with it in order to ascertain 
 the precise effect of their damper situation. Yet 
 there are some instances in which we meet with mem- 
 bers 
 
bers of the same family in both parts of the district*, 
 attended nearly with the same care and maintained 
 almost in equal condition, and observe that the wool 
 of the one is shorter, finer and lighter than the fleece 
 of the other. Perhaps the dissimilarity may be part- 
 ly owing to the smaller quantity of food, which the 
 sheep upon thin lands can collect, to the extra fa- 
 tigue they undergo in order to obtain it, and to the 
 smaller portion of time w r hich they spend in repose and 
 mastication ; but after every reasonable allowance is 
 made for circumstances of this kind, there is a consi- 
 derable proportion of the effect remaining, which we 
 attribute with some confidence to the superior mois- 
 ture or dryness of the farms where the fleeces were 
 grown. No stapler, I am persuaded, whose opinion 
 is founded upon a long course of observation, will 
 seek among marshes and vapour for fine wool. He 
 expects to find the fleeces of such situations more 
 coarse, hairy and loose than those produced where 
 the rays of the sun fall directly upon the field, and 
 preserve both the fleece and the lodgment of the sheep 
 dry and healthy. The moisture, which so fre- 
 quently surrounds the summits of the loftier moun- 
 tains, and rests upon their shoulders, especially if 
 they be exposed to vapour rising from the 'ocean, is 
 no less deleterious to the staple than the roists of lakes 
 and morasses. On those mountains of Ireland, of 
 Scotland and Norway, which rise from the shores of 
 the Atlantic and are exposed to its influence, we find 
 fleeces of a very inferior order, when compared with 
 those which the same sort of sheep produce in more 
 sheltered situations ; and still farther beneath the va- 
 lue of those, which are procured from the dryer sides 
 of the Castilian and Kermanian hills. The sheep of 
 
 Shetland 
 
94 
 
 Shetland, producing a small and valuable fleece al- 
 though exposed to the influence of moisture in its 
 utmost violence, and the race once diffused over the 
 Highlands of Scotland, and which, notwithstanding 
 the cloudiness of its pasture, yielded a wool much su- 
 perior to that which is now produced there, may be 
 selected as instances to show that too much is attri- 
 buted to these causes ; and it has been supposed that 
 the improvement, visible in the sheep of Cornwall 
 and of the fens in Lincolnshire, evinces that a moist 
 atmosphere is not so incompatible with the growth of 
 good wool as we have stated it to be. But these in- 
 stances by no means prove that these breeds of sheep 
 upon drier pastures, and attended with greater care 
 than they areat present, would fail to produce a much 
 better fleece than they have done in a moist one ; and 
 the improvements which have been adduced would 
 probably have proceeded with greater rapidity, been 
 effected with more ease, and attained a higher degree 
 of excellency, had they been attempted upon flocks 
 in situations better adapted to their nature and to the 
 good qualities of wool. The bad effects of water 
 upon the pile while growing may be owing to the 
 readiness with which it mingles with the yolk, and 
 carries off a quantity of that animal soap, which is so 
 necessary to the good quality and even the existence 
 of the fleece jd'or if care be taken to prevent this by 
 the skilful application of tar mingled with butter, 
 which act as repellants to the water, the lower part of 
 the staple, which grew after the mixture was applied, 
 contains a sufficient supply of rich and nutricious 
 yolk, and is a much superior sort of wool to those 
 points of the pile, which have been exposed without 
 
 protection 
 
9<5 
 
 protection to the dripping wetness of the wintry 
 season. 
 
 Some of the best qualities of wool, especially 
 those of the finer kind of fleeces, have been attributed 
 to the influence of pasture. Large and open downs 
 which receive but little attention from the farmer, 
 where the sheep with great labour can procure only 
 a limited supply of food, have been often represent- 
 ed as absolutely necessary to the production of that 
 soft and attenuated pile, which is universally admired. 
 The finest fleeces, which have been collected in our 
 native country, have generally been obtained from the 
 hills of moderate elevation, and from soils, which can- 
 not boast of being enriched by the fertilizing collec- 
 tions of the farmer’s yard. They are the produce of 
 wide wastes, where the individual rights are not dis- 
 tinguishable, but so blended as to form a common 
 property and produce an indiscriminate advantage. 
 Such fleeces, the produce of exhausted pasture and 
 of meagre animals, are commonly much smaller, 
 lighter and finer than those we obtain from lower 
 lands and more highly fed carcases. It appears that 
 the food which a sheep procures is directed by the 
 hand of the universal benefactor chiefly to the sup- 
 plyingmf those juices, which nourish it, and produce 
 that plumpness of muscle so desirable in quadrupeds 
 of this description ; that the formation of its coat is 
 only a secondary object in the process of nature, 
 and the humor suitable to this purpose is not secret- 
 ed until that which is essential to the existence and 
 the health of the animal has been produced. Hence 
 it is that the fleeces furnished by the commons, 
 which have been procured from half starved sheep, 
 are uniformly small and light ; that their pile is al- 
 ways 
 
90 
 
 ways thin, weak and short ; that the condition of it is 
 low and less mellow than it should be, and exhibits 
 symptoms of improvement near the bottom of the 
 staple. But the sheep grazing in richer pastures, 
 where they easily obtain food, which both satisfies 
 their appetites and furnishes a surplus of the juices 
 necessary to their health, yield fleeces of longer pile, 
 of greater weight and superior condition, less adapt- 
 ed most certainly to many purposes of the woollen 
 manufacture, but considered merely as wool afforded 
 by a particular breed of sheep possess an intrinsic va- 
 lue much superior to the starved pile. Theideathat 
 dry fallows, commons and hungry soils, were neces- 
 sary to the production of good wool, arose in the 
 earlier ages of the manufacture, when the constitu- 
 tion of the sheep was little attended to, and men at- 
 tributed to the land that which is really the effect of 
 the breed or family of the sheep ; and it is maintained 
 even now by some, who do not discriminate between 
 the different races, which stock the country, so rea- 
 dily as between the soils which compose it. The 
 state of the Spanish flocks and the management of 
 them by shepherds, whose superior skill has been 
 universally allowed, were often adduced as instances, 
 which sufficiently prove the impossibility of growing 
 the finest wool upon luxuriant pastures. It was ob- 
 served that these were divided into two kinds, the 
 travelling and the stationary ones ; that the latter, 
 which continued through the whole year upon the 
 plains and the best lands of their native country, 
 afforded a wool distinguished neither by its fineness 
 nor other good qualities; while those, which were 
 compelled to travel from the lower grounds to 
 mountainous provinces, and driven to crop the vege- 
 tables 
 
97 
 
 tables of the loftiest summits, upon which they spent 
 the summer, returning to their former folds as the 
 winter approached, yielded a fleece of the utmost 
 beauty, and surprizingly adapted to the fabrication 
 of woollen cloth. Some stedfastly maintain that this 
 superiority of the staple is owing to the fatigue, which 
 the sheep are compelled to undergo ; to the clima- 
 ture and the herbage of the mountains upon which 
 they spend the hottest season ; that if they had con- 
 tinued on the plains their fleeces would not have 
 been distinguished from those of the stationary 
 flocks ; and that if these latter had ascended the 
 mountains, and been managed as the others were, 
 they also would have afforded a superior pile. Yet 
 these gentlemen mention no instance of such an ex- 
 change of treatment ; they describe no experiment 
 made with a view of ascertaining its effects ; they for- 
 get that there are as certainly different breeds of 
 sheep in Spain as in any other country, and that the 
 wool of every district, where manufactures have been 
 established and long prosecuted with industry and 
 discrimination, cannot be uniform. Nor is it more 
 consistent to trace the superiority of the Spanish pile 
 to sheep sent from England in the fifteenth century, 
 because the wool of that country had then been dis- 
 tinguished for its superior qualities even here, through 
 more than three hundred years. A few sheep, which 
 at various times have been brought from Spain and 
 grazed upon the lawns of gentlemen, have yielded 
 fleeces much more weighty, coarse.and long than were 
 expected from them, and have appeared to sanction 
 an opinion that the wool had undergone a great alte- 
 ration by the exchange' of climate, of treatment and 
 of pasture. A fleece of this kind was shown to me 
 
 last 
 
98 
 
 last summer, it weighed about nine pounds, and had 
 been well grown in a plentiful supply of rather yel- 
 lowish yolk, was evidently the produce of a male, 
 and had nearly enveloped the whole animal. The 
 wool was about nine inches long unon the shoulder, ' 
 and four on the bell}*, not finer than the usual produce 
 of large sheep, natives of England ; but the staple was 
 well formed and exceedingly compact ; the hair was 
 evenly disposed and but little curled. This sheep 
 had been brought from BUboa by a merchant ship, 
 and perhaps, like most of those imported into the 
 country in a similar way, had been taken on board 
 without any attention to the family from which it 
 was selected, most probably from the meadows, 
 which generally surround sea ports, or even from the 
 marshes, which are so frequent near the mouths of 
 rivers. There is no reason to believe that these sheep 
 would have afforded a smaller fleece even in their 
 own country, much less to suppose that they were . 
 invigorated by the best blood of the superior breeds. 
 
 A mattrass, which had been purchased at Cadiz, and 
 supposed to be stuffed with the produce of the neigh- 
 bourhood, contained the worst wool that I ever saw ; 
 it was superior indeed to to the hair upon the shanks 
 of English sheep, but not so good as the breech ob- 
 tained from the worst kind of our own fleeces. If it 
 be fair to reason from a fact so imperfectly stated, 
 we must conclude that there is a race of sheep in that 
 country, producing wool of a very inferior order, 
 or one whose fleece does not envelop the belly and 
 the legs of the animal. We place but little depen- 
 dence upon facts so imperfectly described, and men- 
 tion them only because they point out one method of 
 collecting information, respecting the produce of a 
 
 country 
 
99 
 
 country which has commonly been very much neg- 
 lected. The manufactures always contain the best 
 samples of the raw materials. From the most accu- 
 rate descriptions of the wool of Spain, which have 
 fallen into my hands, there appears to be no ground 
 for supposing that the sheep of that country belong 
 entirely to one family. The state of the travelling 
 flocks is minutely related, while that of the stationary 
 ones is either passed over in silence, or but slightly 
 noticed. Yet from these fragments which lie scatter- 
 tered over the field of statistical enquiry we gather 
 some hints, which induce us to conclude, that we 
 should entertain just as correct an opinion of the British 
 fleece, if we supposed from some slight accounts of 
 it, which are published, that the breeds of Wiltshire 
 and of Lincoln are precisely the same, as we do of the 
 Spanish when we imagine that the same race ranges 
 the mountains of Segovia and reclines upon the plains 
 of Seville. 
 
 If to the richness of the pasture we must trace the 
 existence of coarse wool, as to its primary cause, we 
 should observe it more frequently upon the backs of 
 sheep which are distinguishable for their fatness ; 
 and the size of the hair, upon some occasions, would 
 indicate the period when an individual exchanged 
 the down and the common for the meadow and the 
 lich enclosure, for the quality of the pile must be- 
 come less valuable in proportion as the condition of 
 the sheep improved. Yet on the contrary, it is ge- 
 nerally remarked that the fleece shorn from an animal 
 in good condition is preferable to that which it pro- 
 duced when in a leaner state ; and that the bottom 
 of the staple, that part of it which grew during 
 the spring, when the supply of food became more 
 
 I plentiful 
 
100 
 
 plentiful, and the carcase plump and weighty, is 
 often more valuable than the other portions grown 
 when the fields were least productive. 
 
 We are well aware that long wool in its most per- 
 fect state cannot be expected from sheep destitute of 
 the quantity of food, which nature requires for her 
 support. When the animal is pinched with hunger, 
 it converts almost the whole nutriment which it re- 
 ceives to the support of the carcase. The imperious 
 demands of hunger must if possible be supplied, and 
 the wool-producing humor, whatever it be, is imme- 
 diately rendered tributary to the first necessities of 
 nature. This is one of the resources to u'hich she 
 applies in order to preserve the existence and the 
 health of the animal ; she sacrifices a small conve- 
 nience to obtain an essential good, and the fleece re- 
 mains light as though half produced, while the pile 
 is short and somewhat more fine than it would have 
 been in a richer state. These effects have often been 
 observed in the course of farming. They were 
 much more common before it was the custom among 
 graziers to procure a large supply of winter food ; 
 and are still observed when the colder season proves 
 unexpectedly severe, or contending with the growing 
 year for protracted dominion requires that the shep- 
 herd dispense his fodder with a sparing hand. Hun- 
 ger, like cold, contracts the pores of the skin, and 
 renders the yolk, that nourisherof wool, less copious 
 or ill adapted to its natural purposes ; affects with 
 keen severity the more tender breeds, but falls with 
 peculiar weight upon the lambs which through two 
 winters have borne their fleece. The hardier race, 
 however, that which looks defiance to mountain 
 storms, and with persevering patience breaks through 
 
 the 
 
101 
 
 the frozen snow to seardi its food, which is content- 
 ed with the coarsest fare of the roughest pasture ex- 
 hibits in its fleece no such symptoms of injured health 
 or ill adapted yolk, though left to secure and to sup- 
 ply itself. 
 
 These effects of hunger upon the fleece should al- 
 ways be attributed to their true cause ; they are less 
 connected with the qualities of the pasture than with 
 the constitution and disposition of the animal, and 
 teach us that these should always be adapted to the 
 farm upon which it is placed. The sluggishness of 
 those creatures, which produce long wool ; requires 
 that their food be rich, plentiful and at band, while 
 the mountain breed, endowed w r ith a roving temper, 
 which disdains the boundaries of a narrow pasture, 
 seeks its nourishment through an extensive range, al- 
 though it could procure it in the largest abundance 
 with the least possible exertion. The sheep, like 
 most other animals, is a creature of habit as well as 
 instinct, delights in the modes of life to which it has 
 been accustomed, and changes its dispositions only by 
 degrees or the combination of blood. Both Bake- 
 well and Culley were well acquainted with its pecu- 
 liarities, and have succeeded in their attempts to 
 produce a breed, in which symmetry of form is unit- 
 ed with w'onderful adaptation to circumstances. 
 The sheep of Dishley, heavy of fleece and of temper, 
 have diffused themselves over the richer fields of Lei- 
 cestershire and Lincolnshire ; while those of the Che- 
 viot hills, bearing light fleeces and having long and 
 well formed limbs, scale the mountains of the North 
 and of Scotland. 
 
 When this nice adjustment of the breed to the cir- 
 cumstances of the farm is attained, when the quan- 
 
 I 2 tity 
 
tity of food is sufficient to preserve the health of the 
 sheep, and to supply its fleece with an abundance of 
 valuable yolk, when the flock enjoys that ease and 
 comfort which all animals desire, the mere richness 
 or poverty of land seems to have no influence in ren- 
 dering the fleece either coarser or finer. In the 
 course of a few months flocks are sometimes obliged 
 to change their pasture and to feed upon soils of a 
 very different description ; and yet if their food be 
 sufficient and their comfort undiminished, I presume 
 no one has ever observed a variation in the fineness 
 of the pile. When under such circumstances they 
 have even exchanged the grasses of the mountains 
 for the most nutritious kind of aliment, their fleece, 
 it is thought, has not become more coarse than it was 
 formerly. This opinion is countenanced by the ex- 
 periments of a learned and judicious agriculturist, 
 who has sought to diversify the monotony of profes- 
 sional engagements by rural occupations, and upon 
 his judgment and accuracy we rely with unsuspicious 
 confidence. But when a sheep which had been ac- 
 customed to labour for its food obtains it with great 
 ease, and spends more hours in repose and mastica- 
 tion, the staple of its fleece, although it retains its 
 fineness, becomes considerably longer. This effect 
 is often observed in the different flocks of the same 
 parish, sometimes in the individuals of the same 
 farm. ’Tis however the effect of ease rather than of 
 pasture, and should be attributed to that as its proxi- 
 mate cause. 
 
 The extraordinary fineness of Spanish wool, the 
 object of English envy through almost seven hun- 
 dred years, was long attributed, among other causes, 
 to the peculiar herbage of the mountains, upon 
 
 which 
 
103 
 
 which the sheep spent their summer months. They 
 furnished, it was asserted, a large supply of aromatic 
 plants which the flocks distinguished with the utmost 
 nicety and devoured with the greatest eagerness; so 
 that it was deemed from this circumstance utterly 
 vain to attempt the production of an equal pile in 
 any country, which possessed not the means of sup- 
 plying the. flocks with the same delicate nutriment* 
 But a traveller, Who examined the pastures of Spain 
 with a botanic eye, assures us that these boasted 
 plains, elevated far above the level of the sea, do not 
 yield grasses materially different from those of other 
 districts, under the same parallels, and of equal ele- 
 vation. We should expect, if such were the cause, that 
 the fleeces collected from the sides of the towering Py- 
 ranees, would be equal in point of goodness to those of 
 acknowledged beauty collected from the hills of Cas- 
 tile and Leon ; that they must resemble the pile, which 
 covers and adorns the shoulders of the Alps and the 
 Appenines, of the Caucasian and the Altaic chains ; 
 those of Atlas, Syria and Persia must be nearly alike ; 
 nor could a great dissimilarity be observable in the 
 more humble coats of England whether produced 
 upon the South Downs, the Cotteswold, or the Cum- 
 brian hills. Nor would it be wise in any case to at- 
 tempt the improvement of our flocks without produc- 
 ing a correspondent change among the plants of our 
 farms ; instead of turnips and cole seed we must cul- 
 tivate thyme and marjoram. But we reason no 
 longer upon these points from theory or general 
 facts, the question is clearly decided by the establish- 
 ment of Spanish flocks in every quarter of the globe, 
 in countries whose soil, temperature, climate and 
 herbage differ most widely. In every place, if pre- 
 I 3 served 
 
104 
 
 served from the contaminating influence of inferior 
 blood, they yield a fleece of a superior order, unaf- 
 fected either by the difference of food or of treat- 
 ment ; as distinguishable for excellent qualities as 
 that of their progenitors. 
 
 But the judicious woolstapler is by no means in- 
 attentive to the nature of the soil upon which the 
 sheep have been pastured. Calcareous earths, when 
 mingled with the pile, produce a very singular effect 
 upon it, and form the characteristic feature of that 
 kind of fleeces, which the manufacturer distinguishes 
 by the name of chalky wool. These substances ren- 
 der it dry and hard, destitute of that lustre and 
 yolky appearance, which most other wool possesses, 
 and that felting quality, which fits it for the opera- 
 tion of the fulling mill ; a process absolutely necessary 
 in the fabrication of woollen cloth, but it is readily 
 dispensed with in the production of some other arti- 
 cles. Perhaps this kind of earth produces its per- 
 nicious effect upon wool by absorbing that yolk 
 which is so intimately connected with the best quali- 
 ties of the fleece, or by destroying that peculiar com- 
 bination of the fluid, which renders it best adapted to 
 the nourishment of tiie pile. All mixtures of earth 
 with this substance, even that of pure silicious sand, 
 render it less proper for the purposes to which nature 
 lias destined it, and it should be one object of the far- 
 mer’s care to preserve it free from the smallest adul- 
 teration. He will perceive a very material difference 
 betwixt the effects of lime stone and of chalk upon 
 Iiis fleece ; for the former, which is generally covered 
 with a stratum of vegetable earth, does not so easily 
 mingle with the pile and often produces it in very 
 good condition, though seldom possessed of the best 
 
 of 
 
10 5 
 
 of qualities. There is one fact respecting this kind of 
 land related very vaguely in Dr. Aikin’s Description 
 of the Country round Manchester, which deserves 
 the close attention of both the grazier and the wool- 
 stapler. It is intimated that if flocks of sheep pre- 
 cisely of the same breed, and I suppose in the same 
 condition, be placed, one upon lime stone, and ano- 
 ther upon grit, and kept there for a given time, the 
 weight of the former will exceed that of the latter 
 by four pounds per quarter, and “ that there is a still 
 greater difference in their fleeces.” Perhaps upon 
 minute inquiry it might be found that the obser- 
 vation had not been made with all the accuracy, 
 which agricultural experiments require, or that the 
 sheep pasturing upon the gritstone had endured 
 either more hunger or more fatigue than their com- 
 rades ; a circumstance which seems to be indicated, 
 at least to a person who is not a grazier, by the infe- 
 rior weight of the carcase. A course of experi- 
 ments calculated to illustrate the effects of the vari- 
 ous soils upon the fineness, the length and the gene- 
 ral qualities of wool, would be acceptable, to the 
 shepherd, and instructive to the manufacturer. At 
 present, we imagine, that to produce their fleece in 
 its best state sheep should always crop a luxuriant 
 herbage, in dry situations, on loamy soils, beneath a 
 temperate sky, and lodge upon the thickest carpets 
 of verdant nature. 
 
 Here again we should observe, and the remark 
 cannot be made too often, that the influence of pas- 
 ture, climate and temperature are entirely subordi- 
 nate to that of blood. ’Tis upon this the greatest 
 changes depend, to this we look for the best improve- 
 ment of flocks, ’tis this which first demands the shep- 
 herd’s 
 
106 
 
 herd's care, which he must regulate according to the 
 unalterable circumstances of his farm, and to the de- 
 mands of the manufacturer. In a business so deli- 
 cate, and which relates to a substance so susceptible 
 of change as to be rendered in the space of a few 
 years extremely good, or destitute of valuable quali- 
 ties, he should observe every process with the utmost 
 attention ; should possess a profound knowledge of 
 nature, of the woollen manufacture and of commerce. 
 
 Happily the age is long since passed away when 
 he seemed a loiterer with his flock, more ambitious 
 that the valleys should resound with the melody of 
 his reed than that his sheep should exhibit proofs of 
 his superior knowledge and attention ; when he was 
 more employed in whispering the soft sentiments of 
 the heart to a blooming shepherdess, or receiving 
 from her lovely hands the variegated garland, than 
 in attentively noticing the form of his sheep and the 
 peculiarities of their fleece ; when he formed the gay 
 circle and 66 lightly tript it o’er the green,” instead 
 of marking the hints, which nature daily gave him of 
 her hidden operations, comparing them with each 
 other under the direction of inventive genius temper- 
 ed by the soundness of judgment and the maxims of 
 experience ; instead of noting the progress of manu- 
 factures, catching the first symptoms of improve- 
 ment, and adapting the produce of his flock to the 
 rising demand. From Arcadian plains indeed the 
 too happy and unsuspicious swain has been driven 
 by the brutal violence of a morose and phlegmatic 
 conqueror ; but from the British fallows the lazy 
 loungers, who after basking ail day upon the head- 
 land, found it irksome in the evening “ to plod with’* 
 heavy “ step their homeward way,” have been allur- 
 ed 
 
107 
 
 eel, not driven, to useful employments and social ha- 
 bits. The calling of the shepherd is at length united 
 with the pursuits of the naturalist, and the combina- 
 tion of knowledge with laborious industry is doing 
 much to improve the sheep of the British isles, to 
 confirm the stability, and extend the circulation of 
 their manufactures. The experiments directed by 
 the genius of Bake well, and so happily seconded by 
 the judgment, eloquence, fortune, influence and phi- 
 lanthropy of the late Duke of Bedford, will long ren- 
 der their names favorites of memory; while succeed- 
 ing generations reap the benefit of their efforts in the 
 improvement of flocks and the amelioration of their 
 wool. 
 
 So susceptible is the fleece of improvement that 
 it most readily rewards the attention which is paid 
 to it. If only freed from the thorns, burrs and filth, 
 which it formerly collected from ill managed fallows, 
 if it be nourished almost any where than upon balks, 
 which produce little more than rushes or dry and in- 
 sipid grass, and if it be relieved from those insects, 
 which so often infect it and torment the sheep, it as- 
 sumes a better appearance and becomes actually more 
 useful. It is obvious to every one, who has observ- 
 ed with the slightest attention, that dirt, leanness and 
 disease, are as detrimental to brutes, as filth, poverty 
 and hunger to human beings. 
 
 After having determined what kind of wool the 
 farm, which he occupies, is best calculated to afford, 
 the sheep-master should endeavour to obtain from 
 Ins flock the most perfect fleece, as uniform in every 
 part of it as nature will admit. We see no reason 
 why any person should be ambitious of raising in one 
 flock, and especially upon the back of a single sheep, 
 those various kinds of wool, which are adapted to 
 
 manufactures 
 
108 
 
 manufactures very different in their nature, and often 
 placed very remotely from each other. In the old 
 system of sheep farming this was a very common de- 
 fect of the fleece, and is not entirely removed under 
 the new one. I have never yet met with a single in- 
 stance, in which a lock shorn from the buttocks of the 
 animal was not greatly coarser than another, which 
 had been taken from the shoulder, although in some 
 cases they have borne a much nearer resemblance to 
 each other than I once thought it possible to attain. 
 There are fleeces, we are told, so uniformly alike 
 through the whole extent that persons accustomed to 
 observe wool, and even manufacturers, have been un- 
 able to distinguish any difference in the fineness of 
 the pile. When staples separated from different 
 parts of the sheep have been presented to them, if 
 any discrimination was made, they have sometimes 
 pronounced that to be the best, which grew most re- 
 mote from the vitals. Such is the description, which 
 Dr. Parry gives us of the fleece of his new breed of 
 sheep, obtained by combining the blood of the Spa- 
 nish with that of the Ryeland race. The fact de- 
 serves the attentive notice of the wool grower, for the 
 advantages which would result from a single sheep 
 producing only one kind of wool, and that equally 
 fine from every part of the body are utterly incalcu- 
 lable ; they are obvious to all. The possibility of 
 procuring such a race seems to be ascertained by the 
 facts just alluded to, and it is probable from the state 
 in which we find the coats of other domestic animals. 
 
 Every one, who remarks the condition of tue. 
 fleece when offered to sale, is aware that a great num- 
 ber of extraneous substances are mingled with the 
 pile. The purest fleeces of Britain, which on ac- 
 count 
 
109 
 
 count of their excellent qualities might rank with 
 those of almost any other country, are generally en- 
 cumbered with yolk, sand, grass, pitch and even the 
 excrement of the sheep. We know not whether it be 
 possible for the grower to obtain his wool perfectly 
 pure and undebased, without incurring an expence, 
 which in many cases could not be reimbursed; per- 
 haps spending more time and exercising more labour 
 than would be compatible with the attention, which 
 the more important duties of the farm require of him. 
 Yet, without sacrificing his interest to unnecessary 
 precision, it is desirable that the staple should ap- 
 proach as near as possible to the state of absolute 
 freedom from every thing that imposes a tax upon 
 the manufacturer, or renders his employment more 
 tedious and difficult. 
 
 The yolk, which has been so intimately mingled 
 with the pile through the whole period of its growth 
 as to form with it a compact and almost impenetrable 
 coat, does not compleatly separate itself from the 
 wool by the mode of washing adopted in Britain, 
 even though the operation be performed in the best 
 constructed pool, and by the most careful workmen. 
 The Spaniards, more aware of the advantages which 
 result from the purity of the pile, shear their flocks 
 • without subjecting them to the alarm, which agitates 
 most quadrupeds when forcibly plunged into an ele- 
 ment, for which nature and their habits render them 
 peculiarly unfit. The staplers there break the fleece 
 while in the yolk, and wash the sorts produced frotn 
 it with a degree of care worthy the imitation of a British 
 manufacturer ; and attain to a point of purity almost 
 unknown in English fleeces. If the sheep be washed 
 before shearing ever so perfectly, and the. utmost 
 
 care 
 
110 
 
 care be taken to preserve them clean during the in- 
 terval between the two operations, the perspiration 
 of the animal, when exposed to the fervour of the 
 sun beams and oppressed by the weight of a coat 
 better adapted to the winter months, mingling with 
 the fleece, again debases its staple. English wool in 
 the best state, in which I have ever observed it clipped 
 from the back of the sheep, has contained about one- 
 twelfth part -of its gross weight of this substance, im- 
 portant to the fleece while growing, but of no value 
 whatever in the process of manufacture; often it is 
 mingled with one-eighth of its weight ; if heavily 
 tarred, as in the north of the island, the quantity of 
 pure wool seldom exceeds one-half; and in some 
 cases is even considerably less than that. The very 
 great difference of condition, in which British fleeces 
 are brought to market, accounts in some measure for 
 the variation of prices, which are often mentioned as 
 the current rates of wool, in distant districts during 
 the same season. To form any proper idea of its in- 
 trinsic worth, and to obtain a well founded opinion 
 of the relative value of our own fleeces, or those 
 which are imported from other countries, it is neces- 
 sary to reduce them to the standard of perfect pu- 
 rity, to compare only wool with wool. That point 
 is already determined by the treatment, to which 
 wool is submitted while under the hands of the 
 manufacturer. In some part^or other of the process, 
 by far the larger proportion of the pile is scoured 
 with soap and boiled in water; and when it will en- 
 dure this operation, without losing a portion of its 
 weight, we venture to pronounce it sufficiently clear 
 of yolk for all the purposes of manufacture. 
 
 The present mode of washing sheep in some parts 
 
 of 
 
Ill 
 
 of the kingdom, especially where water is scarce and 
 the shepherds careless, instead of separating from the 
 fleece all the sand, clay and other kinds of dirt, with 
 which it is encumbered, supplies it with a still larger 
 proportion. The inefficacy of plunging the sheep into 
 stagnant water and muddy pools, of driving them 
 two or three times through a rivulet rendered turbid 
 by their passage, we should suppose is obvious to 
 all ; and the inconvenience, which often arises from 
 driving them while wet along dusty roads, of lodging 
 them in that state upon dry fallows and sandy soils, 
 is visible in the colour and the grittiness of the staple. 
 ’Tis seldom that we examine a parcel of wool with- 
 out finding more or less of those substances, which 
 render it impure, and are thoroughly convinced that 
 it is not always possible even for the most careful far- 
 mer to prevent its contamination. The conduct of 
 many graziers, who during the period in whch the 
 fleece is preparing for the shearer’s office, watch it 
 with unremitted attention, and endeavour to obtain 
 their wool free from every alloy, is an annual re- 
 proach upon those who seem to wash their flocks 
 without any definite object, because it is the custom 
 of the district where they live, and who neglect them 
 entirely while their fleece is drying. 
 
 The custom of marking sheep by means of melt- 
 ed pitch or a mixture in which it forms the principal 
 ingredient, is very detrimental to English wools, es- 
 pecially the larger kinds; often rendering them abso- 
 lutely incapable of being applied to the manufacture 
 of worsted goods, their natural and appropriate desti- 
 nation. It has long been complained of, and premi- 
 ums offered for the discovery of a composition, which 
 shall answer the same purposes without being inju- 
 K rious 
 
112 
 
 to the staple. The brand, as it is at present used, 
 causes a great deal of trouble and some expence, for 
 in the early stages of the manufacture it must be sepa- 
 rated from the fleece, and boys are generally employ- 
 ed in performing this service at the rate of a shilling 
 or half a crown per week. The wages given for this 
 work when not combined with any other, is com- 
 monly about a farthing where employment is scarce, 
 in other places a halfpenny, for every pound of 
 branded wool. When a fleece has been rolled up, 
 according to the usual and legal' method of winding 
 every part of it is so distended, often so torn and 
 mingled together, as to render it utterly impossible 
 that the workman should spread it before him in its 
 natural order. He is then obliged to spend a -great 
 deal more time, than would otherwise have been ne- 
 cessary, in examining every fragment which passes 
 under his eye, and in searching for the pitch mark, 
 which is always extended over a considerable space, 
 and sometimes entangled with every other portion of 
 the fleece. When separated from* the other parts 
 he throws it to one general heap, which passes to 
 the clipper, and when sufficiently cleaned, returns 
 to himself, and undergoes a second time the opera- 
 tion of sorting. But when sheep are not brand- 
 ed with pitch, or any any other substance injurious to 
 the staple ; none of this additional expence and labour 
 is incurred, every part of the fleece goes oft' from 
 the board to its proper sort, and is immediately 
 ready for the manufacturer. Perhaps the best mode 
 of preventing the inconvenience, which the brand 
 occasions, would be to take it from the fleece before 
 the sheep be shorn ; then it is easily found, is com- 
 pact and might be separated from the wool with little 
 
 trouble 
 
113 
 
 trouble to the shearer, or inconvenience to the per- 
 son who employs him. 
 
 We are pleased to observe that of late years sheep 
 are not commonly allowed to carry behind them those 
 immense loads of their own excrement which so fre- 
 quently disgraced the most verdant and beautiful of 
 pastures. At present they are generally kept dean 
 and unincumbered ; a symptom of their owner’s im- 
 proving taste and humanity. Nor have the staplers 
 so much reason to complain of those shameful decep- 
 tions, which were once attempted to be practised 
 upon them by rolling up a large quantity of the 
 faeces with the fleece in order to increase its weight. 
 At present, if deceptions are practised by the grower, 
 they are commonly those of a more ingenious kind, 
 such as he thinks will always remain undiscovered, or 
 that the vestiges of them will be traced to some other 
 cause than the moral turpitude of his disposition. 
 Yet when we find a line of sand strewed along the 
 unrolled fleece, or trace the evidences of its being 
 wound in a moist state, circumstances which even a 
 novice in sorting can distinguish ; when we notice 
 that the parcel is piled upon a damp floor, in the 
 north east corner of a barn far from the influence of 
 the atmosphere and the sun, as though jealous of 
 their evaporating power ; when we see these things 
 we cannot help attributing them to some cause not al- 
 ways accidental. And should such parcels be weigh- 
 ed by the stapler with a little unusual dexterity the 
 grower must not be severe, for one deception is insti- 
 tuted only to counteract the effects of another, and it 
 would be a mere chance which was most successful 
 had not the stapler the advantage of being last 
 player ; as such he is almost certain of winning the 
 
 K 2 trick. 
 
114 
 
 trick. But we plead not for deception; the man who 
 stoops to use it is a villain, and his character oughtto 
 be posted through society. In these enlightened 
 times but few, we hope, are so destitute of honour and 
 integrity, esteem the consciousness of virtue at so 
 low a rate, and understand their interest so little, as 
 to ask the favours of fortune by sacrificing at the 
 shrine of dishonesty the first principles of social 
 order. 
 
 It is not probable that persons, whose attention is 
 repeatedly called to the properties of wool, should be 
 entirely ignorant of the readiness with which it im- 
 bibes moisture, but perhaps few are aware of the tena- 
 city with which it retains it. A quantity of wool, 
 which betrayed no symptoms of an extraordinary de- 
 gree of moisture, has been submitted to a strong de- 
 gree of heat and dryed even to crispness. When ex- 
 amined, being still warm, it was found to have lost 
 one eighth part of its original weight, which it nearly 
 recovered in a few days by being exposed only to 
 the common influence of the atmosphere. Perhaps 
 this disposition to attract moisture may be the cir- 
 cumstance, which has led some to suppose that wool 
 grows after it is separated from the sheep. The fact 
 is not probable ; and the increase of weight, the only 
 circumstance upon which the opinion rests, is easily 
 accounted for upon more satisfactory principles. 
 
 At the genial season when flocks are disburthened 
 of their coat, and pay the annual tribute due for the 
 protection and sustenance which they have received, 
 it is common to collect them within some grassy in- 
 closure near to their owner’s dwelling ; often within 
 the precincts of Pomona, where with ruddy smile she 
 ripens he* autumnal blessings. With the best inten- 
 
U5 
 
 tion tile superintendant of the busy scene directs 
 that the sod be smooth)}’ shorn, but unsuspectingly 
 produces by that means a vast variety of short bits of 
 grass, which notwithstanding his utmost care attach 
 themselves to the staple and are rolled up with the 
 fleece. They do no material injury to the pile, but 
 cause a great deal of trouble to some future work- 
 man who picks them out of it ; for at some stages of 
 the process, through which wool passes before it 
 reach the consumer, they must be separated. If 
 twisted into the thread and wrought with the sub- 
 stance of the cloth they become the object of the 
 burler’s notice, who leaves, for every particle which 
 is extracted, a hole in the piece to be repaired at the 
 fulling mill, or by the nicqr operation of the fine 
 drawer. The trouble occasioned by the intermix- 
 ture of dried vegetable particles with the wool is very 
 considerable, whether they be collected from the 
 weeds so commonly produced upon ill managed land, 
 or from the hay, which owing to the usual structure 
 of the rack, and by permitting the sheep to pull their 
 fodder from the stack, or to crowd under it for shel- 
 ter, drops >ts seed and smaller particles upon the 
 fleece, especially that part which grows near to 
 the head. The shepherds upon the Downs of Marl- 
 borough, if I mistake not, have adopted the use of 
 another kind of rack, whose structure promises to ob- 
 viafce some of the objections made to the old one. 
 
 Some of these circumstances may be considered 
 as trifling ones, and beneath the attention of the wool 
 grower. Perhaps we may be told, as we have been 
 already, u that several of them are calculated to fur- 
 nish employment for different classes of work people, 
 who without it must become burthensome to the pa- 
 
 K 3 fishes 
 
116 
 
 rishes where they belong ; that the true reason why we 
 object to the filth of the wool, its brand and the dag- 
 locks, is the price at which they are purchased ; and 
 that if the fleece were really rendered lighter and more 
 valuable, by the absence of impurities, staplers would 
 give no more per tod for it than if the parcel had 
 been in a fouler state.” ’Tis wonderful to observe 
 with what an air of sapience these remarks are some- 
 times adduced ; and when disdaining to reply to them 
 because it is impossible to communicate discernment 
 to stupidity, or to derive information from prejudice, 
 the triumph over us has been undisguised, and some- 
 times followed by the loud laugh of ignorance. But 
 of late years wool-growers have been better instruct- 
 ed in the principles connected with their occupation, 
 have ventured to dispute the wisdom of their great- 
 grandfather’s maxims, and to differ from antiquated 
 practice. Some of them are now convinced that 
 every expence which the stapler and even the manu- 
 facturer incurs, whether it be on account of waste, 
 carriage or labour, falls ultimate^ upon themselves. 
 They admit this most obvious of commercial max- 
 ims, viz. that the price, which the consumer pays for 
 an article, is upon anaverage of years neither less nor 
 greater, than the sum which forms the total of the 
 prime cost of the materials, the expences incurred in 
 manufacturing them, and the reasonable profit of 
 those whosecapital and skill are employed inthefabri- 
 cation. If therefore, while the price of goods conti- 
 nues the same, and the unavoidable expences in pro- 
 ducing them vary ; if there be any alteration in the 
 total sum, whose items we have just described, then 
 the surplus, or the deficiency must be placed to the 
 account of the farmer, and his pocket will undoubt- 
 edly 
 
117 
 
 edly receive the one or be obliged to famish the other. 
 This position would be most abundantly verified, did 
 it require any confirmation, by adverting to the his- 
 tory of the woollen manufacture only during the last 
 twenty years. It is the interest therefore of the 
 wool-grower to contrive by every possible means to 
 reduce the necessary expences of the manufacturer, 
 to send his wool to market in that condition, which 
 will require the least time and labour to return it in 
 articles adapted to the common purposes of life. 
 No circumstance connected with this object can be 
 trifling. No measure calculated to attain it can be 
 unworthy of notice. It is not possible that a person 
 of common sense should really suppose that the sta- 
 pler purchases dirt and impurities of any kind, which 
 happen to be combined with a parcel of wool, at 
 the price given for the staple. In appreciating 
 fleeces, the waste, carriage and expences of every 
 kind must be objects of calculation ; they form a sum 
 to be deducted from the intrinsic value of the fleece if 
 in a pure state, and both manufactured and consum- 
 ed upon the spot where it is grown. The farmer 
 then, who sends filthy wool to market, transports ma- 
 nure, which might be well applied upon Ids own land. 
 He sends it to the fields, sometimes of far distant 
 counties, and pays for the carriage of it thither an 
 extravagant price. 
 
 In the management of wool, especially if we 
 would obtain it in a perfect state, the time of shearing 
 though not of prime importance is a circumstance 
 deserving of some attention. It has frequently been:, 
 asserted that the fleece, if left entirely to the opera- 
 tions of natural causes, detaches itself from the skin 
 of the sheep, and falls off, leaving the animal cover- 
 ed 
 
118 
 
 ©cl with a short and soft down, which proves to be the 
 new coat in the incipient stage of its growth. The 
 effect takes place during the prevalence of hot wea- 
 ther, and may justly be considered as one mark of 
 that wisdom by which the Creator, always provident 
 for the comfort of his creatures, has distinguished 
 every part of his works. Yet the decidence of the 
 fleece does not appear to be a characteristic feature 
 of the tribe, an universal law to which all sheep are 
 subject, because some individuals have been observed 
 to retain their coat through two whole years, a few 
 have carried it even through three summers. We 
 are not aware that this faculty of retaining the fleece 
 is entirely confined to an)? particular breed of sheep ; 
 it has been noticed in several of the English varieties, 
 both those of the native stock and mingled with a fo- 
 reign race, and the fact is not entirely unknown 
 either in Spain or in Germany. Nor is it a quality 
 common to every individual. The breeds producing 
 the finer kinds of wool often peel or loose a portion 
 of their coat early in the spring, and before the sum- 
 mer had passed would probably part with the whole 
 of it in the same manner, did not man interpose and 
 appropriate to his own use that covering, which has 
 become superfluous to the quadruped. The pile of 
 the long-wooled sheep seems to be much more firmly 
 attached to the pelt than that of the other breeds, for 
 if the animal be kept in good condition, and in good 
 health, throughout the whole period when the wool 
 is growing, and if well attended by the shepherd, so 
 as to promote its comfort, there is no symptom of a 
 disposition to cast the fleece ; it is retained, if the 
 staple be any criterion, with equal firmness through 
 the coldest and the hottest seasons, while those sheep, 
 
 which 
 
119 
 
 ■which have been kept upon commons all the winter, 
 or even in enclosures upon hard fare, will part with 
 it very easity, when the food becomes more plentiful, 
 and the condition of the animal is restored to its na- 
 tural state. When the flesh of the creature lias de- 
 clined during the winter months, and nature demands 
 more nourishment than can be procured, the secre- 
 tion which produces w r oo! seems to be destroyed, 
 or applied to other purposes of nature, and the fleece 
 which has been deprived of it, appears incapable of 
 re-imbibing in the spring the renewed juices, but 
 remains upon the pelt through the succeeding 
 months, merely a dead substance ; and when the na- 
 tural juices are again secreted, they form a new 
 fleece, which gradually displaces the old one. Pro- 
 bably at first, the new hairs are produced from a 
 scanty yolk, for they are almost uniformly pointed, 
 and grow gradually thicker, untill they occupy the 
 whole diameterof the pores through which the}' pass. 
 If the low condition of the sheep be connected with the 
 decadence of the fleece, and the real cause of it ; and 
 since none of the double fleeces exhibit any symptoms 
 of an unhealthy state, or a low degree of flesh during 
 the whole period of their growth ; it seems probable 
 that every sheep, if proper care were taken of it, 
 would retain its coat. 
 
 Appearances observed in the fleeces, which have 
 grown through two or three successive years, render 
 it probable that the staple ultimatelr attains its maxi- 
 mum of length ; but whether it would continue upon 
 the back of the sheep, or detach itself from the pelt, 
 giving place to a new pile, which would continue to 
 grow through the same length of time, and then like 
 the preceding coat become useless to the animal and 
 
 be 
 
120 
 
 be laid aside, we know not. No experiments that I 
 have yet heard of, have been instituted to ascertain 
 the point, nor have we been sufficiently curious in 
 England to note the progress of the growing pile in 
 the different seasons of the year. M. Fink, of 
 Cositz, in Saxony, has communicated to the Board 
 of Agriculture, an excellent paper upon the subject 
 of sheep, and observes “ that by clipping them 
 twice a year, a practice common in Germany, one 
 tenth more wool is gained than by clipping them only 
 once ; that a sheep clipped once in two years ; will 
 certainly give one-third less wool than if it had been 
 clipped four times in two years, and a sheep shorn 
 once in three years, will furnish but half the wool it 
 would have given, if it had been clipped six times in 
 three years.” M. Fink adds, 66 the longer the wool 
 the less quickly it grows, till at last, when it has 
 attained the length appointed by nature, it entirely 
 stops and does not grow longer.” Unfortunately this 
 intelligent wool-grower, who has detailed his observa- 
 tions in general with a great degree of precision and 
 perspicuity, has not informed us whether the diffe- 
 rent proportions, which he has given us, of the fleece 
 grown through one, two, or three years, be deduced 
 from the weight, or measure of the staple. If from 
 the former, was the wool washed, or in an impure 
 state? If weighed in the yolk, the proportions 
 which have been stated, may be very erroneous ; 
 because the fleece which has grown through more 
 than one winter, exposed to the moisture of the season, 
 may have lost a very considerable quantity of that 
 yolk, which it would have retained, had it been shorn 
 at two separate periods. This very curious paper, 
 although unsatisfactory upon this particular point, 
 
 deserves 
 
m 
 
 deserves the closest attention. It relates facts in the 
 natural history of the sheep not commonly met with ; 
 and intimates that the wool of the larger German 
 breed, attains its utmost length when continued upon 
 the back about four years, and even then exhibits 
 no more symptoms of separating from the skin, 
 than the hair does of falling after the same period of 
 growth from the human head. It furnishes data from 
 which we infer that the utmost length of staple pro- 
 duced from that race of sheep is about thirteen in- 
 ches, and leads us to conjecture that with proper 
 care, every animal of the species might be rendered 
 capable of retaining its coat through any length of 
 time deemed convenient. 
 
 Hence it appears that the time of shearing, if the 
 Hock be in a healthy condition, maybe regulated 
 entirely by the will of the shepherd, and the kind of 
 wool, which he found it most adviseable to cultivate. 
 If the prejudices of the country would admit of it, 
 and the manufacture required a very short and deli- 
 cate staple, such would be easily procured by shear- 
 ing the fleece at two different seasons. The wool 
 which had grown through the winter quarter, if we 
 may judge from the prices given for it by foreign 
 manufacturers, who are accustomed to work both the 
 spring and the autmnal fleece, would be more valu- 
 able than that, which is produced only in the warmer 
 season. But the difference in price is more than com- 
 pensated by the additional quantity of wool ; and for 
 several years it was observed, when the price of the 
 article was advancing, that the autumnal fleece in 
 Germany sold for more money than that which had 
 been shorn and disposed of in the spring of the year. 
 Most of the breeds of ffne^wooled sheep in Britain, 
 
 it 
 
122 
 
 it should be recollected also, produce a staple com- 
 plained of by those who fabricate it into woollen 
 cloths, on account of its exorbitant length ; a defect 
 which would be most effectually remedied by clipp- 
 ing it more frequently. But in this country where 
 woollen manufactures are established most various in 
 their nature and object, and not less so in the mate- 
 rial they require, the sheers must be used with ex- 
 treme caution. A large proportion of the British 
 fleeces would be intirely spoiled, if separated from 
 the animal oftener than once in the season. The 
 worsted manufactures almost universally demand 
 W'ool of twelve months growth; the hose trade could 
 scarcely subsist without it ; and some portion of the 
 pile yielded by the finest of our flocks, is so tender 
 as to require its utmost length, in order that it may 
 pass without injury through the process of carding 
 and of fulling. Yet there are numerous fleeces, 
 whose good qualities I am persuaded would become 
 more conspicuous if shorn more frequently, and 
 whose particular destination in the course of manu- 
 facture does not forbid it. 
 
 If it be possible also to procure a race of sheep 
 distinguished for the fineness of its pile, and capable 
 of retaining its coat through two summers, a ready 
 Tvay is pointed out of obtaining long wool of a far 
 superior quality to any that has hitherto been pro- 
 duced ; such perhaps as would enable our worsted 
 manufacturers to rival the envied beauty of the In- 
 dian shawl, and to imitate the most delicate textures 
 of cotton and of silk. The mere possibility of produc- 
 ing such a kind of wool, should rouse the attention 
 of the gentlemen in Norwich. They are best able 
 to describe the purposes to which it would be appli- 
 cable ; 
 
1 23 
 
 cable ; the immense value of such a manufacture, in 
 a country situated as ours is; and to point out the 
 intrinsic value of a fleece which must far exceed that 
 of all common productions. Yet in speaking of a 
 material so uncommon and so valuable, it is not 
 necessary to hint at the possibility of procuring it ; 
 already the blood of the Merino race, with its soft 
 attenuated pile but litte debased, has so far affected 
 some individual fleeces, both in Britain andinSaxony, 
 as to fit them for the fabrication of worsted goods, 
 possessing a delicacy of texture suitable to the most 
 sanguine expectation. 
 
 But if the character or condition of the flock be 
 such as renders it probable that the fleece will 
 loosen from the skin during the prevalence of hot 
 weather, then nature herself points out the proper 
 time for shearing it. Yet, when sheep produce wool 
 sufficiently short to meet the wishes of the manu- 
 facturer, the operation should be deferred, at least if 
 no particular advantage to the animal is to be obtain- 
 ed by clipping it sooner, until the new coat appear 
 like a line downy substance mingled with the bottom 
 of the staple ; for this being shorn with the old fleece 
 renders the pile more suitable to the manufacture of 
 woollen cloths. It is naturally soft, fine and un- 
 elastic ; contributes to the delicacy, solidity and 
 strength of the thread into which it is twisted ; and 
 can be brought to display upon the surface of the 
 cloth the superiority of its qualities. In the blunt 
 language of the clothier, who often expresses his ideas 
 in very appropriate, though not always in the most 
 elegant terms, wool of this description is distinguished 
 by the epithets foody and flowery: words imme- 
 L d lately 
 
124 
 
 diately conveying to an English ear, a conviction of 
 the high estimation in which such fleeces are held. 
 
 In large wool, that which is applied to the manu- 
 facture of worsted goods, a portion of the incipient 
 coat is of no value, because it would be completely 
 separated from the longer part of the pile by the first 
 process through which it passes. This division of 
 the longer from the shorter hair is one of the chief 
 purposes, to which the comb is adapted. In all those 
 articles also, though produced from long wool, which 
 are wrought with the carding machine after the 
 manner of woollen cloth, where the principal object 
 is to procure a long and well formed knap, this short 
 and downy substance cannot be of essential service. 
 Large wool therefore should be shorn so soon as the 
 staple is sufficiently long to answer those purposes, 
 for which the manufacturer intends it. Should the 
 grower find it difficult to determine this point from 
 his own judgment, his stapler, if he be a man of ob- 
 servation and liberality of sentiment, will most 
 readily inform him. 
 
 Some very humane people have railed loudly at 
 the barbarous custom of pulling the fleece from the 
 back of the sheep, instead of separating it by the use 
 of shears. Indulging the imagination too freely, they 
 have given vent to the sympathetic sentiments 
 of their hearts, in language admirably adapted to 
 rouse every indignant passion against the cruel tor- 
 mentors of a creature so meek and helpless. They 
 describe its agonies under the operation in terms 
 which make the spirit bleed, and render it almost 
 ambitious of emulating apostolic fame, by travel- 
 ling among these rude barbarians to teach them the 
 first principles of humanity. Yet while we venerate 
 the feelings, from which such descriptions proceed, 
 
 we 
 
125 
 
 we can scarcely avoid smiling at the caricature which 
 they exhibit, recollecting that the practice is adopted 
 only where the sheep detach their fleece every return- 
 ing summer, aud that the operation is performed at 
 a season, when it is so loosely affixed to the animal, 
 as to be separated almost with a touch ; that a great 
 part of it has already been left among the thickets 
 where the sheep has broused, or upon the rude 
 hillocks where it reclined ; and that the office of these 
 violent hands is sometimes rendered unnecessary 
 by the pressure of the sheep against each other, 
 vffien the flock is driven into a narrow compass. The 
 shears however are useful instruments, by their assis- 
 tance a careful workman both separates the wool with- 
 out giving the smallest pain, and collects that portion 
 of the fleece, which without them would have been 
 scattered among the shrubs, or lost upon the wastes. 
 The late Empress of Russia introduced twenty foreig- 
 ners into her dominions, to teach her subjects how to 
 perform this humane and simple operation. 
 
 Such are some of the principal objects in the 
 management of the fleece, to which every shepherd’s 
 attention should be directed, who is ambitious of 
 sending his wool to market in the most desireable 
 condition, tie should particularly remark its uni- 
 formity of pile, its purity, and perfection of growth. 
 There are other circumstances connected with the 
 management of the sheep, to which the production 
 of fine wool has often been attributed, and for that 
 reason they demand our notice. 
 
 It was formerly considered as absolutely necessary 
 that the sheep, from whose sides the most valuable 
 wool was expected, should quit the pastures, which 
 had nourished them during the winter season, and 
 L 2 travel 
 
126 
 
 travel toothers situated in a more northern or ele- 
 vated region. It was remarked that the flocks of 
 Spain, which spend the shortest days upon thesunny 
 plains of Estramadura, Seville and Cordova, the 
 longer upon the mountains of Castile and Leon, and 
 the intermediate ones in passing from one station to 
 the other, produced a much finer pile than those 
 which had not been subjected to the fatigue of two 
 long journies in the course of that period, which is 
 commonly deemed necessary to the perfection of their 
 fleece. Without adverting to other causes, the dif- 
 ference was sometimes attributed entirely to the 
 motion necessarily arising from one system of ma- 
 nagement, and the stationary state resulting from the 
 other ; and it was deemed impossible to produce in 
 countries, which have no such extensive wastes, and 
 variety of climate as Spain possesses, and where the 
 institutions of society prevented such an exchange of 
 pasture as is allowed to her flocks, a covering equally 
 excellent. But when this breed of sheep was convey- 
 ed to France, it was soon discovered that this system 
 of management was not necessary, either to the 
 health of the flock, or the perfection of its wool. In 
 Saxony and England the experiment has been re- 
 peated with equal success, and in Sweden the 
 Spanish race instead of travelling to distant moun- 
 tains for the purposes of fatigue or a change of 
 climate, remain within doors through more than half 
 the. year, and still preserve the goodness of their 
 coats. Indeed the notion that travelling and fatigue 
 are necessary to the production of fine wool is almost 
 exploded ; it would be highly improper to impose 
 them upon the heavier kind of sheep, for b}' injuring 
 the health of the animal, or reducing its flesh, they 
 
 would 
 
127 
 
 would certainly contribute to the deterioration of thfe 
 fleece. The lighter and more restless animals take a 
 great deal of exercise, ramble far over the Downs, 
 and very commonly produce a fleece of superior 
 quality ; but the fineness of the pile is the resuit 
 of blood, it has no more connection with fatigue than 
 with the length or form of the tail, or the existence of 
 the horns ; both these and the fleece may be changed 
 at pleasure. 
 
 In countries where the finer wools are produced, 
 some have observed that the shepherds inclose their 
 sheep every night in buildings reared for this pur- 
 pose, and to this circumstance attribute the superi- 
 ority of the fleece. Doubtless every attention which 
 contributes to the health and comfort of the animal 
 tends to improve its pile. But cotes were not erected 
 with this particular view ; they W'ere first adopted 
 when the beasts of prey prowling near the pasture 
 and the building disturbed and endangered the flock, 
 and are now resorted to chiefly in countries where 
 these animals remain, or have been but lately extir- 
 pated : in some others, they are made use of from 
 mere habit. The practice of cotting sheep, having 
 been adopted by their forefathers, a few of the pre- 
 sent race of shepherds for that reason continue it ; 
 ■while others, who have observed its effects with 
 more attention, have both praised and censured 
 the custom. But to crowd a large number of sheep 
 together in alow damp and close building, although 
 the fleece may possibly derive some advantage from 
 the superior quantity of yolk w hich is furnished, must 
 frequently be attended with the most pernicious con- 
 sequences. Sometimes in the course of a single night, 
 hundreds of the flock have been lost by suffocation; 
 
 L 3 and 
 
128 
 
 and it must be always dangerous to turn out the sheep 
 from these steaming prisons, poisonous as the dun- 
 geon of Calcutta, exposed to the chilliness of the 
 morning air. That animal must derive his blood 
 from the most hardy of progenitors, which can en- 
 dure treatment like this without suffering a con- 
 traction of its pores, and a consequent injury to 
 the wool. The French observing that cotting of 
 sheep has done harm when injudiciously managed, 
 recommend that the cotes be large and airy, and 
 that the flocks be kept within them until the dew is 
 evaporated from the ground ; or in plainer language 
 they desire us not to expose the flock to the extremes 
 of beat and of cold, or to sudden transitions from one 
 to the other. If managed with due care cotting may 
 doubtless be made subservient to the goodness of the 
 fleece by preserving the health of the sheep, promot- 
 ing'^the regular production of the yolk, and prevent- 
 ing the destruction of it by the beat of the sun and 
 the dripping showers of heaven. But in all cases 
 where it injures the sheep it must be detrimental to 
 the fleece. 
 
 The use of artificial grasses in the new mode of 
 farming, which has been so generally adopted in 
 most parts of the kingdom, was often assigned as 
 one principal cause of the degeneracy, which has 
 been observed in wool, in those instances where a dis- 
 trict has changed the peculiarities of its fleeces. The 
 pernicious effects of clover, coleseed and turnips, 
 were a few years ago the common themes of those 
 manufacturers and staplers, who found that the 
 fleeces which they had been accustomed to purchase 
 and to use had been almost banished from the dis- 
 tricts where their connections were formed. With- 
 out 
 
out considering that the cultivation of these plants 
 enabled the farm to carry a heavier kind of stock, 
 and that the shepherd in consequence of this was i*n- 
 duced to alter the constitution of his sheep, they at- 
 tributed to the mer s e succulency of the grass that 
 which was really the effect of blood. They could 
 not but observe the alteration, which the fleece had 
 undergone, they could not but lament it because the 
 pile was sometimes rendered unsuitable to tlse pur- 
 pose for which they wanted it ; although in some 
 cases, considered merelv as the production of a farm 
 whence the grower must derive -a profit, or as a 
 fleece adapted to some other branch of the manufac- 
 ture, it had been greatly improved. If a district into 
 which the new husbandry was introduced had for- 
 merly produced long wooj, suited to the worsted ma- 
 nufactures, it became stronger and better adapted to 
 the violence of the comb ; and if the finer fleeces had 
 usually been afforded there, the pile was more mel- 
 low, soft and valuable. The alteration was most 
 severely felt by those who had purchased the smaller 
 and finer kinds of combing wool, adapted to the hose 
 trade, and those small fleeces produced upon the 
 commons which abounded even in the richest dis- 
 tricts, and were used in the fabrication of woollen 
 cloths. It is desirable that in all improvements in 
 the system of agriculture, especially those calculated 
 to enrich the soil and furnish a burger quantity of 
 food for sheep with less labour and fatigue to them, 
 that the wool-grower should take pains to improve 
 the pile of his old flock rather than introduce a new 
 one upon his farm. The former is already required 
 by some established manufacture and will become 
 better adapted to it, but the other may be very unsuit- 
 able 
 
130 
 
 able to the demands of trade and the wants of the 
 neighbouring staplers ; and if every alteration of the 
 stock tended to make the wool coarser or longer, the 
 general produce of the kingdom must degenerate. 
 
 It is most certainly desirable that every farm 
 should be stocked with the kind of sheep most suit- 
 able to the quality of the land ; but flocks have 
 often been noticed, which seem to betray some want 
 of attention on the part of the wool-grower to this 
 material circumstance. Sometimes he has been ob- 
 served attempting to produce a weighty fleece upon 
 soils naturally poor and thin, and which afford a sup- 
 ply of food so scanty as to require a degree of labour 
 to procure it not reasonably to be expected from 
 heavy tempered and overburdened animals. The 
 most remarkable instance of incongruity betwixt the 
 fleece and the soil, which I ever observed, was near 
 to the road, which passes from Downham in Norfolk 
 to Brandon. The pasture was one of the thinnest 
 kind, and the flock evidenly a mongrel breed, in 
 which the blood of the Norfolk race was mingled 
 with that of the heavy polled sheep frequently found 
 in some of the neighbouring marshes. Perhaps the 
 farmer might possess a quantity of richer land to 
 which this breed of sheep was well adapted, and that 
 it was merety an accidental circumstance which oc- 
 casioned them to be observed upon a soil so thin and 
 unproductive; it* behoves us therefore to suspend 
 our censures and to give the shepherd credit for a 
 more considerable degree of judgment than he ap- 
 peared to possess. We can seldom observe the con- 
 verse of this case, because small fleeces when grown 
 upon rich soils are generally improved by them, and 
 we suppose that the shepherd will always stock his 
 land in the full proportion that it will carry. Plenty 
 
 health 
 
131 
 
 health and ease we repeat are alwaysfavourable to the 
 fleece, but hunger, illness and excessive fatigue are 
 calculated to destroy it. Surely from ail the varieties 
 of sheep, which exist in the island, a breed might be, 
 procured adapted to the circumstances of every farm. 
 The grazier who possesses one suited to his own land 
 should prize it very highly, and be careful lest he 
 increase the weight of his fleece more rapidly than 
 he improve the quality of the pasture. 
 
 Frequently we And wool which has been evident- 
 ly produced without a sufficient supply of those nu- 
 tricious juices, which render the pile close, pliable 
 and soft; and the mixture sometimes used as a reme- 
 dy for this defect, and which on some accounts is a 
 very excellent substitute, produces effects upon the 
 staple which render it less fit for the process of ma- 
 nufacture. The oil which the mixture contains is 
 most certainly useful, but the tar, a dirty and tenaci- 
 ous substance, adheres to the wool so closely as fre- 
 quently to corrode the hair, rendering the part to 
 which it was immediately applied thin, rough and 
 weak. When affected by the filthy custom of smear- 
 ing, the pile is less capable of acquiring the softer 
 and more delicate tints, which it is so often desirable 
 to communicate to the different articles of the wool- 
 len manufacture. A portion of that dirt, which it 
 obstinately retains through every previous process, 
 is dissolved amongst the ingredients of the djdng vat, 
 and disqualifies them for communicating that vivid 
 lustre, which they would have afforded to a purer 
 wool, even though the artist supply his pans with a 
 much larger proportion of the colouring materials. 
 In the subsequent processes of the manufacture, this 
 filthy staple produces much greater inconvenience, 
 and is subject to more considerable waste than the 
 
 purer 
 
132 
 
 purer pile, even though we make every reasonable 
 allowance for the weight of dirt which it obviously 
 contains; in the jenny and the loom, the machines 
 employed in spinning and weaving it, more dexterity 
 and patience are required of the work-people, and the 
 cloth which it produces is inferior in its quality, and 
 smaller in quantity, than might have been obtained 
 from the same pile in a pure state. These objections 
 to tar, when it is applied to wool as a substitute for 
 the yolk of the sheep, are collected chiefly from the 
 clothier’s account of it, and appear abundantly suf- 
 ficient to prompt him to require a less pernicious mix- 
 ture. The only circumstance which can be mention- 
 ed as a counterbalance to these objections is the 
 consistency which it gives to oil or other greasy sub- 
 stances, with which it is mingled, whereby they 
 are retained among the pile, although exposed to the 
 heat of the animal and the detersive influence of the 
 rain. But if it be desirable in all substitutes of this 
 kind to imitate as nearly as possible the combinations 
 of nature, we should apply to the growing pile a 
 thick coating of soap in all cases where the sheep is 
 incapable from the peculiarity of its constitution of 
 yielding a sufficient quantity of j T olk to secure a va- 
 luable fleece. To this the shepherd will most reason- 
 ably object the heavy expence to which such an ap- 
 plication of an highly taxed article, if not entitled to 
 the legal drawback, would subject him, and the great 
 readiness with which it would separate from the fleece 
 when moistened by the showers or the dew. It 
 mi<dit be asked are there no means of furnishing: the 
 fleece with the power of retaining the soap, notwith- 
 standing the moisture to which it is exposed r But 
 having pointed out the pernicous effects of tar, the 
 
 wool-grower 
 
1 33 
 
 wool-grower who is much better acquainted with the 
 peculiarities of sheep will find a remedy. It might 
 perhaps be attended with some advantages if the gra- 
 ziers in the southern parts of the island, especially 
 those whose flocks do not readily yield a copious sup- 
 ply of healthy yolk, or are exposed to the influence 
 of a chalky soil, would imitate their brethren in the 
 north, and furnish the sheep with an artificial pabu- 
 lum of wool. 
 
 Some who have had the best opportunities of ob- 
 serving the nature of sheep and the growth of wool, 
 have doubted if the age of the animal affects the 
 fleece ; and those who have but few of observing the 
 growing pile are very liable to mistake, when they 
 attribute effects noticed in the fleece to causes which 
 are supposed to have existed in the animal. Yet 
 there are few persons conversant with long wool who 
 do not consider the age of sheep, and especially that 
 of ewes, as one circumstance tending to reduce the 
 value of the staple. The hog wool, or the first fleece 
 produced by a lamb more than a year old, was great- 
 ly esteemed under the old modes of manufacture ; and 
 had not the machinery recently adopted rendered it 
 desirable to obtain staples of a uniform length, which 
 is not so easily effected in this class of fleeces as in 
 those obtained from wether sheep, it would still 
 maintain its pre-eminence, as it does in all places 
 where the yarn is spun by the hand. It works better 
 than that of older sheep, being more plastic, soft and 
 fine. If the opinion of staplers be correct, the sheep 
 in extreme old age appears to lose the faculty of 
 producing a valuable wool ; for there certainly is a 
 kind of fleece, supposed to be yielded by old ewes, 
 which possesses but few good qualities. In such 
 
 coats 
 
134 
 
 coats the hair is hard and glittering, was evidently- 
 produced in scanty yolk, the staples separate easily 
 from each other, and the wool dies in the bowl. 
 This technical phrase is but ill expressed in common 
 language, if we say that the staples easily sink in a 
 mixture of hot water and dissolved soap, and that they 
 contract a shaggy and shrivelled appearance. Such 
 wool notwithstanding the utmost care will exhibit 
 symptoms of bad workmanship, even in the first stage 
 of the manufacture, and the labour necessary to fit it 
 for the spinning wheel costs fifty percent, more than 
 is paid for wool of better quality. The improvement 
 of long wool therefore should commence with the ba- 
 nishment of all such fleeces from the flocks. If their 
 bad qualities be really concomitants of age, the re- 
 medy is discovered and at hand. Even in the shorter 
 kind of fleeces the effects of age are sometimes ob- 
 servable, but they are not attended with the same 
 degree of inconvenience in the manufacture of wool- 
 lens as in that of worsteds ; they are seen without 
 regret, and sometimes even pass through the hands 
 of the stapler without being noticed. 
 
 While speaking of cultivated wool it would be 
 proper to mention the diseases to which it is liable, 
 were they not in general closely connected with the 
 unhealthy state of the animal. A sickly sheep al- 
 . ways yields an inferior fleece, and the shepherd who 
 is fortunate enough to restore it to a healthy condi- 
 tion, produces a correspondent effect upon the pile. 
 The scab, though very pernicious to the staple of 
 long wool, can scarcely be considered as a disorder 
 of the fleece so much as an inconvenience ; and the 
 winter stain, a greenish hue which the wool some- 
 times assumes, is most commonly communicated to 
 
 the 
 
13.5 
 
 the fleece of a sheep very low in flesh, pinched by 
 hunger, and chilled by the bitter winds of winter. 
 The tendency of the coat to felt upon the back of 
 the sheep is a very curious property of wool, and de- 
 serves more minute attention than it has yet received. 
 It appears in some cases to be the effect of blood, 
 is almost entirely confined to the larger sort of 
 fleeces, and seldom affects them until the pile be about 
 half grown. With the cause of cutting in the pile I 
 am utterly unacquainted, and should be happy to 
 receive information. 
 
 The circumstances which have contributed to the 
 culture of wool arrange themselves in two distinct 
 classes, and we have mentioned the most important 
 of both; those whose influence is directed immediately 
 to the fleece, and those which are calculated to rouse 
 the attention of its proprietor. From the first, when 
 not connected with the latter, we can expect only 
 partial and unimportant alterations; but when the 
 shepherd, desirous to ascertain how far he can im- 
 prove both his sheep and their fleeces, seizes upon 
 the indescribable powers of generative nature, always 
 acting by constant laws, and converts even these to 
 his purpose, it is impossible to assign the limits that 
 shall restrict his progress. The British shepherd has 
 every encouragement to tread with confidence the 
 field opening before him, for there never was a 
 period from the day of Caesar (who introduced the 
 manufacture) until now, when so many enliven- 
 ing circumstances conspired to prompt and to direct 
 him. The application of machinery in its most 
 perfect form to the woollen manufacture, the in- 
 crease cf wealth both in this country and abroad, the 
 general adoption of fine cloth as an article of dress, 
 
 M of 
 
136 
 
 of the coarser fabrics for numberless purposes almost 
 new, the amazing extention of the foreign trade, the 
 increasing spirit of speculation among the British 
 merchants, the growing skill of the manufacturer, 
 the diffusion of natural science and experimental 
 taste through the ranks of our superior graziers, 
 combine to promote his success, and assure us that 
 improvement must shortly be made in the fleeces of 
 our country, which will surprise by their magnitude 
 and gratify by the rapidity of their succession. 
 Britain, although not the first in attempting to im- 
 prove a native stock of sheep by the selection of 
 foreign breeds, now pushes the intermixture of blood 
 with a spirit, which promises to distance even those, 
 who started long before her in the competion for per- 
 fection. The exertions of foreigners, instead of 
 allaying her ardour, should stimulate to redoubled 
 industry ; should provoke the old English pride, and 
 render her shepherds as ambitious of distinction for 
 the beauty of the fleece, as the manufacturer is for 
 the superiority of workmanship. 
 
 SECTION 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Essential Qualities of Wool. 
 
 "W" HILE speaking in the course of the last Section 
 upon cultivated wool, and the means by which it has 
 been improved, it was not possible to avoid alluding 
 to those qualities, which particularly adapt it to the 
 purposes of manufactures; but it seemed best to re- 
 serve the fuller description of them, in order that the 
 objects more particularly worthy of the wool-growers 
 attention might appear together under one distinct 
 division of the general subject. 
 
 If the improvement of wool consist entirely in 
 rendering it better adapted to manufactures, the 
 growers very naturally ask ; what are those properties 
 which the workmen deem most valuable? What 
 should be our definite and particular object when we 
 attempt to cultivate the fleece ? Not possessing infor- 
 mation upon this subject, we are liable, they say, to 
 great mistakes, and our wool may derive its worst 
 qualities from the very measures which we thought 
 best adapted to promote improvement. Too often 
 our knowledge upon subjects cf this nature has 
 been collected only from obscure hints, casually 
 M 2 dropped 
 
138 
 
 dropped by the buyers ; some of whom we have 
 suspected of being interested in deceiving us, and 
 in a few instances have illiberally charged them with 
 combining to defraud. In general these gentle- 
 men, who we are sure must possess the most accurate 
 knowledge both of wool and of the manufacture, 
 communicate information very sparingly, and seem 
 afraid lest we, who alone possess the power of chang- 
 ing the qualities of the pile, should understand too 
 much of its properties and its application. They 
 often tell us that its value has decreased, because the 
 demand for it is lessened ; and } et we find no surplus 
 of wool. We are assured that the articles into which 
 our wool was wrought, have ceased to be made, and 
 yet they appear desirious to purchase it ; and 
 when we have cultivated the qualities, which they 
 once extolled, we almost invariably hear them re- 
 probated as the most pernicious alterations. This 
 inconsistancy is too obvious to escape our notice, 
 and the wool buyer must pardon us if we trace it to 
 his caprice, or a design to mislead us. 
 
 Such are the complaints which the grazier utters 
 almost every returning summer, such the charges 
 which he seriously urges against the stapler. Many 
 of them are totally void of foundation, and originate 
 only in the want of better information, or in that 
 suspicion in one party, which is always the offspring 
 of ambiguous conduct in the other. Yet wherefore 
 should ambiguity and suspicion subsist? Is it because 
 the occupations of the wool-grower and the stapler 
 are, incompatible with manly behaviour and generous 
 principles? Or because long established prejudice 
 has induced a habit of transacting business equally 
 dishonourable to both parties ? The author of these 
 
 pages 
 
139 
 
 pages will deem himself happj^, if by attempting to 
 convey to the wool-grower some general information 
 respecting the qualities of wool, he shall be able to 
 quiet some of those bickerings, which have long dis- 
 graced the transactions of the buyers and the sellers 
 of an article constantly used. In describing them, 
 he will prefer perspicuity to the ornaments of stile, 
 and observe that order alone in which they occur to 
 recollection. 
 
 That wool is evidently most distinguished for 
 good qualities, which may be fabricated into a valua- 
 ble article, by means of the implements in common 
 use, in the most perfect manner, and with the smallest 
 degree of labour and expence. It would be idle to 
 enquire what would become the valuable qualities of 
 the pile, if a change occurred in the taste of those who 
 ultimately consume w'oollen goods, if those now in 
 demand were to be no longer made, or if the imple- 
 ments of the manufacture were more perfectly con- 
 structed. The present state of the manufacture, of 
 the implements and the demand, must limit our en- 
 quiries. 
 
 When the fleeces are separated from the back of 
 the sheep, they are invariably found to contain a va- 
 riety of different kinds of wool, very frequently 
 suitable to the fabrication of articles very dissimilar 
 in their nature, and adapted to processes in the manu- 
 facture of a description totally different from each 
 other. The chief business of the stapler is to separate 
 the portions of this mingled mass, to distribute them 
 in their proper order, and to supply the manufacturers 
 with the peculiar kind of wool required by the 
 goods which each of them makes. This employ- 
 ment is very different from that which occupied the 
 M 3 stapler’s 
 
140 
 
 stapler’s attention in the thirteenth and two following 
 centuries, when he was engaged only in exporting 
 to a foreign market the fleeces of his country, almost 
 if not entirely without assortment. At present, his 
 occupation constitutes him the agent of the manu- 
 facturer, or rather in his hands, w r ool passes through 
 the first stage of the process adopted to render it 
 useful ; and it becomes his business and his interest 
 to watch the stateoftrade, to noticethe changes in the 
 demand for different articles, to remark the nature 
 and the qualities of wool, and to point out to the 
 grower the properties of the fleece, which are suc- 
 cessively of superior or of smaller importance. The 
 art of sorting wool, almost unknown a few centuries 
 ago, has been very considerably improved during the 
 last hundred years ; and as the division of labour in 
 most other branches of manufacture contributed to 
 their advancement, so in the fabrication of woollens 
 it has produced very essential benefits. But some 
 who are employed in sorting wool, situated far re- 
 mote from the manufacturers and hearing none of 
 their complaints, either have no precise object in 
 view, or perform their work, so ill as to render it 
 necessary to incur a second expence for workman- 
 ship, or their sorts must pass into the market debased 
 below their real value. Persons to whom this 
 remark applies should always recollect, that in every 
 intermixture of coarse and fine wool it is impossible 
 to prevent the first from forming the exterior of the 
 thread and the surface of the piece, so that in all 
 lll-perf rmed sorting only the worst portion of 
 the wool becomes visible when passing through 
 the manufacturers hand. This employment which 
 Dr. Parry, who engaged a person to break some 
 wool after the Spanish manner, complains of, re- 
 quires 
 
quires much greater dexterity than is readily con- 
 ceived by those who have only seen it performed. 
 Had a common workman merely torn the fleece 
 across the loins, taken off the skirts, and divided the 
 remainder into three parts, almost without discrimi- 
 nation, we also should have called it 4< a lazy and 
 artless operation and had we been charged the 
 price for the workmanship which the doctor paid, 
 we should have expressed ourselves in terms, which 
 we are always sorry to utter and never wish to 
 repeat. 
 
 This is the mode of sorting wool adopted in 
 Spain; but the English workman finds it contribute 
 to his interest to be more scrupulous in the separa- 
 tion of the pile, and has introduced a much greater 
 number of sections into ins method of breaking the 
 fleece. In this country there are three general kind 
 of fleeces, and each of them is sorted in a manner 
 different from the others. The finest includes ail 
 those adapted to the fabrication of woollen articles, 
 and comprehends by far the larger proportion of the 
 wool of the island ; the second comprehends the lon- 
 ger pile, that which is suitable to worsted goods; and 
 the other is confined to wool of a medium length, 
 that which is used in the hose trade. The number 
 of sorts, into which the fleeces of each class are divid- 
 ed, is always arbitrary ; but custom has introduced 
 an imperfect kind of system to which most staplers 
 conform. The number of sections adopted in the 
 hose trade is generally about six or seven, and the 
 names applied to them are only two, Drawing and 
 Matching, but distinguished in the inferior divisions 
 by the epithets common, fine, blue, brown and 
 super. The fleeces suitable to worsted goods, when 
 
 considered 
 
143 
 
 considered upon a scale comprehending most of that 
 kind of wool produced in the kingdom, admit of 
 about sixteen sorts, half of them obtained from the 
 wool of sheep which have been shorn more than once, 
 and the others from Hog fleeces. Those who break 
 the shorter wools, sometimes make about seventeen 
 different divisions in a pile of fleeces, and very few 
 staplers, even those who purchase the inferior parcels 
 of this description, reckon fewer than nine sorts ; but 
 manufacturers sometimes content themselves with 
 three or four distinctions. The names which in the 
 east of the kingdom are commonly applied to the 
 sorts broken out of small fleeces, furnish a curious 
 illustration of the increasing fineness of the pile since 
 the art of sorting was first made a distinct occupa- 
 tion, and likewise of the growing skill of the work- 
 man, who has almost constantly endeavoured to dis- 
 criminate the size of the hair with greater exactness. 
 The name of the lowest sort, or 
 
 No. 1. Is Short- Coarse ; and very descriptive of 
 its character. 
 
 2. Livery. \ Old sorts into which the fleece was 
 
 3. Abb . ) formerly divided. 
 
 4. Second . Probably a second or better abb, and 
 the first alteration in the mode of sorting, which 
 arose either from the improvement ot fleeces, or in 
 the art of breaking them. This and all the subse- 
 quent names seem to have been in their regular suc- 
 cession at the top of the list. 
 
 .5. Downrights. Perhaps intended to convey the 
 idea of superlative perfection. 
 
 6. Head. Or chief. 
 
 7. Super-Head . An advance upon the preceding 
 sort. 
 
 8 . Picked 
 
143 
 
 8. Picked-Lock . First made perhaps in small 
 quantities. 
 
 9. Choice-Lock Still more excellent. 
 
 10. Prime-Lock. The last sort introduced into 
 the list, and in one instance called Pic-Nic ; allud- 
 ing to the celebrated society of that name. 
 
 The names of the others are derived from these ; 
 and the sorts which they represent are introduced into 
 those parts of the scale where the divisions of it were 
 sufficiently wide to admit them. They are describ- 
 ed as a Better Livery, Small Abb, Best Second, and 
 by other epithets of the same kind. This catalogue 
 of sorts rises according to the hair or fineness of the 
 pile, and is calculated to receive that portion of the 
 fleece which isadapted to clothsof the lighter colours ; 
 and in order to receive what is suitable only to the 
 stronger tints, we run parallel to it a list of sorts 
 usually denominated Greys, of the first, second, and 
 third order. The French manufacturers, who are 
 sometimes very exact in their mode of sorting, par- 
 ticularly for the more delicate branches of the manu- 
 factures, have been recommended by M. D’Auben« 
 ton to make use of a micrometer, in order to asser- 
 tain the size of the hair with more perfect nicety. 
 The pile of my own sorts, when examined by means 
 of a lens applied to a graduated scale, generally 
 arranges itself within the following dimensions. 
 The Breech or Short coarse, receives all the short, and 
 very inferior locks, and the Livery, those of a finer 
 kind ; but with a considerable latitude of hair. The 
 diameter of the pile in all the others will be re- 
 presented if we divide an inch, which we consider 
 as unity, by the number annexed to each of the 
 names. 
 
 Better 
 
144 
 
 Be tier -Livery by six hundred. 
 
 Fine-Grey — seven hundred and twenty. 
 
 Seconds — eight hundred. 
 
 Downrighis — nine hundred and twenty. 
 
 Head — one thousand. 
 
 Super — eleven hundred and sixty. 
 
 Picked-Lock — twelve hundred and eighty. 
 
 Choice — fourteen hundred. 
 
 A sample of moderately fine Spanish wool reach- 
 ed sixteen hundred. 
 
 These numbers are the average of several repeat- 
 ed measurements, and are considered by me as the 
 standard of the sorts to whose names they are affixed. 
 
 It is the object of the woolstapler, when he pur- 
 chases fleeces, to obtain at a given price as large a 
 proportion as possible of the superior sorts. With him 
 the fineness of the pile is the first consideration, and 
 the manufacturers his customers can always work up 
 wool of the first quality, if they could obtain it at a 
 price which would allow them to meet the market. 
 The thinness of the hair can very seldom if ever be 
 considered as a detriment to the fleece, but coarse- 
 ness very frequentty unfits it for a variety of pur- 
 poses. In his search for wool of a superior quality, 
 the stapler is perpetually urged by the increasing 
 demand for goods of the most delicate texture ; and 
 it should induce the grower to collect from his flocks 
 fleeces distinguished by their superior excellency. 
 The consumption of Spanish wool amongst us 
 strongly evinces that when a taste for fine cloths 
 prevails, the materials will be obtained by the manu- 
 facturer, even though the use of them tend to dis- 
 courage our own wool-growers, and to supersede 
 the necessity of our native produce. Nor is there 
 
 any 
 
145 
 
 any danger to be apprehended, lest the cultivation 
 of fine wool should leave our coarser fabrics with- 
 out the supply which they require, for the richer 
 soils of the kingdom will continue to be stocked with 
 a race of sheep, whose pile will not for many ages be 
 adapted to delicate manufactures ; and in proportion 
 as farms improve in the low lands of Scotland, and 
 almost through every district in Ireland, we may 
 expect that the fleeces they yield will be better 
 adapted to those purposes for which the middle wools 
 of England are at present employed. But should it be 
 necessary to import the coarser article, it would be 
 much more advantageous to purchase of foreigners 
 what is easy to be procured from many countries, 
 than to depend upon one haughty nation, subjugated 
 to the councils of our rivals. 
 
 In the present state of the W'oollen manufacture, 
 the length of the staple is an object of very consider- 
 able importance. It is that which destines the fleece 
 to fabrics very different in their nature, and produced 
 by instruments of dissimilar construction. It will be 
 difficult to convey to those who are not acquainted 
 with the structure of the card and the comb, an idea 
 of the mode in which they are managed, and the 
 purposesfor which they are used, sufficiently accurate 
 to enable them to conceive the object of the manu- 
 facturer, or the qualities of the wool suited to their 
 respective operations. The card is a small oblong 
 board, furnished with a great number of short crook- 
 ed wdres or hooked teeth, upon which the wool to be 
 wrought is bung by drawing it over them in a direc- 
 tion contrary ^to that in which the hooks are bended. 
 When full the instrument is placed upon the thigh 
 of the workman with the teeth upwards, and held 
 
 there 
 
146 
 
 there by the left hand, assisted by a handle attached 
 to the card, while another card of similar construc- 
 tion, having the teeth downwards, and in a direction 
 opposite to those of the first, is drawn over it with 
 the right hand. The operation is continued until 
 the workman thinks the wool completely torn be- 
 tween the teeth, broken and blended ; when by a 
 particular mode of taking it from these instruments, 
 he renders it fit for the spinning wheel. The object 
 here is to break the wool completely, to blend it most 
 intimately, and to form it into a thin roll, or “ rovell- 
 ing,” of the slightest texture imaginable, held to- 
 gether only by the natural hookedness of the pile, or 
 that disposition which it has to assume a zig zag, or 
 waved form. Hence it is evident that the two chief 
 qualities, which carding wool requires, is shortness 
 of pile, and a disposition in the hair to assume a crum- 
 pled or spring-like shape. If the first of these be ill 
 adapted , labour becomes necessary to reduce the immo- 
 derate length of the staple ; agreaterexpenceis incur- 
 red, andmoretimeisemployedinworkingit; conside- 
 rations which always have their weight among clo- 
 thiers, and ought not to be disregarded by thegrazier. 
 It appears scarcely possible that the staple of clothing 
 wool, at least that part of it employed in the manu- 
 facture of the finer fabrics, should be too short if it 
 possess only that degree of crumpledness, which will 
 enable it to form a roveling. One great advantage 
 of the modern machinery arises from the more com- 
 plete and uniform manner in which the staple is 
 broken ; and the chief point of attention in the scrib- 
 ler is to break it no faither than the hookedness of the 
 pile will adc.n 
 
 This peculiar shriveling quality in wool cannot 
 
 prevail 
 
147 
 
 prevail in too high a degree, if it be destined to make 
 any kind of goods which require a close and smooth 
 surface ; for the greater number of the minute curves 
 which it contains in a given length of the pile, so 
 much the more it may be broken without injury, and 
 every portion retain a sufficient degree of curvature 
 to link itself with its neighbours, forming an incon- 
 ceivably thin and transparent texture. The thinner 
 this texture can be produced, and the greater de- 
 gree of surface that can be given to it, so much the 
 longer thread will it yield, and the cloth made from 
 it partake of a proportionable degree of delicacy. 
 The necessity of this singular property of clothing 
 wool is obvious from the manner in which hair, 
 a straightand smooth pile, is dissipated when wrought 
 upon the same engines; the particles possessing no 
 means of uniting themselves together drop singly from 
 the machine, produce no roveliing, and cannot be 
 spun in the same manner as a woollen thread. When 
 the pile is intended to form some of those fabrics 
 distinguished by a long and even knap, such as 
 blankets and cloths intended for large surtouts, too 
 great a proportion of this shriveling quality might be 
 detrimental, by rendering the knap less uniform and 
 compact. Butin the surfaces, which remain loose and 
 carefully disarranged, if I may be allowed the ex- 
 pression, as in the instances of cloths for light great 
 coats, frizes and swan-downs, it is highly useful ; 
 and this variety among other circumstances plainly 
 suggests how desirable it is that wool should be pro- 
 duced for a definite purpose, and not as it generally 
 is at random, and possessing properties of which the 
 grower is either entirely ignorant, or observing them 
 knows not their value nor their use, 
 
 N 
 
 Yet 
 
143 
 
 Yet the cultivator of wool must not suppose that 
 -every kind of curvature, which he observes in the 
 fleeces of his sheep, is a sypmtom of aptness in 
 the broken pile to link together, and form a rovel- 
 ling, the first rudiment of the thread ; for there is a 
 sort of crumpledness in the staple, which the clothier 
 avoids with almost as much care as he employs in 
 seeking for the other kind. It is distinguished by a 
 singular adaptation of the curves in the pile to each 
 other, as though they had been formed by some ex- 
 ternal pressure upon the staple, and not by a cause 
 affecting every individual hair separately as it passed 
 through the pores of the skin. The distribution of 
 the hair in staples of this description bears some 
 resemblance to that of the grain in a very crooked 
 piece of timber, or perhaps it is more exactly like 
 waved bars of metal formed in such a manner, that 
 the convex part of one fits into the concavity of ano- 
 ther. We can assign no reason why this kind of 
 wool should be disapproved, unless it arise from the 
 superior length of the curves, by which means the 
 staple cannot be broken so much as it ought to be, 
 and every portion still retain its power of uniting with 
 those^which are near to it ; this peculiarity however is 
 Itnown to be detrimental, and ought to be avoided. 
 In some of the finer kinds of wool possessing this 
 shriveling property in a high degree, the chord sub- 
 tending the arc, is sometimes not longer than the 
 hundredth part of an inch ; but in those of inferior 
 quality, where the curvature is not of the most va- 
 luable kind, the chord, or distance between one ex- 
 treme point of the curve and the other, will measure 
 the sixteenth and sometimes even the eighth part of 
 an inch. This great difference in the arcs is easily 
 
 discernable 
 
TABLE, No, II. 
 
 SHEWING THE QUALITY OF ENGLISH WOOL, ARRANGED IN 
 /CLASSES ACCORDING TO THE FINENESS OF ITS PILE. 
 
 CLASS— No. .1. 
 
 Packs. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Packs. 
 
 York, West-Riding 
 
 6678 
 
 Cambridge, 
 
 1128 
 
 — East Do. 
 
 6380 
 
 Hunts, 
 
 2000 
 
 — North Do. 
 
 5939 
 
 Beds, 
 
 4250 
 
 Westmoreland. 
 
 3262 
 
 Kent, 
 
 7000 
 
 Cumberland, 
 
 5915 
 
 Hants, 
 
 7257 
 
 Lincoln, 
 
 2833 
 
 Devon, 
 
 Cornwall, 
 
 7280 
 
 3382 
 
 
 31007 
 
 Berkshire, 
 
 Oxford, 
 
 4151 
 
 5303 
 
 No. III. 
 
 
 Bucks, 
 
 2787 
 
 Essex, 
 
 6486 
 
 Harts, 
 
 5297 
 
 Surrey, 
 
 3540 
 
 Middlesex, 
 
 750 
 
 Wilts, 
 
 8144 
 
 Stafford, 
 
 1526 
 
 Dorset, 
 
 9880 
 
 Warwick, 
 
 2287 
 
 Somerset, 
 
 9388 
 
 Leicester, 
 
 291 
 
 ■^Gloucester, 
 
 5400 
 
 Nottingham, 
 
 4112 
 
 Monmouth, 
 
 1431 
 
 * Derby, 
 
 4530 
 
 Worcester, 
 
 4820 
 
 Chester, 
 
 926 
 
 Shropshire, 
 
 4397 
 
 ^Lancaster, 
 
 ^Durham, 
 
 4522 
 
 3320 
 
 
 53486 
 
 ■^Northumberland, 
 Nortii Wales, 
 
 12333 
 
 5692 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Norfolk, 
 
 5697 
 
 South Do. 
 
 3570 
 
 Suffolk, 
 
 5176 
 
 
 93694 
 
 ^Sussex, 
 
 Hereford, 
 
 9477 
 
 4200 
 
 
 
 24550 
 
 THE AVERAGE QUALITY, 
 
 Of short wool is 1 Inch divided by 871, value 15/. 
 Of short fleeces, 885, 
 
 Of long wool, 600, value 13/. 
 
 TOTAL VALUE OF ENGLISH WOOL. 
 
 245,290 Packs of short Wool at =£1 5 <=£3,679,350 
 
 137,228 Do. long Do. 13 1,783,964 
 
 10,718 Do. lamb’s Do. 10 107,180 
 
 393,236 Packs. Total £5, 570,494 
 
 The Slaughter of short-wooled sheep is 4,221,748 per ann. 
 
 Carrion of Do. 211,087 
 
 Slaughter of long-wooled Sheep, 1, 1 80,4 13 
 
 Carrion of Do, 59,02(3 
 
 Slaughter of Lambs 4,400,560 
 
 Carrion of Do. 70,028 
 
 7,142,856 
 
 The number of Lambs yeaned per ann. is 7,002,802 
 Annual decrease, 140,054 
 
 7,142,856 
 
 (Tit face p. 143 ,J 
 

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 y { ■ ; . 
 
 u. . 
 
 *oe,c.8ii 
 
 o : toi 
 
 
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 ■I Oft ■ I'toT 
 
149 
 
 diseernable by every untaught eye, and most espe^ 
 eially deserves the notice of the grower. He will 
 find specimens of the inferior "kind most frequent in 
 fleeces which have been shorn from a sheep, the pro- 
 duce of very dissimilar progenitor's. 
 
 No means have yet been discovered of communi- 
 cating this peculiarly valuable and nameless pro- 
 perty to wool, in which it does not naturally subsist. 
 We depend therefore upon the breeder alone to pro- 
 cure it, and are solicitous that in the various combi- 
 nations of blood, which he is continually forming in 
 his flock, that he should not loose sight of one of the 
 distinguishing characteristics of wool, and that he 
 should promote this as well as every other valu- 
 able quality with the utmost care. In a country 
 where the carcase of the sheep is more valuable than 
 its pile, and where the cultivation of wool is at most 
 only the secondary object of the farmer’s care, it is 
 desirable to render the blood as perfect as possible, 
 in order that we may obtain from it without labour 
 even the minute excellencies of wool. But in Bucha- 
 ria, where the shepherd is more solicitous about the 
 fleece than the health or even the life of his sheep, 
 artificial means are used to produce something like 
 this shrivelling property, deemed so valuable in these 
 western regions. There the lamb so soon as it is 
 yeaned, is wrapped in linen bandages, is exposed to 
 the sun and has water pouredmpon it every day. As 
 it increases in size, the fiilets are gradually loosened, 
 yet so as to preserve at all times a considerable pres- 
 sure upon the wool. By these means the pile is com- 
 pressed to the skin, and assumes a waved or damasked 
 appearance, which is esteemed its supreme excel- 
 lency. If it could be supposed that this compressure 
 N 2 * of 
 
150 
 
 of the fleece produces that kind of crumpledness, 
 which is considered as an excellent quality in English 
 wool, the process would be too expensive and trouble- 
 some for our shepherds, and the superior price for 
 which such wool could be sold not adequate to re- 
 imburse them. But it is most probable that we should 
 And, if we had oportunities of examining’the Bucha- 
 rian fleece, that it was not at all more adapted to the 
 woollen manufacture than it would have been, had 
 no such pains been taken with it. 
 
 Most of the wool produced at present in these 
 kingdoms is too long for the perfect operation of the 
 card, and the first process through which it passes 
 after it has left the hands of the stapler is calculated 
 to shorten it. This is the precise object of the 
 structure and the use of the first engines, to which the 
 pile is submitted. But the grower has a much more 
 ready and less expensive remedy in his power ; for 
 he can easily cultivate a race of sheep whose coat 
 shall be sufficiently short for the nicest purpose, or 
 he can shear it more frequently than once ayear, even 
 before it has attained half its length. Yet he should 
 be very careful how he adopts a measure of this kind, 
 for he will observe that the wool of the second clip- 
 ping of one season will not be exactly like that which 
 he procured at the other. Although somewhat in- 
 ferior in quality, in the hand of an expert manu- 
 facturer it may be applied to excellent purposes. 
 If inclined to try the experiment, which is by no 
 means a new one, the shepherd will naturally consider 
 whether the state of his flock, the nature of the sea- 
 son, and the climature of his farm will admit of it. 
 
 The wool intended for the manufacture of worsted 
 goods of any description, is first reduced to a proper 
 
 state 
 
151 
 
 state for spinning by means of the comb, an instru- 
 ment very different from the card, both in its struc- 
 ture and operation. It consists chiefly of a piece 
 of wood shaped very much like the letter T. Through 
 the head or transverse part of it, which is generally 
 about three incheshroad, a number of very long sharp 
 teeth are thrust. They are finely tapered, made of 
 well tempered steel, and generally arranged in three 
 rows about thirty in each, and placed nearly at right 
 angles to every part of the wood. The handle of the 
 comb is represented by the perpendicular part of the 
 letter. In using this instrument, the wool is care- 
 fully hung upon the teeth in such a manner as to 
 project over the front of the head; when sufficiently 
 filled and firmly fixed, another comb of the same 
 kind is drawn through the wool so as to unravel and 
 lay each hair of it smooth and even. If we consider 
 the full comb as the human head disgraced by a quan- 
 tity of neglected, Jong and dishevelled hair, which 
 we reduce to its natural and elegant order, we shall 
 have a very just idea of the operation and the use of 
 this instrument in the worsted manufacture. The 
 very name shows its origine, application and use. 
 
 But the comb is used for another purpose than 
 merely to lay the pile straight and even ; for the 
 staple of long wool commonly contains a consider- 
 able number of hairs shorter than the generality of 
 those which compose the fleece, and also a number 
 of long ones which are tied in natural and indissolu- 
 ble knots, highly prejudical when wrought into the 
 worsted threads. These are collected by the pro- 
 cess of combing betwixt the teeth of the instrument, 
 and by a very curious and dexterous mode adopted 
 to strip the comb of its longer pile, the workman 
 N 3 . leaves 
 
152 
 
 leaves them there until he has disposed of the long 
 clear and valuable wool extracted by his fingers, 
 and which from an old English word most aptly 
 denoting the shape he has given to it, is denominated 
 a sliver. When the instrument is cleared from the 
 knots or noil, it is ready to repeat the operation. 
 The comb therefore evidently requires that the wool, 
 to which it is applied, possess sufficient length to 
 permit its arrangement upon the teeth, strength or 
 toughness enough to endure without being broken 
 the muscular force necessary to draw the instrument 
 through it, and such a degree of curvedness as will 
 enable it to form a close and compact sliver. 
 
 Even to this day the comb is almost in its simple 
 state, very few alterations have been made either in 
 its structure or dimensions from the time when it was 
 brought into Europe ; and perhaps this is the princi- 
 pal reason why we find so little difference in the hair 
 of long fleeces with respect to its fineness. By far 
 the greater proportion of this kind of wool produced in 
 England, when the pile is accurately measured, varies 
 only about the two hundredth part of an inch. The 
 diameter of the hair is seldom larger than the space 
 denoted by an unit when the inch is divided by six 
 hundred; it is commonly not finer than that measure di- 
 vided by eight hundred ; a very small quantity selected 
 from fleeces of a shorter description, and submitted to 
 the operation of the comb, will reach a thousand. To 
 manufacture fine wool by means of this instrument, its 
 structure must be less coarse, the teeth finer, shorter 
 and placed more nearly together ; the “load” applied 
 to them considerably smaller, and should be wrought 
 by a less nervous arm. But t he manufacturers of 
 worsted yarn are the best qualified to decide upon con- 
 jectures 
 
153 
 
 jectures of this nature, and I presume not to trespass 
 upon their peculiar province, being satisfied with 
 expressing an idea worthy of attention and calculat- 
 ed I hope to excite it. In general if there be a de- 
 mand for yarn of a finer quality than is commonly pro- 
 duced, and for goods of a superior texture, manu- 
 facturers, unless chargeable with a culpable want of 
 commercial spirit, are always ready to seek, and de- 
 termined if possible to obtain the one and to fabricate 
 the other. When this laudable zeal is excited and 
 encouraged, the raw materials necessary to the per- 
 fection of the articles in demand are speedily either 
 procured from abroad, or produced at home, and 
 instruments adapted to the completion of the fabrics 
 are improved or invented. 
 
 Yet it seems to be peculiarly difficult to apply the 
 powers of mechanism to the manufacture of the finer 
 sorts of worsted yarn, for although long since em- 
 ployed in the fabrication of almost every article of 
 woollen goods, and even adopted with considerable 
 success in spinning the coarser numbers of worsteds, 
 yet the comb and the Catherine wheel are the only 
 instruments to this day employed to furnish the 
 more attenuated threads. Perhaps the very nice 
 adjustment of the comber’s muscles when he draw's 
 the sliver, and the adaptation of the spinner’s 
 motion to the length and the tenuity of the pile, 
 when she extends her thread, require a dexterity, 
 the result of habit rather than of judgment, which is 
 not compatible with the unvaried action of an unin* 
 telligent machine. 
 
 It is necessary that the combing wools of our 
 country possess some degree of curvature, or dispo- 
 sition to contract the length of the pile, for without it 
 
 the 
 
154 
 
 the workman could not form his sliver; but it is not 
 desirable that this property should greatly prevail- 
 The reason why long wool should differ so essentially 
 from the pile of shorter fleeces will be easily under- 
 stood, if we attend to the operation of the spinning 
 wheel. In twisting a woollen thread, where the 
 staple has been previously broken and the fragments 
 of it, in the utmost disorder, are united only by their 
 natural hooked ness, the turning of the wheel rolls 
 them together without arrangement, and when placed 
 in every possible direction. But in spinning a 
 worsted thread, where every hair has been previously 
 disposed by the side of others in the most regular 
 order, the pile is drawn out in the direction of its 
 length, every single hair being parallel to all those 
 which lie near it, and is twisted in a spiral form, 
 something like the threads of a compound screw. 
 If those hairs contracted their length in any con- 
 siderable degree, they could not be correctly arang- 
 ed nor drawn out in that regular order, which the 
 work requires, but would be twisted into the thread 
 in an irregular and crumpled form ; a circumstance 
 injurious to the yarn, and to the goods which are 
 made from it. 
 
 This general account of the different processes 
 through which wool passes in the first stages of the 
 manufacture, I trust, will be intelligible to every one, 
 and sufficient to convince the grower that the good 
 qualities of the fleece are not of a capricious kind ; 
 that wool cannot be employed arbitrarily to any pur- 
 pose which the manufacturer may choose, but that 
 nature points out its peculiar destination ; that the 
 workman is obliged to take the raw material with all 
 its defects, and apply it to uses for which it is best 
 
 adapted 
 
1 55 
 
 adapted, although he observe in it qualities which 
 injure his fabrics, and lament that it is not possible 
 for his utmost skill and industry to counteract their 
 effects. Thus situated, he looks anxiously to the 
 grower for assistance, as to the only person who can 
 change the properties of the fleece, and produce a 
 perfect staple, most reasonably supposing that his 
 wants should be attended to and his wishes grati- 
 fied. Perhaps the independent spirit of the ma_- 
 nufacturer might be mortified, if we hinted that 
 he is the workman of the shepherd, or we could 
 ask the farmer if he be not extremely solicitous to 
 sow good seed, in order that he may furnish the 
 miller and the meaiman with a prime article, while 
 he is reproachfully careless of the quality of that 
 commodity, with which he supplies the comber, the 
 spinner and the weaver. 
 
 The length of pile suited to the comb is upwards 
 of four inches. The hose trade requires a consider- 
 able share of that which measures from four inches to 
 eight, and the longer kind is usually destined to the 
 fabrication of worsted yarn ; an article which admits 
 of very great variety in the mode of its manufacture. 
 The shorter staple is applicable to woollen goods 
 of almost every description, which beside the whole 
 quantity of this sort of fleeces produced at home, 
 require very large importations from abroad ; and no 
 inconsiderable quantity of that pile which has been 
 grown to the length of combing wool is submitted 
 to the operation of the card. ’Tis chiefly that how- 
 ever which possesses the contracting property in too 
 great a degree ; which is too weak for the comb, or 
 is used to produce articles requiring along and well- 
 raised knap. 
 
 Graziers 
 
158 
 
 Graziers are able to increase the length of staple 
 by various means. Most of them having been men- 
 tioned already, it will be sufficient here barely to 
 repeat them. The management of the breed is not 
 only the most natural and easy method, but that also 
 which is most usually adopted. Its effects are more per- 
 manent than others, which are sometimes resorted to, 
 but less pure from deleterious influence; for it is notnn- 
 frequently observed that the ram communicating to his 
 offspring an increased length of staple, gives to it also 
 a coarser pile. Feeding the sheep upon the richer 
 grasses, upon turnips and oil cake, thus forcing both 
 the carcase and the fleece, seems to be a method of 
 increasing the length of wool free from contaminating 
 influence, but requires the animal to be constantly 
 supported, even to the point of luxurious feeding ; 
 and the effects of the system remain no longer than it 
 is continued. Another method of increasing the 
 length of the staple pointed out by nature, but seldom, 
 perhaps never adopted with this particular design, 
 is to keep the wool upon theback of the sheep through 
 two whole years ; it requires only care that the ani- 
 mal be not injured by cold or by hunger, during the 
 period that the fleece is growing. 
 
 Judging from my own limited acquaintance with 
 the state of the worsted manufacture, it appears de- 
 sirable that wool-growers should furnish a larger quan- 
 tity both of those coarse and heavy fleeces wffiich 
 are adapted to the manufacture of the inferior arti- 
 cles ; and also of that superfine staple, which is ap- 
 plicable to Crape, Bombazine, Shawls, and some of 
 the other delicate textures of the Norwich loom. It 
 is greatly to be wished that the delicacy of these 
 fabrics could be carried to a higher degree of per- 
 
 fection^ 
 
157 
 
 fcction, and that every effort should be made for the 
 adaptation of the modern machinery to yarn of a 
 superior quality. If this could be effected, it would 
 contribute more perhaps than any other circumstance 
 j to the revival of our worsted manufactures; would 
 enable them to rival some of the costly fabrics of 
 India; and more successfully to resist the overbear- 
 ing influence of cotton goods. We do not wish to 
 recommend measures calculated to diminish the ma- 
 j nufacture of even this foreign material, or to impede 
 its progress, but cannot without regret observe 
 || that it prevails to the absolute destruction of a taste 
 for worsted fabrics. 
 
 The pliability of wool is another of those qualities 
 
 I in the staple, which deserve the closest attention of 
 the shepherd, being esteemed by the manufacturer 
 an essential property. All inflexible and brittle 
 substances are evidently unfit for many of the opera- 
 tions, through which wool must pass before it can be 
 brought to that finished state of manufacture, which 
 is intimately connected with the comfort and the ele- 
 gance of life. It is impossible to produce from them 
 a long extended thread, whose tenuity and compact- 
 ness shall fit it for the action of the loom, the fulling 
 : mill and the press. Indeed for many articles of the 
 woollen manufacture the pile cannot possess too much 
 pliability, if it does not loose that tendency to contract 
 j its length and assume a crumpled form, which we 
 have already described as one of the best qualities of 
 the shorter staples. In the finer specimens of the 
 Spanish wool, these two properties are admirably 
 :! adjusted, the curvature of the pile is most delicate 
 (> and true, its plastic quality is extolled to almost pro- 
 verbial triteness; but the staple of most British fleeces 
 
 is 
 
 
158 
 
 is complained of as stubborn and elastic, counteract- 
 ing the effects, which the spinning wheel should pro- 
 duce, and rendering the thread loose and bristly. 
 Yet it must be recollected that woollen articles re- 
 quire a great variety in the degrees of elasticity, 
 possessed by the wool from which they are made. 
 Those designed to withstand the extreme rigours of 
 the winter season, such as blankets and fearnoughts, 
 as well as shags and some sorts of carpeting, re- 
 quire a very large proportion of it, such as will enable 
 the workman to form a long and swelling knap ; but 
 in the finer and thinner fabrics, whose surface is in- 
 tended to be highly polished, a great degree of elas- 
 ticity is very injurious. It always causes these sub- 
 stances to feel hard and prickly, because the ends of 
 the hair starting from the body of the thread, and 
 projecting from the surface of the cloth, affect the 
 sense of feeling exactly like an immense number of 
 short acute points fixed there. In finishing goods of 
 almost every description, both of woollens and 
 worsteds, excepting those already mentioned, the re- 
 duction of this extreme elasticity is one object among 
 others of the workman’s care. For this purpose lie 
 employs the shears, the singing stoves and the press 
 with its heated plates, and is able by these aids united 
 with great industry to form a furface smooth, soft 
 and glossy ; but the effect he produces upon strongly 
 elastic wool is little more than temporary, since 
 moisture restores its former stubbornness, and deprives 
 it of that gloss which had been impressed upon it. 
 The effect of heat upon wool is very singular, for 
 when applied in a moderately high degree, it seems 
 to furnish the pile with the power of expanding itself, 
 as though it excited a mutual repulsion betwixt the 
 
 hairs 
 
159 
 
 hairs of which the staple is composed, and is often 
 made use of in the processes of the woollen and 
 worsted manufactures with great advantage, and 
 when united with pressure it serves to fix the pile in 
 the artificial direction which is given to it; an effect 
 familiarly illustrated by the curling irons of the 
 friseur. The adjustment of this neglected property 
 may be recommended to the wool-grower’s attention 
 with great proprietjr, because if we may judge from 
 some of the fleeces produced by the most celebrated 
 breeds, it is as much connected with the blood of the 
 animal as any other quality which can be communi- 
 cated from the parents to the offspring, and is a very 
 weighty consideration when we are estimating the 
 perfection of the pile. 
 
 The short account before given of the manner in 
 which wool is combed, and of the effect which the 
 card is intended to produce upon it, will convey to 
 those who have not been familiar with these processes, 
 some idea of the value of a proper degree of toughness 
 in the pile. If the staple be weak and easily broken 
 asunder, it will not be able to endure the force which 
 is necessary to drag the comb through it. Breaking 
 to pieces in the operation, the fragments, collect in the 
 instrument and form only a noil, an article of no use 
 in the fabrication of worsteds. The grazier may 
 easily perceive when his combing wool is too weak, 
 for if the staple break when strongly pulled with 
 the fingers of both hands, he may always conclude 
 that it is ill adapted to the manufacture of worsteds, 
 and most commonly rendered totally unfit for it. If 
 he attempt to promote the growth of a superior kind 
 of long wool, it is of the utmost consequence that he 
 notice the strength and soundness of the staple ; for 
 
 O if 
 
 
160 
 
 if the fleeces, which he has cultivated with care and 
 whose length of pile he has increased, be not suffi- 
 ciently strong for the comb, he has not only failed to 
 attain his object, but has greatly injured his wool. 
 Peculiar care is necessary also, when the proprietor 1 
 of a long-woolled flock attempts to render the pile 
 finer by a selection of rams carrying a smaller fleece, 
 for there are only few breeds in the kingdom, which 
 yield fleeces at once fine and sufficiently strong for 
 the comb. A sensible wool-stapler who has long ob- 
 served the English fleece, and whose judgment and 
 candour I have heard spoken of among spirited agri- 
 culturists with the respect they deserve, writing 
 upon this subject, complains that by the improvement 
 of sheep in the counties of Huntingdon, Northamp- 
 ton, Leicester and Lincoln, the qualities of the staple j 
 have been greatly injured, that the wool is rendered j 
 too weak for the old established manufactures, and ' 
 adds “ this is an evil that must soon remedy itself 
 for deep strong wool will become the most valuable.” 
 But on the contrary, the carding wools ought 
 not to possess too great a degree of strength or tough- 
 ness, because the first process through which they 
 pass, is designed to break the pile into small frag- 
 ments, which is by no means accomplished when 
 the strength of the hair is sufficient to endure the 
 force applied to it with the card, and enables it by ; 
 passing through the interstices of the teeth to avoid i 
 their proper action. Nor should it be supposed 
 that the shorter pile cannot be too tender, for 
 it is sometimes found so decayed as to be broken, 
 when passing through the engine, more minutely 
 than the natural hookedness -of the staple will admit j 
 of, it is then easily dissipated by the motion of the | 
 
 cylinders j 
 
161 
 
 cylinders and wasted ; nor will the cloth, unless the 
 wool of which it is made possess some considerable 
 toughness, endure without injury the violent strokes 
 of the fulling mill. 
 
 Notechnical name, I believe, has yet been given to 
 the felting quality of the fleece, although it has been 
 long applied to useful purposes, and is of essential 
 I importance in the fabrication of many kinds of woollen 
 j goods. It is the basis upon which the hat manufacture 
 depends among ourselves, and has for many ages been 
 applied abroad to the production of pieces of domes- 
 I tic furniture. In the fabrication of worsted goods it 
 ! isnot employed, nor is it necessary in the manufacture 
 ' of stockings, blankets, baize, flannels, nor any 
 other article not submitted to the action of the fill- 
 I ling mill. In some of them, when made of wool in 
 I which it abounds, the housewife finds great inconve- 
 I nience, and complains that her stockings and her 
 flannels become too small for the wearer. From the 
 different modes of manufacturing these articles, we 
 may conclude that in general the felting quality is a 
 valuable one in almost every description of fine and 
 short stapled fleeces, and that it is not desarable in 
 the greater part of the longer and coarser wools. 
 There are few circumstances, in which the breeds of 
 sheep most commonly met with in these islands, dif- 
 fer more from each other than in their power of 
 yielding a fleece, which possesses fully, or is par- 
 tially destitute of this valuable property. It may her 
 described as a tendency in the pile, when submitted 
 to moderate heat combined with moisture, to cohere; 
 together and form a compact and pliable substance. 
 Bui this property does not belong exclusively to the 
 pile of the sheep, the hair of other animals, parti- 
 O 2 cularly 
 
1 62 
 
 eularly the camel, the dromedary, the goat and the 
 beaver are known to possess it in a high degree; 
 perhaps few of the shorter furs are entirely destitute 
 of it, although the longer hair, and that which has a 
 polished and hard surface with a great degree of 
 brittleness exhibit only slight symptoms of its exis- 
 tence. I have never yet traced it in the hair of the 
 human head, except in the disordered state of it com- 
 mon in Poland, nor in that which is cut from the 
 necks and tails of horses, nor in the bristles of the 
 hog, although each of them have been observed mi- 
 nutely in the growing, the raw, and manufactured 
 state. 
 
 Among the animals whose furs possess this valua- 
 able property, the sheep is most distinguished; and 
 if we may draw the conclusion from the quantity of 
 felts used through all parts of the East, and the easy 
 method in which some of them are formed, it seems 
 that the wool of western Asia is not destitute of 
 it ; that of France possesses it in a distinguish- 
 ed measure, and the envied produce of Spain sur- 
 passes that of neighbouring countries in this as in 
 most other excellencies. From the fleeces of Eng- 
 land, those have been selected as the best adapted to 
 the fulling mill, which are obtained from the Norfolk, 
 the Morf and the Cheviot breeds of sheep; while the 
 South-Downs have been generally decried as produc- 
 ing a kind of wool, notwithstanding all that has been 
 said in their favour, notoriously deficient at least of 
 this good quality. Perhaps it may be owing in some 
 measure to the chalkiness of the land upon which 
 these sheep pasture, for we have observed that both 
 these and the Wiltshire breed, when removed to dif- 
 ferent soils, produce a wool, which thickens in the 
 
 fulling 
 
1 63 
 
 fulling mill, although it proceeds more slowly in the 
 operation than the pile of some other families. We 
 must not conclude from this circumstance, that the 
 difference observed in the felting quality of fleeces 
 is entirely owing to the land, because w r e find upon 
 soils known not to be injurious to wool different 
 kindsof sheep, whose fleeces do not possessthis quality- 
 in an equal degree. Graziers might easily ascertain to 
 what cause the dissimilarity is owing ; and surely 
 when the South-Down breed is diffusing itself so 
 widely over the country, it becomes the breeders of 
 Sussex to wipe off” every reproach from their stock. 
 
 The felting qualit)’ of wool is not evident to the 
 eye; and though there be some very general appear- 
 ances, which indicate the existence of the property 
 or its absence, yet they are so vague, that the best 
 judges of wool consider this as a point to be asceiv 
 tained only by trial. The application of moisture, 
 warmth and pressure, is the most usual mode of 
 bringing the quality into action. Without the aid 
 of the first, it remains perfectly dormant; the two 
 latter are employed to quicken the process. The 
 tendency of thread of almost every description to 
 contract its length as it imbibes moisture, has not 
 only been generally known, but some kinds are con- 
 sidered as acting so regularly, and so susceptible 
 even of the slightest alteration m the cause which 
 
 affects them, as to authorize their application to the 
 most accurate purposes of Natural Philosopher. But 
 the woollen thread possesses the quality of retaining 
 its contraction after the cause which produced it has 
 teased to operate, while most others, such as lines of 
 catgut, horse hair, linen, hemp and cotton assume their 
 former length. We know too little at present to 
 O 3 enable 
 
 o 
 
164 
 
 enable us to assign the cause of this permanent con- 
 traction ; but conjecture that it is owing to the par- 
 ticles of the thread, which are brought into actual 
 contact with each other, cohering exactly upon the 
 same principle as the leaden balls do in the common 
 experiment, so often exhibited in lectures upon 
 Natural Philosoph}', to illustrate the attractive power 
 of bodies. In this experiment, it is necessary to clear 
 the lead from all foreign substances, at least in the 
 points where the balls touch each other ; but in the 
 felting of wool, on the contrary, it is equally necessary 
 to use some fluid, which intimately mingles itself with 
 the pile and promotes the attraction, as oil does when 
 infused for the same purpose between two plates of 
 glass. Moderate warmth evidently assists the process, 
 but why it does so and how r it acts, are in a great mea- 
 sure unknown. The degree of heat required to make 
 the felting property act with its utmost force, is con- 
 siderably below the boiling point of water ; a higher 
 temperature loosens the texture of the thread, and 
 increases the elasticity of the hair, thus giving it a 
 disposition to start from the substance of the cloth 
 and spoil its surface. Pressure seems to be useful 
 by bringing a greater number of points into contact, 
 and by divesting the thread of the air which is lodged 
 in its interstices. But so little is known of the pro- 
 ceedings of nature in the operation of felting, that 
 the manufacturer who would institute judicious expe- 
 riments, superintend them with care, and publish 
 the results, would perform a service useful to his 
 country. 
 
 The mode of bringing this latent property into 
 action has not been always the same. In the ruder 
 ages, it seems to have been excited by the pressure 
 
 obtained 
 
165 
 
 obtained from the weight of the human body; the 
 cloth in its rough state being placed beneath the feet 
 of the workmen, they continued to trample upon it 
 until sufficiently thickened. Hence the person en- 
 gaged in this employment was called a waulker, or 
 walker, of cloth ; and the machine afterwards intro- 
 duced to answer the same purpose was denominated 
 a waulking mill. Mrs. Guthrie, in her tour through 
 the Taurida, informs us that the Tartars still use the 
 patriarchal mode. Spreading two or three layers of 
 <f combed” wool moistened, “ they tread it underfoot 
 for a few hours, and form their carpets without the 
 aid of the loom, or the modern invention of cylin- 
 ders.” Yet this learned lady, who during her jour- 
 ney collected a great deal of information, is perhaps 
 mistaken when she describes the wool as being 
 “ combed,” because this process was first adopted 
 long since the days of the patriarchs, and supposes a 
 knowledge of the arts totally inconsistent with the 
 spirit of her remarks. If the wool be prepared by 
 any instrument, and not by the fingers alone, it is 
 probably done by means of the wild teasel, at least we 
 have reason to suppose so, if that plant is to be 
 found there. The first improvement in the art of 
 fulling cloth, I apprehend, consisted in substituting a 
 sitting posture in the work people for an erect one; 
 thereby enabling them to perform the work more ra- 
 pidly and with greater ease. Mr. Pennant, the only one 
 that I know of who has given an account of the pro- 
 cess in this stage, saw it performed in the isle of Sky, 
 during his voyage to the Hebrides. ce On my return 
 from Beinn-shuardal, he says, I am entertained with 
 a rehearsal, I may call it, of the Luagh or walking of 
 cloth ; twelve or fourteen women divided into two 
 
 equal 
 
166 
 
 equal numbers, sit down on each side of a long board, 
 ribbed lengthways placing the cloth on it : first, they 
 begin to work it backwards and forwards with their 
 •hands, singing at the same time; when they have 
 tired their hands, every female uses her feet for the 
 same purpose, (still sitting) and six or seven pair of 
 naked feet are in the most violent agitation, working 
 one against the other ; as by this time they grow very 
 earnest in their labours, the fury of the song rises, at 
 length it arrives to such a pitch, that without breach 
 of charity you would imagine a troop of female de- 
 moniacs to have been assembled. The subject of 
 the song on this occasion is sometimes love, some- 
 times panegyric, and often a rehearsal of the deeds 
 of the ancient heroes, but commonly all the tunes are 
 slow and melancholy.” This author gives an ex- 
 pressive plate of the Luaghad, but when he calls it 
 “ a substitute for the fulling mill,” I apprehend his 
 language is not quite correct. 
 
 The fulling mill was probably first brought into 
 England by the Flemings, and does great credit to 
 the age when it was introduced, both by the simpli- 
 city of its structure, and the perfection with which it 
 performs the task assigned to it. While many boast- 
 ed improvements, which hav-e been introduced since 
 that period, are again laid aside, this machine, like 
 a venerable old man, stands amidst modern ones, 
 the long tried faithful servant, the admiration of 
 his juniors, and boasts, that he can perform the ap- 
 pointed task of every day with as much vigour as 
 in his prime. This ancient engine deserves our 
 regard since it was the first combination of mecha- 
 nical power, applied to the woollen manufacture, 
 and more generally adapted through several centuries 
 
 in 
 
167 
 
 in every country of civilized Europe than any other 
 machine which can be mentioned. Something though 
 but little has heen done to metamorphose its appear- 
 ance and action, but the alterations which have been 
 made in it, when compared with those observable in 
 other engines, are trifling, I had almost said contemp- 
 tible. Yet when a second Arkwright shall arise and 
 apply to it his wonderful genius, perhaps in some 
 following age, the fulling mill will assume an appear- 
 ance as different from that which it exhibits at pre- 
 sent, and effect its purpose in a manner as varied, as 
 the modern jenny does from the old spinning wheel, 
 as the carding machine, with its revolving cylinders, 
 and adjusted variation of motion, does from the petty 
 instrument formerly wrought by the hand. 
 
 In the last age, the operation of the fulling mill 
 was very laborious and tedious. A piece of cloth was 
 then submittedto it for thirty successive hours, where- 
 as now it is often rendered sufficiently thick in seven 
 or eight ; an instance of (economy in the use of time 
 and labour which augurs well for the interest of the 
 manufacture. This remarkable alteration must be 
 attributed partly to improvement in the mode of spin- 
 ning, to the superior skill of the workmen both in the 
 loom and at the mill, to the selection of materials 
 possessing the felting property in the strongest degree, 
 to the general taste for thinner cloth, and perhaps to 
 the improvement of the raw material. Yet it must 
 be confessed that the wool-grower has contributed 
 less to the public benefit arising from this source, than 
 most other persons connected with the manufacture. 
 If he be anxious to promote the growth of fleeces, in 
 which the felting quality greatly prevails, I should 
 recommend, from the little knowledge at present 
 
 possessed, 
 
168 
 
 possessed, that he attend closely to the supply of na- 
 tural, rich and nutritious yolk, which the pile receives 
 while growing ; — that, where the soil or the climate 
 of his farm will not admit the production of a suffi- 
 cient quantity, he should seek for a substitute, adopt- 
 ing the best which presents itself; and to excite his 
 attention shall only repeat the expressive language of 
 the clothier, who commonly asserts (i that cloth is 
 either made or marred at the mill.” 
 
 When enumeratingtheessentialqualitiesof fleeces, 
 we must not forget the softness of the pile; for every 
 person whose knowledge of the manufactured article 
 is derived chiefly from the purchase of a coat or two 
 in the course of a year, attends more particularly to 
 the colour of the cloth, and the effect produced upon 
 the sense of feelings than to any other circumstances. 
 Indeed the softness of the surface, which a piece pre- 
 sents to him, is frequently considered as a test of 
 goodness in the materials from which it is made. 
 The manufacturer therefore, always attentive to the 
 public taste, endeavours to produce by his loom a 
 texture distinguishable for its silky smoothness; a 
 quality which the skilful dresser attempts to heighten 
 by every favourable circumstance he observes either 
 in the piece or the operations of nature. But the 
 utmost skill can be only of little avail where the pile 
 is naturally hard. The pieces which are made from 
 it, are invariably rejected, whether the} 7 be presented 
 to a purchaser in the halls, the merchant’s warehouse, 
 or the retailer’s shop ; while those made from wool of 
 a softer texture find a readier sale and obtain a 
 greater price. The difference of wool with respect 
 to the quality under consideration is really astonish- 
 ing; some is so hard and hairy, that goods fabricate 
 
160 
 
 ed from it almost prick the hand; an effect always 
 disgusting, and never completely counteracted even 
 in articles where the mode of manufacturing and of 
 finishing them most successfully conceals it. Most 
 persons when speaking of this quality and expressing 
 it by the term already used, connect with it an idea 
 of that effect which silk produces upon the sense of 
 feeling ; but there are a few who seem as though they 
 intended to convey by the same term, an idea of that 
 sensation which is the effect of down or cotton upon 
 the touch. The first arises from the peculiar smooth- 
 ness of the hair, the last from the little resistance 
 which it makes to pressure. 
 
 This silky softness, like most other good qualities 
 of the fleece, depends very much upon the breed of 
 the sheep, and the quantity of yolk which they con- 
 stantly afford. Some districts yield a staple pecu- 
 liarly smooth and delicate, in which like the celebrat- 
 ed wool of Shetland and Vigo, softness forms the 
 distinguishing characteristic. The Spaniard, than 
 whom few can boast ofa softer fleece, is so throughly 
 aware of the value of this property, and the means 
 likely to promote it, that he not only attends with 
 peculiar care to the breed which travels to the moun- 
 tains, but before shearing encloses the sheep in 
 sudatories, in order to saturate and soften the pile 
 with yolk And even among ourselves the softest pile 
 is collected, if the breed be similar, from flocks which 
 have been kept in good condition, upon loamy soils, 
 and into whose fleeces the shepherd has been careful 
 to admit no particles of absorbent earth. In the 
 course of business, I once met with a small parcel of 
 wool, collected from sheep of Westmoreland, which 
 had been smeared, according to the custom of that 
 
 country 
 
170 
 
 country, with a mixture of tar and grease in the 
 autumn, driven into Huntingdonshire, and pastured 
 during the winter and vernal months upon the 
 warmer soils of that southern district. In this part of 
 the kingdom tarred wool was quite a novel article, 
 and the impossibility of abstracting all the filth from 
 the upper part of the staple, by the common mode of 
 working it, alarmed the proprietor, who like an 
 honest man, wound the fleece with the leech out- 
 wards, a practice neither common in that country, 
 nor adopted by the same farmer in the other part of 
 his parcel, in order that he might more effectually 
 conceal the dirt. These rejected fleeces however, 
 which passed from hand to hand because unfit to be 
 mingled with the common pile of the neighbourhood, 
 were finally sorted in my possession, and contained 
 the softest wool of English growth that I ever examin- 
 ed. Its staple was perfectly free from kemps and 
 wild hair, so common upon the backs of northern 
 sheep, and it was much finer than the wool usually 
 found either in Westmorland or Huntingdonshire; 
 but too long for the card, and too tender for the 
 comb ; in other respects it possessed almost every 
 valuable quality. No means presented themselves 
 of ascertaining the precise effect produced by the 
 change of climate, food and treatment, which these 
 sheep had most probably experienced ; but the facts 
 just stated, lead us to conjecture that it was very 
 considerable, and extremely beneficial. They in- 
 duce us to wish that the experiment were repeated 
 with more accurate attention to the flock, especially 
 as the increase of softness in the southern wools is 
 most sincerely to be wished. 
 
 Enough has already been said upon the colour of 
 
 wool 
 
171 
 
 wool to illustrate the advantage of perfect whiteness ; 
 but it seems desirable that the appearances in British 
 fleeces inconsistent with this excellency should be 
 more minutely pointed out, in order that the grower 
 may observe and correct them. The yolk often 
 leaves in the pile a deep tint of yellowness, which 
 ought to be avoided if it be possible to prevent it 
 without injury to the staple. A sensible French 
 chemist made some experiments connected with the 
 art of bleaching wool, but did not extend them far 
 enough to attain any very important information, 
 and contented himself with referring’to the well-known 
 mode of stoving cloth by the fumes of sulphur ; nor 
 has any other person discovered a process applicable 
 to the unwrought staple, by which it may be rendered 
 perfectly colourless. We turn therefore to the only 
 one who can dispose the qualities of wool as he 
 pleases, and solicit attention. In some sorts of wool, 
 which possess valuable qualities in the highest de- 
 gree, and whose yolk has evidently been copious and 
 rich, we see no unfavourable tints, and are induced 
 to suppose that perfection of colour may be attained 
 without sacrificing any good quality of the staple. 
 Even in wool reputed white we observe some smaller 
 deviations from that clearness which is desirable in all 
 fleeces, and besides the yellowness just mentioned 
 as the effect of the yolk, fleeces very frequently possess 
 from the constitution of the sheep, or the nature of 
 the soil whereon it feeds, a blue, a brown, or a redish 
 tinge. Very commonly grey hairs are mingled with 
 the white ones, so intimately as to escape the notice 
 of the most penetrating eye until the pile be scoured ; 
 an operation not always performed before it is made 
 into cloth, when the manufacturer sometimes finds 
 
 P that 
 
172 
 
 that it is not fit to be imbued with the more delicate 
 tints, and on that account not adapted to the pur- 
 poses for which he designed it. Perhaps more than 
 half the quantity of short wool produced in England 
 is ndt free from this defect, a circumstance which 
 should lead the grower to attend to it more minutely 
 than he has done. All artificial tinges, which he 
 gives to the fleece by means of ruddle or ochre, or 
 any substance of that description, in order to increase 
 the beauty of the flock, injures the pile as much as 
 the rouge used by our ladies of fashion, to heighten 
 their native charms, does the skin to w r hich it is ap- 
 plied. When this painted wool is submitted to the 
 dyers hands, unless washed at some little expence 
 of time and labour, the foreign substances mingle 
 with the colouring ingredients and spoil their effect. 
 But indeed what can we expect but dull and heavy 
 tints, faint, muddy and uncertain colours, where wool 
 is dyed, asis too much thecustomin Yorkshire, with- 
 out being scoured, in pans unwashed, and with ma- 
 terials mixed together upon a floor unswept, where 
 a little before perhaps have been mingled ingredi- 
 ents calculated to produce a totally different tint. 
 Such slovenly practices deserve reprehension. The 
 French are said to be much cleaner in their manner 
 of dying than we are, and their colours superior to 
 our own. 
 
 Another object to which the wool-grower should 
 attend more closely than he has yet done, is the 
 Specific Gravity, or relative weight of the pile. If 
 desirous to ascertain the comparative weight of diffe- 
 rentsamples, he must carefully bring each of them to 
 the same state of purity ; must drive off the moisture 
 which wool obs'tinatelv retains, and extract from it 
 
 all 
 
|j all the air lodged in the interstices of the staple. If 
 this be not exactly performed, the experiments he 
 may institute will be trifling and delusive. When 
 first attending to this subject, in order to render my 
 judgment of its value more correct, I conceived 
 that the gravity of all wool, like that of pure gold, 
 was exactly alike, and supposed that a correct 
 knowledge of the real weight of pure wool would 
 enable me to ascertain, with the utmost precision, 
 the quantity of other substances mingled with it. 
 But it soon appeared that wool in the purest state to 
 I which I could attain, did not possess exactly the same 
 relative weight ; that when compared with water, it 
 varied from seventy" five to a hundred, i. e, some 
 samples were really lighter than others in the propor- 
 tion of four to three*. The experiments were deem- 
 ed correct enough for the common purposes of trade, 
 but are not considered as sufficiently accurate for the 
 nicer calculations of the Philosopher. Nor was I able 
 to ascertain, whether the difference observed was 
 merely accidental in the particular wools under in- 
 spection, or followed some general law connected 
 with the breed, or the circumstances in which the pile 
 was produced. The mere coarseness or fineness of 
 the staple does not affect the specific gravity of it, 
 nor does the fine, close and well-grown wool of the 
 
 * A fact which has come to my knowledge since this was 
 written, renders it probable that different kinds of wool do not 
 attain the same degree of purity, even when scoured wilh the 
 utmost care in warm water and dissolved soap ; and that in the 
 subsequent processes of the manufacture, some samples loose 
 another portion of impurity while others retain their full weight ; 
 so that the largest quantity and weight of cloth is sometimes 
 obtained from that wool which seemed least qualified to produce 
 it. 
 
 P 2 shoulder. 
 
shoulder differ very materially in this respect from 
 the thin and hairy breech. The clothier commonly 
 examines this property of wool without being conscious 
 of the principles upon which he depends ; he is well 
 aware that a given weight of some kinds of wool will 
 produce more cloth than the same quantity of a sort 
 equally fine, shorn from a different pasture ; but he 
 usually attributes the differences of bulk, which he 
 perceives in sheets of wool, to the purity of one sample 
 and to the extraordinary quantity of dirt mingled with 
 the other. Such a decision is generally very correct; 
 but when he measures the size of a sheet with his eye, 
 and tries the tenseness of it with his fingers, he should 
 recollect that there is a great d ifference in the elasticity 
 of wool, in the manner in which the pile is disposed, 
 in the mode of packing it, and in the specific gravity, 
 which may cause as great a variation in the appear- 
 ance of a package, as that arising from the purity or 
 dirtiness of the staple. The importance of rendering 
 wool as light as possible, is clear to every one who 
 considers that the quantity of cloth, which a given 
 weight will produce, is the true test of its value. Yet 
 the grower, as though totally negligent of so plain a 
 principle, has often been solicitous to increase the 
 weight of his fleece, without considering whether he 
 augmented the quantity or the density of the pile ; a 
 distinction with which every clothier must be ac- 
 quainted, although he may express his ideas in diffe- 
 rent language, for he buys the material by weight, 
 and sells it when manufactured by measure. In this 
 case there can be no doubt respecting the person from 
 whom we must expect improvement. The manufac- 
 turer cannot change the nature of the materials ; he 
 must work such as he finds, and from among imper- 
 fect 
 
feci ones select the best. But since the art of com- 
 bining the properties of the parent sheep in their 
 offspring is generally known, the grower of wool 
 has it in his power to produce surprising alterations. 
 Nature has appointed agriculturists the chief dispen- 
 sers of her favours, and society justly expects much 
 from their attention. 
 
 The smell of wool, though very often applied to 
 'as a test of its condition, is one of the least important 
 circumstances connected with it. Provided it pro- 
 duce no disagreeable sensation upon the olfactory- 
 nerves, and betray none of the effects of moisture 
 there is no one particular scent which we deem 
 preferable to another. Pure and perfect wool, I 
 suspect, has no smell ; yet it is a very singular fact, 
 that fleeces produced in different countries, and 
 even in the various provinces of the same kingdom, 
 convey by their peculiar odour a strong attesta- 
 tion of the district were they grew. The fact de- 
 pends chiefly, I suppose, upon the constitution of 
 the animals ; because the fleece of aram is distinguish- 
 able from that of any other sheep, and quadrupeds 
 of different tribes are well known to produce very 
 dissimilar sensations on the sense of smelling. It 
 would be curious, perhaps more than curious, to ascer- 
 tain the cause of this fact more accurately,, especially 
 as our researches into nature are generally repaid by 
 the acquisition of useful knowledge. 
 
 But a far more valuable quality remains to be 
 noticed, one which the wool-grower should observe 
 with the closest attention. In technical language, 
 it is called the trueness of the hair ; and I know of no 
 other phrase, which so completely conveys the idea. 
 When speaking upon the quality of fleeces as they 
 P 3 exist 
 
176 
 
 exist in a neglected state, it was observed that they 
 are composed of coarse shaggy hair, and a more soft 
 and downy pile. The natural effect of culture, is the 
 banishment of the coarse and brittle filaments from 
 the staple, and the increase of that substance, which 
 is more soft and pliable. But without minute atten- 
 tion, it requires a long coarse of years to render the 
 pile perfect; and the cultivators of the fleece relax 
 their attention most commonly before they have ren- 
 dered the pile uniform. Most of the fleeces of Scot- 
 land are still defective; many of the finer sorts pro- 
 duced upon the English plains, <jnd even those of Italy 
 and Spain, notwithstanding their boasted superiority, 
 cannot claim an absolute freedom from a hair which 
 debases the staple. Sometimes these inferior fila- 
 ments are thinly scattered through the pile, and 
 rising above its general surface, give it a loose ap- 
 pearance which authorizes the common representa- 
 tion of it as a bearded fleece. 
 
 Under the general description of wool not true- 
 haired, we also include that in which the points of the 
 staple are coarser than the part of it which rose to a 
 less distance from the pelt ; and also that where any 
 portion of the filament is perceptibly thinner than 
 another to the unassisted eye. When examined with 
 a microscope, we seldom 'find wool equally fine 
 through the whole length of the pile. Frequently it 
 becomes suddenly thinner, as though the pore through 
 which a filament passed had been contracted, and 
 gradually expanded itself again to its natural dimen- 
 sions, permitting the hair to become in the same pro- 
 portion more thick and even. Sometimes a hair when 
 seen in profile, has one of its outlines straight and 
 even, while the other is very irregularly indented, 
 
 as 
 
177 
 
 as though its pore had suffered a contraction only on 
 one side. Each of these minute variations confirms 
 the opinion of Dr. Anderson, who supposes that the 
 pores of the skin expand and contract as the tempera- 
 ture, to which the sheep is exposed, rises to a higher 
 degree of warmth or becomes more cool. Yet as 
 these irregularities do not materially affect the value 
 of manufactured articles unless easily distinguished, 
 it seemed right to bound the description of a bad 
 quality by a restrictive phrase. When these sudden 
 contractions in the size of the pile occur in long 
 wool, the effects are much more pernicious than in 
 the shorter piles, for they often render the staple too 
 weak to endure the violence of the comb ; and totally 
 unfit it for its natural and appropriate manufacture. 
 This thinner part of the filament, which the manu- 
 facturers denominate a joint, is more frequently ob- 
 served in hog fleeces than any other; arid is com- 
 monly found near the bottom of the staple, evidently 
 the effect of a cause which operated while that part 
 of the pile was passing through the pelt, and which 
 continued to affect it only for a short period ; for the 
 parts of the staple immediately above and below the 
 joint appear in their natural state. The precise 
 period when the effect was produced, may be ascer- 
 tained by observing the length of wool which has 
 grown since ; and perhaps this circumstance may 
 lead to the true cause of it, which I believe will 
 generally be found to be either cold, hunger or ill 
 health. This joint is more observable in long wool 
 than short, doubtless because the former grows much 
 more rapidly than the latter, for a sheep of the hea- 
 vier breeds produces a staple of fifteen inches long, 
 in the same time that one of a different kind perhaps 
 
 will 
 
will not extend to more than three; and the animal 
 yielding long wool is commonly more tender than the 
 other, less able to endure the bitterness of the blast 
 and the gnawing pains of hunger. Perhaps the dif- 
 ference between one part of a filament and another, 
 may be more considerable than wool-growers are 
 aware of. I have met with some hairs, selected from the 
 worst part of a fleece, where the difference between 
 the diameter of the point and that of the other end 
 was at least as five to one ; so that a given length of 
 pile, when selected from one part of the staple, 
 weighs twenty five times as much as the same length 
 separated from the other part. This extreme ca^e 
 is mentioned in order to convince the grower, that 
 the trueness of the hair is a quality of no trifling con- 
 sideration, and if possible to excite his attention to 
 it, for there are very few British fleeces in which 
 the points of the staple are not visibly coarser wool 
 than their bases. ’Tis with pleasure we acknow- 
 ledge that much has been done to remedy the defect, 
 although constrained to add, much remains to be 
 effected. 
 
 The short account already given of the operations 
 of carding, combing and spinning, is sufficient to 
 show how very important it is that the manufacturer 
 should be able to select wool of a perfect pile, more 
 especially that it should possess no inequalities of the 
 filaments; that they should be equally elastic and 
 strong through their whole length ; for wool destitute 
 of uniformity in any of these particulars will place 
 its coarser portion upon the surface of the cloth. 
 This fact is repeated, as one which ought to be im- 
 printed upon the memory both of the stapler and the 
 shepherd. Another 
 
Another kind of hair is sometimes found in the 
 staple which is more pernicious to cloth and most 
 other articles, than the filaments already described. 
 It is generally short, pointed, brittle and opaque, ex- 
 actly like that produced upon the faces and shanks 
 of most English sheep, Jts colour is commonly 
 white, sometimes grey or brown ; and among British 
 manufacturers it is called a kemp orstichel hair, and 
 not unfrequently from its resemblance to that of the 
 feline species, cat’s hair. Kemps are commonly much 
 coarser than the wool in which they are found, and 
 often so intermingled with it as not to be separated 
 even by the motion of the scribbling machine. They 
 will receive no artificial tints, but from the most cor- 
 rosive ingredients and by their hardness, the sharp- 
 ness of their points and their coarsness, spoil the 
 i| article in which they are mingled. The fleeces most 
 commonly infested with them, are those produced by 
 neglected breeds ofsheep, or animals grown old, and 
 are common both to British and Foreign families. 
 In long fleeces they are not very frequently observed, 
 but when met with, are collected in the noil and ren- 
 der it much less valuable. 
 
 These are the most general qualities of the fleece 
 to which the manufacturer attends, and we hope, that 
 they are described in such a manner as will enable 
 the wool-grower to form some distinct notions upon 
 points, which he should keep constantly in view. 
 He has often complained that the stapler appeared 
 to him capriciously to prefer one fleece to ano- 
 ther, and has been confounded to observe that im- 
 provements suggested and warmly recommended by 
 one buyer, have been totally disregarded or condemn- 
 ed as pernicious by another. But had the farmer 
 
 recollected, 
 
 r 
 
180 
 
 recollected that wool is used for very various pur- 
 poses, which require a corresponding difference in the 
 materials; that the manufacturer of one article sel- 
 dom understands the mode of producing another ; and 
 that most staplers content themselves with purchasing 
 only one kind of wool; he would rather have expect- 
 ed a difference of opinion, than have been surprized 
 when he found one. It is singular that a trade so very 
 simple as that appears to be, which consists in pur- 
 chasing a qua; -i ity of fleeces, breaking them into a 
 number of arbitrary divisions, and selling the sorts in 
 their raw state, should be so much divided : one of 
 the best proofs that the art, simple as it appears, has 
 attained a high degree of perfection. Persons who 
 purchase their wool in the South of England, for 
 instance, seldom either buy, or understand the value 
 of, fleeces produced in the North. Some lay out their 
 capital chiefly . in the East, others almost intirely in 
 the West, and some take only a middle course. 
 Numbers do business in long wool, a great many con- 
 fine themselves entirely to the shorter pile, while a 
 few understand only the lower sorts; or trade in the 
 finer, or in foreign wools alone. We speak not here 
 of persons confined by local situation to only one kind 
 of fleeces, but of those who reside in the very market 
 where every kind is consumed, and before whom the 
 kingdom and the world is open; of persons through 
 whose hands by far the greater part of fleeces pro- 
 duced in the island must pass, and who perhaps are 
 the most favourably situated for attaining correct in- 
 formation respecting the qualities of the fleece and 
 state of the manufacture. They expect much from 
 the growers of the pile, but are disposed to exercise 
 candour towards them, recollecting that there are 
 
 circumstances 
 
181 
 
 circumstances in every farm to which the grazier 
 must attend, whose nature he cannot change, and 
 whose effect notwithstanding all he can do, will still 
 be vj^ible. It is desirable to ascertain how far their 
 pernicious influence is unavoidable, and what are the 
 means of counteracting it. The wool-grower’s own 
 interest, the main spring of almost every commercial 
 and agricultural transaction, prompts to the investiga- 
 l I tion and to the use of remedies. 
 
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 SECTION 
 
SECTION IV. 
 
 THE 
 
 Wool of England, 
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES already mentioned, naturally 
 lead us to expect that the wool of England and 
 Wales is distinguished neither for the best nor the 
 worst of qualities. When the woollen manufacture 
 was first seriously attended to in Britain, and encou- 
 raged by Edward III. upon liberal principles of 
 policy, the fleeces of the kingdom had received very 
 great improvement by the demand for them in the 
 Netherlands. But the public taste at home, regulat- 
 ed by the climate and the simplicity of manners pre- 
 vailing in that age, required a thick and heavy cloth, 
 such as should unite the durability of the Doublet, 
 with the softness, pliability, and warmth, which at that 
 time could be obtained only from wool or from silk. 
 To produce such plain and substantial cloth, was the 
 object of the manufacturers; and as their conduct is 
 much more readily influenced by the taste of the 
 public than that of the court, they continued to make 
 it, especially in the North of the kingdom, until the 
 
 close 
 
 
183 
 
 close of the seventeenth century ; contributing by 
 this means to raise the qualities of the British fleece 
 only to the point of mediocrity. In the course of 
 this period females changed in a great measure the 
 mode of their dress, and instead of gowns of linsey 
 woolsey, or home-spun cloth, they adopted the 
 thinner, more delicate and shapely attire obtained 
 from a variety of worsted articles ; and even the 
 other sex used them in considerable quantities. This 
 change of fashion produced an amazing effect upon 
 the fleeces procured from the richest pastures of the 
 kingdom, and rendered them suitable to the comb. 
 But the long wools also, from circumstances not now 
 to be described, were left in a state of inferiority even 
 below that which has been noticed in some of the 
 lighter fleeces. Nations situated in more southern 
 
 O 
 
 latitudes, and enjoying a dryer climate, finding the 
 convenience of thinner and lighter textures, have 
 carried the improvement of their fleeces to a greater 
 extent. 
 
 In describing the fleeces of this country, it will be 
 most proper to arrange them in the two classes, which 
 are distinguished from each other both by the length 
 of the staple and the mode of manufacturing them ; 
 the one adapted to the fabrication of woollen goods, 
 and the other to that of worsteds. The sheep from 
 which these different kinds of staple are obtained, 
 do not always run promiscuously in the same flock, 
 or graze upon the same pastures ; each being most 
 commonly found upon its appropriate soil, and 
 under a peculiar management. Sometimes the line 
 w hich separates them is boldly drawn, at others the 
 pastures are so mingled, or the qualities of the land 
 so gradually change from those which are suitable to 
 Q the 
 
184 
 
 the heavier sheep, as to give the stock a sort of mon- 
 grel appearance, and the fleece an uncertain charac- 
 ter. But human genius, always fertile in expedients, 
 has rendered even this defect of the fleece advanta- 
 geous to the interests of society ; and has adapted 
 to it the manufacture of stockings. 
 
 Long wool is found in many detached parts of 
 England, but much more commonly on the eastern 
 than western side, and often nearer to the coast 
 than the middle of the kingdom. Sometimes it is 
 produced upon a few acres which are surrounded by 
 land of a different description, and grazed by sheep 
 of another character ; these tracts being too. small to 
 deserve general attention will be passed unnoticed, 
 and the wool included in the common produce of 
 the district where it grows. Among the larger 
 ranges of long-wooled sheep, the first to be noticed, 
 and the most northern, is situated near to the mouth 
 of the Tees, a river separating the Bishopric of Dur- 
 ham from the county of York. The second, which 
 may properly be denominated the Lincoln district, 
 comprehends the south-eastern point of Yorkshire, 
 nearly the whole of Lincolnshire, and the fen lands of 
 Huntingdon, Cambridge and Norfolk. This kind of 
 wool is found in the smaller marshes of Essex and of 
 Kent which surround theinletsof the sea, but is much 
 more abundant in those of Romney and of Guilford. 
 W e meet with it in the counties of Dorset, Devon and 
 Cornwall, upon theCotteswold-hills, in some detach- 
 ed parts of Lancashire, Oxford, Bedford and Stafford, 
 through the w'hole of Leicester, Rutland, Northamp- 
 ton and Huntingdon, and along the banks of the 
 larger rivers. 
 
 In these extensive districts, some of them widely 
 
 separated 
 
185 
 
 separated from each other, a much greater difference 
 I is observeable in the characteristic features of the 
 sheep than in the qualities of the pile which they 
 produce. Long wool is remarkable for the similarity 
 of the fleeces both in weight and colour, in the length 
 of the staple and the quality of the hair. The soil, 
 the pasture, management and breed will make some 
 minute difference, but when compared with the 
 variety which abounds among small fleeces it appears 
 of little importance. The animals also exhibit some 
 general features, which seem to indicate that most of 
 them belong to the same family. Among sheep beard- 
 ing short wool, we easily trace a number of very 
 distinct breeds ; but throughout the eastern part of 
 the kingdom, those which afford the larger staple 
 have white faces and legs, and are destitute of horns, 
 and perhaps in every case where the face exhibits 
 spots, or the head produces a horn, the fleece may bp 
 long more from incidental circumstances than from 
 blood. The very great exertions now made by sheep 
 farmers to procure the best breeds, especially among 
 the heavy sorts, tend to destroy their distinctive fea- 
 tures, and to render them still more alike. Sufficient 
 difference however yet remains among long wooled 
 sheep to authorize a general description of them. 
 
 It is not necessary that their properties should 
 be enumerated with the minute exactness which a 
 grazier requires; it will be sufficient to mention 
 some of the stronger features, such as enable the 
 stapler to distinguish the families from each other, 
 and to arrange the fleeces with tolerable correctness. 
 The Dishiey, or the New Leicester, known also by 
 the name of its first promoter Bakewell, has spread 
 itself far more widely than any other kind, and is 
 Q, 2 perpetually 
 
186 
 
 perpetually gaining ground almost to the extinction 
 of some older breeds. It is a sheep not very large, 
 but possessing a round compact carcase, entirely 
 covered with wool of a moderate length. The front 
 is flat without any tuft, the face rather small and 
 pointed, of a perfectly white colour, and its counte- 
 nance is mild and placid. It is a polled breed and 
 in common with all English sheep lias no wool upon 
 its legs, and the fleece appears externally close and 
 even. The Lincolnshire sheep, which formerly was 
 almost the only animal of the kind known through 
 the fenny district, bears a longer, more coarse and 
 shaggy wool, upon a larger and rougher carcase. 
 It has longer legs than the Dishley, a visage less 
 pointed, particularly in the lower part of the face, 
 the forehead often produces wool, its features are 
 large and heavy, and its countenance rather bold and 
 daring. This also is a polled breed, with jvhite face 
 and legs. The Teesvvater is a still taller and more 
 lank animal, perhaps the largest breed of sheep in the 
 kingdom. It has a white face and legs, no horns, 
 and bears a remarkably long, rough and heavy kind 
 of wool, but is now seldom found pure, the Bake- 
 well and other breeds having been adopted in its 
 stead. The long-wooled sheep of Romney Marsh 
 are above the middle size of most which are found in 
 England, but not so heavy or well formed as some 
 others; they have nohorns, and in general white faces 
 and legs, but sometimes dark or spotted ones. The 
 carcase is often very rough, resembling the neglect- 
 ed breeds of the midland counties, and the legs are 
 disproportionately long. Their wool is only of a 
 moderate staple, and sometimes very thick upon the 
 pelt. In Devonshire, the sheep bearing this kind of 
 
 wool 
 
18 7 
 
 wool have also no horns, but a grey or mottled face 
 and legs, with a thick and heavy carcase. These are 
 chiefly found in the southern parts of the county, but 
 very frequently others are described as producing 
 long- wool which have horns and white faces, their 
 fleece however is of a dubious length, and in some 
 cases may be used for worsted goods ; but the fact 
 will be noticed more particularly when we describe 
 the wool of this district more minutely. The last 
 breed of this kind of sheep, extending itself over a 
 considerable space, is that of the Cotteswold-hills, 
 which though placed upon high and dry soils pro- 
 duces wool of a good length. The animal is of a 
 middle size, destitute of horns, has a white face, short 
 legs and a light fore quarter. Mr. Marshall thinks it 
 the native stock, and contradicts the opinion, so com- 
 monly entertained, that Spanish sheep were im- 
 proved from this breed of English ones. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the compactness of 
 the staple, or as manufacturers term it the “cloddi- 
 ness” of the wool, by comparing the length of the 
 pile and the weight of the fleece, with the extent of 
 surface upon which it grew. In stating these dimen- 
 sions however we cannot be exact, since fleeces ob- 
 tained from the same breed of sheep often differ from 
 each other very considerably. Those procured from 
 the Dishley blood may be estimated at nearly eight 
 pounds, and as the staple is rather short than other- 
 wise, and the carcase of the animal round and com- 
 pact, the number of square inches contained in the 
 pelt is not very large ; and of course the wool grows 
 moderately thick upon it. The Lincoln breed has a 
 larger pelt which produces perhaps about eleven 
 pounds of wool, but the staple is much longer than that 
 Q, 3 obtained 
 
188 
 
 obtained from the Leicester sheep, and growing upon 
 a larger surface must be more thinly set, for the dif- 
 ference in the length of the staple is more than suffi- 
 cient to counterpoise the superiority of weight. 
 From the Teeswater sheep, a very large animal, and 
 bearing wool of an extraordinary length, which is 
 often not so clean as the Lincolnshire, and I should 
 judgespecifically heavier, we obtain only nine pounds 
 for each fleece, a circumstance which plainly indi- 
 cates thedefect of thestaple. On thecontrarv, theCot- 
 teswold race of sheep, as 1 passed over their native 
 bills some years since, appeared to be smaller animals 
 than most others which bear long wool, the}’ pro- 
 duced about six pounds and a half, but shorter than 
 either the Lincoln or the Teeswater. The fleece is 
 now said to have increased its weight, and extends 
 even to nine pounds, a circumstance which indicates 
 that the staple is both longer than it was and more 
 full of hair; that the pile is improved and the profits 
 of the grower increased. 
 
 But before we enter upon a more particular de- 
 scription of the wool, which these kingdoms produce, 
 it mayd^e proper to state the sources of information, 
 and the manner in which it has been applied. My 
 own knowledge of the different kinds of fleeces has 
 been derived from that attention, which every wool- 
 stapler finds it necessary to give to them, assisted by a 
 residence in different parts of the kingdom, where all 
 the three kinds of English wool passed immediately 
 binder my eye ; and additional information has been 
 obtained by occasionally visiting the remoter districts. 
 Yet there are parts of England which I have never 
 seen, and in order to obtain some knowledge of the 
 fleeces produced there, the best local descriptions 
 
 have 
 
189 
 
 have been carefully perused. The accounts of the 
 fleeces and the circumstances connected with the 
 object of inquiry have been selected, and condens- 
 ed with my own remarks in the following pages; 
 nor do I conceive that they are less worthy of credit, 
 because they were not actually drawn by my own 
 pen, from observations made upon the spot. Per- 
 haps they may be better worthy of regard, for it 
 is now several years since some of the excursions 
 alluded to were made, some of them without any 
 reference to the fleeces of the districts, and all with- 
 out the slightest idea of presenting to the public 
 an account of English wool. 
 
 The alteration which has been continually taking 
 place in the mode of sheep-farming for the last twenty 
 years, is a circumstance known to most. The num- 
 ber of new mclosures, which have succeeded each 
 other most rapidly, produces a considerable altera- 
 tion in the kind of sheep which are kept in any par- 
 ticular district, and in some cases banishes them from 
 the fields entirely. Even the improvement of the 
 stock*, now adopted with so much spirit, and which 
 mingles the blood of different sorts of sheep, has pro- 
 duced a greater ambiguity in the features of the 
 flocks, and the characteristic marks of the fleece, than 
 the inclosure of commons. It has served most effectu- 
 ally to changethe produceof agreat number of farms, 
 andcontribures to render our description of wool im- 
 perfect, especially since in many instances it has been 
 necessary to refer to accounts which were published 
 from ten to forty years ago. And though every 
 mean has been adopted to correct the statement of 
 each particular by the most modern hints which have 
 been communicated, yet the indulgence of the 
 
 pub c 
 
 ■ 
 
 ' -• 
 
190 
 
 public is requested for the errors, which may have 
 crept into the following statements, from these and 
 other sources. The description pretends to nothing 
 more than the best opinion which could be formed 
 upon a very intricate and difficult subject, in the 
 pursuit of which it was sometimes necessary to ex- 
 plore a pathless region almost without a guide or an 
 object to direct us. 
 
 Yet it is much more easy to describe a fleece so 
 as to be intelligible to a wool-stapler, than to ascer- 
 tain the quantity of land upon which it was produc- 
 ed, or to form any accurate opinion respecting the 
 number of acres in the kingdom employed in the 
 sustenance of sheep. In the description of the rural 
 affairs of England and Ireland, it is not uncommon 
 to find an account of the number of acres wffiich a 
 farm contains, and of the sheep which it nourishes ; 
 these have been collected and arranged according to 
 the districts to which they relate, and the average of 
 their aggregate sum, considered as a fair representa- 
 tion of the stock in the county. But here also it 
 must be acknowledged that a great deal has been left 
 to chance ; sometimes the accounts of farms, which 
 have been given to us, may be far from a just repre- 
 sentation of the districts where they are situated. The 
 land may be distinguished by its suitability to that 
 kind of stock, or by the contrary quality. It may 
 produce a larger weight of wool than that which 
 surrounds it, or be chiefly grazed by black cattle, 
 though part of a district celebrated for its numbers of 
 sheep. Sometimes a very considerable common 
 right is annexed to a farm, which is not included in 
 the measure of the land ; in this ease the stock is not 
 maintained by the number of acres, which are men- 
 tioned 
 
191 
 
 tinned in connection with it, and the average of the 
 district will be overrated. 
 
 It was thought most convenient to connect the 
 average of the stock with the area of the counties, 
 because it was much more easy to ascertain the ex- 
 tent of the kingdom in that than in any other form ; 
 and the few cases wherein there has been a deviation 
 from this rule will be distinctly mentioned. The 
 measurements of the counties are always taken from 
 Cary’s English Atlas, for the southern part of the 
 island ; and though his opinion of the extent of a 
 county often differs from that of other persons, it 
 seemed more advisable to refer to one authority 
 than to puzzle the reader with a variety of measure- 
 ments, and be under the necessity of vindicating the 
 credit which was claimed for each. But here also is 
 a source of error, for districts which have been mea- 
 sured by means of the most accurate maps always 
 deviate from the truth, and being laid down upon a 
 piane parallel to the horizon, no allowance is made 
 for the eminencies of the country, although they may 
 rise into the most lofty mountains. Farms on the 
 contrary are always measured upon the surface ; and 
 the difference resulting from these two modes of 
 ascertaining the extent of a country, will often be as 
 great as that which subsists between the sum of the 
 two sides of an irregular prismatic body and the third ; 
 sometimes as great as that which subsists betwixt the 
 superficies of a cone and its base. Nor is the whole 
 of a farm to be considered as productive of wool, for 
 the measurement most commonly includes the hedge- 
 rows and coppices, frequently the homestead and the 
 buildings. And the extent of surface when obtained 
 from a map includes not only these but also the area 
 
 of 
 
192 
 
 of towns and buildings of every description, of woods, 
 of water, of absolute wastes, and of public roads. As 
 a counterbalance to these, one eighth part has been 
 generally deducted from the given extent of a coun- 
 ty, and in cases where the deduction has not been 
 made reasons are assigned for the deviation; and 
 though in some instances this allowance may be too 
 considerable, there are a few others where it is cer- 
 tainly too small. Upon the whole being sensible 
 that a danger of falling into error perpetually attend- 
 ed me, like an anxious pilot, steering through an 
 Archipelago with imperfect charts, and assisted only 
 by the dim twilight of the evening, I have been soli- 
 citous as often as possible to heave the lead, and to 
 catch thefaint glimmerings of the distant light-house, 
 which shall guide me safe from shipwreck. Should 
 the breeze of public favour blow steady and true to 
 its point, and the tide of candour set strong in my 
 favour, I shall be able, I trust, to weather every 
 cape, and to pass through the most intricate channels 
 without striking. The opinions expressed in the 
 following pages, are as often as possible compared 
 with those of other persons ; and where we differ, 
 both are submitted to the judgment of the public. 
 To say that the statements contain no errors, would 
 be the height of presumptuous folly ; to represent 
 them as a mere tissue of blunders, I conceive, would 
 be equally unjust. 
 
 Beginning with the northern part of the kingdom, 
 in order to give more regularity to our progress thro’ 
 the different districts of long-wool, the Teeswater 
 sheep first attract attention. They derive their 
 name from that picturesque river, whose waters sepa- 
 rate the Bishopric of Durham from the county of 
 
 York. 
 
193 
 
 York. Being adapted only to the richer soils, they 
 are almost confined to the low lands, which extend 
 on each side of the river to some considerable distance 
 from it. Their district is comparatively a small one, 
 being bounded by the sea, and by the high lands of 
 Durham and of Yorkshire proceeding westward until 
 they decline into that fertile vale, which enriches the 
 border of both counties, and leave an opening for the 
 breed to diffuse itself more widely to the North 
 and the South ; on the West it proceeds no farther 
 than to the foot of those hills, distinguished by the 
 name of Teesdale Forest. In the vale of York, the 
 features of the Tees water sheep are greatly softened 
 by a mixture of the Dishley blood. The fleeces of 
 this country, although said to be beautiful, appear to 
 me, judging from the unwrought staple and from 
 the small quantity which has fallen under my notice, 
 to be defective in some of the essential qualities of 
 wool. The hair glitters too much where the yolk 
 has been washed from it by the rain, is heavy, some- 
 times hard, and not always true; being more fine 
 and soft at the bottom than the top of the staple. 
 The breech of the fleece is large and hairy ; and 
 the pile contracts from the earth a dingy colour, and 
 is very imperfectly washed. It should be remarked, 
 however, that the wool which I have examined in 
 the possession of both the grower and the manufac- 
 turer, was entirely on the northern side of the Tees. 
 Among its good qualities were observed the length 
 and the toughness of the staple, which fit it most ad- 
 mirably for the operation of the comb and the coarser 
 kind of worsted manufactures. The sheep breeders 
 here will doubtless promote their interest, if they take 
 care that while the carcase is improved by the Dishley 
 
 sheep. 
 
194 
 
 sheep, the fleece does not become too weak and too 
 short for its natural and appropriate purposes. From 
 a sheep of this description truly bred the fleece has 
 varied fromsix to eighteen pounds; whencrossed with 
 the New-Leicester, and the Northumberland, it 
 weighs from six pounds to ten ; and the average one 
 obtained from the richer soils of Durham cannot be 
 estimated at more than nine. 
 
 The stock of these sheep upon a given quantity of j 
 land is very various in different parts of the Bishop- 
 ric, generally changing from half a sheep kept upon 
 an acre of land to more than double that quantity, 
 upon the whole perhaps it may amount to about two 
 upon three acres. The extent of land suitable to this 
 kind of wool cannot possibly be more than one third j 
 of the whole county, for both the eastern and western , 
 parts of it are very hilly though commonly green. , 
 The lower soils are rich and loamy, well adapted to 
 the growth of valuable wool. After deducting one : 
 eighth part, as mentioned above, for wood, water, 
 buildings, and public roads, the number. of produc- 
 tive acres is one hundred thousand and eight hundred ; 
 with a stock of sixty seven thousand two hundred 
 sheep, and } r ielding two thousand five hundred and 
 twenty packs of wool. A considerable proportion of 
 it is manufactured in the county, and contributes 
 among many other circumstances, particularly the 
 exportation of its minerals, to enrich the inhabitants. 
 The weight made use of here between the buyer and 
 the seller of wool is the stone of fourteen, eighteen or 
 twenty four pounds. 
 
 In Yorkshire, whose varied soils, cli mature, and 
 agricultural systems give rise to a diversity of its 
 wools, we notice the kind more particularly under 
 
 con- 
 
195 
 
 consideration, distinct parts of this extensive county 
 produce it, especially the division of Cleveland, situ- 
 ated in its north eastern extremity, and Holderness, 
 that long promontory which is washed by the Hum- 
 ber on one side, and the ocean on the other. Some 
 of the narrow vales on the western side of the county, 
 fertilized by its numerous streams, produce also a 
 variety of long wooled sheep, and feed them even to 
 the bases of the neighbouring mountains. The exist-* 
 ance of a small manufacture of worsted goods in these 
 delightful dales has given a stimulus to sheep farm- 
 ing, and guided the shepherds’ taste; but in the more 
 expanded vale of York, although great improvements 
 have been made in the carcase and the fleeces of the 
 sheep, and a part of the wool is adapted to the comb, 
 yet the neighbourhood of the woollen manufacture 
 converts almost the whole quantity to its own pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Over the division of Cleveland the Teeswater 
 breed has very generally spread itself, and until the x 
 value of the Bakewell breed had been ascertained, it 
 •was the only kind of long woolled sheep to be found 
 in this clayey district. After the usual deductions 
 are made, it contains sixty one thousand two hundred 
 and fifty acres ; maintaining about fourteen thousand 
 three hundred sheep; which produce, at the average 
 weight of eight pounds each, a quantity of wool 
 amounting to four hundred and seventy packs. The 
 fleeces here are similar to those on the other side of 
 the river, and have the same destination. The whole 
 quantity produced by this once rough, but now more 
 polished race is nearly three thousand packs. 
 
 As no means present themselves of ascertaining 
 the quantity of land occupied by the heavy kind of 
 li sheep 
 
196 
 
 sheep in the dales of the Moorlands, and as the quan- 
 tity of wool wrought there upon the comb can be 
 only small, it may be included among the shorter 
 fleeces without producing a material error in the cal- 
 culations of either kind. 
 
 But Holderness furnishes a wool of more decided 
 character. This part of the county was formerly 
 stocked with sheep of the Lincoln race; but now, 
 like most districts of a similar kind, depastures flocks, 
 in whose frame and fleece are visible some strong 
 symptoms of a more fashionable breed. In these low 
 and fertile tracts of heavy land, the breeding of cattle 
 is the main object of the graziers attention, and ren- 
 ders the stock of sheep singularly light; the utmost 
 number which I have been able to ascertain being: 
 only twenty five upon a hundred and seven acres. 
 These indeed are large and weil-formed animals, 
 producing heavy and loug-stapled fleeces; the average 
 of whose weight can scarcely be less than eight 
 pounds, nor the land upon which they are grown of 
 smaller extent than a hundred and twenty seven 
 thousand six hundred and eighty productive acres. 
 But as this quantity of pasture is ascertained only by 
 the measurement of a map, at best a precarious mode, 
 it is peculiarly liable to error. The allowance of one 
 eighth of the surface in such a country as this, inter- 
 sected by few public roads, and these only narrow 
 ones passing through the fields of the grazier; where 
 there is scarcely any waste land, but little water, and 
 towns of the smallest kind ; must be very ample for 
 every deduction which ought to be made from the 
 gross area. This description of the country is 
 given rather from a passage through the western 
 part of it, than from a general view of the whole ex- 
 tent. 
 
197 
 
 tent, and round the coast it appears to be more open 
 and less fertile. The estimated quantity of wool 
 which it produces, is two thousand eight hundred 
 packs, the fleeces of eighty four thousand sheep. 
 Most probably a great proportion of this is wrought 
 into woollen articles, and the whole, I believe, is 
 sent to the manufactures of the West Riding. 
 
 This division of the county of York should be 
 considered as a part of that immense tract of land 
 producing long-wool, which extends from Holder- 
 ness into Norfolk, and from the centre of Warwick- 
 shire to the sea; a district which produces a great 
 variety of fleeces, and contains within its limits some 
 considerable tracts of high land, adapted to a lighter 
 fleece, and to an arable system of husbandry. Upon 
 these higher grounds the wool, though neither light 
 nor short, is much better adapted to the card than 
 the comb, and in the calculation for the fleeces 
 must be separated from the general produce. Yet 
 it is impossible to effect this in all cases with the 
 precision which is desirable ; for even upon some 
 of the light soils, sheep of the heaviest kind are 
 kept and by means of the most nutritious food, not 
 always derived from the pastures to which they be- 
 long, may be compared, both with respect to the 
 carcase and the fleece, to those flocks which have 
 been supported upon the richest meadows. The 
 change of manufactures also has caused a large 
 quantity of the wool, produced upon the lowland 
 farms, to be wrought by the carding machines, and 
 applied to the manufacture of woollens. 
 
 Lincolnshire possesses great natural advantages 
 for the production of long-wool; and is the spot 
 upon which probably it was first cultivated with 
 R 2 spirit 
 
198 
 
 spirit and success. These are the pastures from which 
 the looms of Norfolk were supplied for almost five 
 centuries, and which through the greater part of 
 that period have yielded an unrivalled fleece. The 
 long-wool of Leicester rose into consideration at a 
 much later date ; and though now the Dishley blood has 
 insinuated itself into almost every partof theneighbour- 
 ingcounties, andthough the old breed of Lincolnshire 
 has been almost supplanted, the contest between the 
 advocates of the two kinds of sheep subsisted long, 
 and is not yet forgotten, a decisive proof that the large 
 rough animal of the fenny tracts had attained, both 
 in carcase and wool, a great degree of perfection. 
 Upon this district we enter with sentiments of respect 
 for the memory of its ancient shepherds, and feel 
 confident in the modern guides who have conducted 
 ns through its greenest pastures, and among its yet 
 nndrained morasses. When the name of Young is 
 mentioned, every agriculturist recollects the character 
 of that celebrated farmer, who fills with his usual 
 intelligence and activity, the office of secretary to 
 the Honourable Board ; to his remarks I am indebted, 
 and they confirm the observations made when pass- 
 ing through this amazingly fertile district in different 
 directions; and also those which had been collected 
 from the writings of others. 
 
 In the space of a few years, a great change has 
 taken place in the sheep of this county, and the fleeces 
 which they produce. Most of those pastures tvhich 
 have been distinguished by the weight of their stock, 
 both in cattle and sheep, instead of containing the 
 large tufted animal which has been described as the 
 native of Lincolnshire, exhibit the combination be- 
 tween that and the Bakewell breed in a great variety 
 
 of 
 
199 
 
 of degrees. The pure Lincoln blood was rarely to be 
 met with in a journey through the richest part of the 
 county, undertaken during the summer of 1804, in 
 order to observe the fleece ; but the sheep approached 
 the most nearly to it, in my apprehension at least, in 
 the neighbourhood ol Boston. The introduction of 
 the New Leicester breed has undoubtedly rendered 
 the wool finer and shorter, the colour also is improv- 
 ed ; but it has lost a large proportion of that tough- 
 ness, which is an indispensible quality in good comb- 
 ing wool. If it could be restored without repro- 
 ducing that brilliancy, once observeabie in some of 
 the fleeces, and without rendering the pile more solid, 
 or coarse, the staple would be still father improved. 
 Undoubtedly the lighter and more tender kind of 
 wool, produced in the county is very valuable in the 
 manufacture of the rougher woollen articles, but it 
 deprives the nation of the advantages arising from 
 the worsted fabrics. Some few political writers have 
 expressed themselves as though they thought it of 
 little importance whether the richest pastures of the 
 kingdom, and particularly of this county, produced a 
 sort of wool fit for the comb, or that which is adapted 
 only to the card, forgetting that the fleeces wrought 
 into worsted goods employ a muck larger capital, 
 and a greater number of hands to manufacture them; 
 and beingexported produce to the community, a more 
 considerable return than the very same wool would 
 have done, had it been wrought into woollens. The 
 difference in favour of worsted goods, if it be calcu- 
 lated without entering very minutely into the ques- 
 tion, is nearly as three to one. 1 do not mean to 
 intimate that articles of worsted will allow three 
 times the price for the raw material that those of 
 R 3 woollen 
 
200 
 
 woollen will afford ; but that if a sum of money be 
 laid out in wool w^hich may be wrought in either 
 mode, and half of it be manufactured in one way, 
 and half in the other, then the capital employed by 
 one of these quantities, the wages paid for the manu- 
 facture of it, and the incidental expences -which are 
 incurred before it reach the foreign consumer, will 
 render it necessary that he should remit to this coun- 
 try three times the amount, that he will send for the 
 other; and that the advantage to the community is • 
 of course in the same proportion. But the present 
 conduct of breeders who are desirous of obtaining a 
 fine, light, and tender fleece from the land which is 1 
 calculated to produce long-wool, is such as would 
 ultimately banish the worsted manufacture from the 
 kingdom, was it not prevented by that irresistable 
 spirit of trade which Sir Joshua Child so correctly 
 described, which will always procure the articles in 
 demand, and in this particular case prevent the total 
 alteration of the British long-wool. Graziers in the 
 county of Lincoln indeed are afraid to adopt mea- 
 sures calculated to render their fleeces weighty, be- 
 cause they have not yet forgotten how much the 
 value of wool was reduced, and whatalarge quantity 
 was left on hand every year during the continu- 
 ance of the American war. But at present there is no 
 apparent danger of producinga similar surplus ; for at 
 that period, the markets were much more effectually 
 shut against the British merchant than it is probable 
 that they ever will be again, without the concurrence 
 of circumstances more surprizing, than even those 
 which have been witnessed during the last fifteen 
 years. It is not at all probable that he should be 
 excluded again from both continents at the same 
 
£01 
 
 time, and the possession of Malta by the British 
 enables him to trade with security and success, even 
 to the shores of the Levant. So long therefore as 
 the demand for worsted goods continues both in the 
 eastern and western markets, the farmer may rest 
 assured that fleeces of a long, sound, and tough staple 
 will be in request. If he need any conviction re- 
 specting the value of Malta to the trade for English 
 worsted goods, let him compare the price of long- 
 wool in the summer before the battle of Aboukir, 
 with that which it sold for it in the next season, and 
 he will find the most ample satisfaction. 
 
 The county of Lincoln is so well adapted to the 
 production both of long-wool and that which is want- 
 ed for the coarser woollen oroods, as to render it 
 highly desirable that each kind should be cultivated 
 there to perfection, that the shepherd should adapt 
 his fleece to one particular object, and banish from it 
 all ambiguity of qualities, for since there is as much 
 difference in the purposes to which the two kinds 
 of wool are applied, as there is in the uses to which 
 wheat and barley are appropriated, so there ought to 
 be as much care taken to preserve the fleeces distinct 
 from each other, as to prevent the corn from grow- 
 ing intermingled upon the same land. 
 
 In the low lands of this county which are situated 
 in the southeastern part of it, the stock of sheep is re- 
 markably heavy. One account has stated it as high as 
 eight upon a single acre, and another when describing 
 the mode of farming uponasimilar soil, though remote 
 from the fens, estimates the stock of sheep at seven 
 to the same extent of land ; but in both cases the farms 
 comprise the best of soils, and the lambs are most 
 4 probably included in the quantity of stock, and per- 
 haps 
 
£02 
 
 haps there might be a greater proportion of sheep, 
 and fewer black cattle, upon these farms than is com- 
 monly found upon those of a similar description. 
 Correcting these accounts therefore by others, it ap- 
 pears that the average number of sheep upon each 
 acre is nearly three. The whole extent of the richer 
 pastures is about four hundred, thirteen thousand and 
 nine hundred acres, one eighth being deducted for the 
 space occupied by water, roads, &c. If this state- 
 ment be correct, the number of sheep which they sup- 
 port, is something more than one million two hun- 
 dred and forty thousand, producing about forty six 
 thousand five hundred packsof wool. Upon this kind 
 of land the fleece is estimated at nine pounds, which 
 probably is not far from the truth, because it some- 
 times reaches to fourteen, and in estimating the pro- 
 duce of the county, those who are well acquaint- 
 ed with it, state the fleece at eight pounds, eight and 
 a half and at nine ; the average is stated so low, be- 
 cause in some parts of the county sheep do not pro- 
 duce more than five pounds of wool. 
 
 Upon the marshes which extend from the mouth 
 of the Humber along the coast, until it meet the 
 southern boundary of the county, and which pro- 
 bably contain about two hundred thousand acres, 
 the stock of sheep varies very considerably. In the 
 winter season, and during those years when the land 
 is wet, the number of sheep is very greatly diminish- 
 ed ; and even in the most favourable summers it must 
 not be estimated at more than half a sheep to an acre 
 of land, affording for each fleece about eight pounds of 
 'wool. The result therefore upon these soils when ex- 
 pressed in round numbers, the usual deductionsbeing 
 
 made, 
 
£03 
 
 made is eighty seven thousand five hundred sheep, 
 and almost three thousand packs of wool. 
 
 In the other parts of Lincolnshire, the land is of 
 more miscellaneous quality, and carries a stock upon 
 different farms suited in a great measure to the pecu- 
 liarities of the soil. Upon the Wolds and the Heaths 
 of Lincoln and Ancaster, the fleece was formerly 
 much lighter than in the richer parts of the county ; 
 but now the size of it is greatly increased by the 
 system of grazing, the combination of blood, and the 
 care which is commonly taken to procure a large 
 quantity of winter food, and to furnish the flock with 
 more nutritious aliments than its usual pastures will 
 afford. With such assistance, and the general intro- 
 dution of the New Leicester breed, the farmers are 
 enabled to keep a greater number of sheep, and to 
 produce both more mutton and more wool, than they 
 could have furnished without it from soils naturally 
 dry and sterile. In a few instances, even from such 
 land assisted by oats and oil cake, as heavy a fleece 
 has been obtained as from sheep fed in the most 
 luxurient pastures ; a convincing proof that the con- 
 stitution and nourishment of the flock are of more 
 consequence, in the production of both mutton and 
 wool, than the climate or the soil, or any other cir- 
 cumstance. But in these parts of the county, there 
 is a quantity of wool produced which is fit only for 
 the card, and for that reason must be included among 
 the short wools of the kingdom. The extent of the 
 tract of miscellaneous land which affords wool of 
 the longer kind, is nearly seven hundred fifty eight 
 thousand and five hundred acres ; but unfortunately 
 the stock which is kept upon it, is not always men- 
 tioned with that precision, which is desirable in the 
 
 descrip- 
 
204 
 
 description of rural affairs, sometimes it is blended 
 with that of the more elevated farms and not unfre- 
 quently with that of the richer districts. According 
 to the best judgment I can form, it amounts to about 
 two sheep upon three acres, each yieldinga fleece of 
 eight pounds. The number of the sheep therefore is 
 nearly five hundred and five thousand seven hundred ; 
 and the quantity of wool sixteen thousand nine 
 hundred packs. Yet this is probably something below 
 the actual produce of this quantity of land ; because 
 there are few counties whose stock upon the more 
 elevated farms has undergone such a general altera- 
 tion, and the breed lately adopted will feed closer 
 upon the land than the old one, and in collecting the 
 number of sheep, it was necessary to refer to accounts 
 which have been long published. 
 
 If V)me allowance be made for these circum- 
 stances, this statement of the stock of Lincolnshire 
 will not differ materially from that which is given of 
 it by the Secretary to the Board of Agriculture 
 in his View of this county. The two accounts are 
 calculated in a very different manner, but produce a 
 result respecting the number of sheep, so nearly corre- 
 sponding with each other as to afford mutual support, 
 and lead us to imagine that neither of them are very 
 incorrect. Mr. Arthur Young calculates from round 
 numbers; and in the year 1800 supposed that the 
 average fleece of the county would weigh nine 
 pounds, and that the whole quantity of wool produc- 
 ed was more than nineteen thousand packs above 
 the number which I have estimated. The difference 
 seems to arise from the supposed weight of the fleece ; 
 which that gentleman takes as the average one. He 
 made his enquires with the interest which he always 
 
 takes 
 
20 5 
 
 takes in questions of this nature, and published them 
 with his usual precision and candour, and might be 
 sufficiently accurate at the time he wrote ; but at 
 present his calculation appears too high, even from 
 the circumstances which we collect from the View 
 itself. Mr. Young reckons the average fleece of 
 the Lincoln breed at only ten pounds, that of the 
 pure Dishley blood grown in this county at seven and 
 four- fifths of a pound, and the wool of the mixed 
 family at nine. But within the last five years, the 
 Dishley sheep have been very generally introduced, 
 and their fleeces, almost constantly growing lighter, 
 have rendered the total quantity of wool Jess consider- 
 able; and the average of nine pounds seems parti- 
 cularly to refer to fleeces grown upon the richer pas- 
 tures, not noticing the quantity of clothing wool 
 which the sandy soils produce. From these consi- 
 derations, I am induced to hope that the statement 
 already given, does not differ very widely from the 
 truth, although it must be acknowledged that it leads 
 to unfavourable conjectures respecting the worsted 
 manufacture; for to the pastures of the midland and 
 eastern districts, the looms of Norwich, of Sudbury, 
 of Northampton, and of Halifax, must still be indebt- 
 ed for the materials of workmanship. 
 
 The long-woolled breeds of sheep have diffused 
 themselves over a small proportion of Norfolk, and 
 abound most in that western part of the county, 
 which being separated by the Ouse from the more 
 elevated districts, is called Marshland, on account of 
 the depressed and moist nature of the soil. The same 
 kind of wool is also found in very small quantities 
 upon the low pastures distributed in the eastern point 
 of the county, and upon the banks of the Yare. Pro- 
 bably 
 
206 
 
 bably the flocks of Marshland were originally intro- 
 duced from the neighbouring fens; for though 
 smaller, and producing a lighter fleece than the sheep 
 of Lincolnshire, they exhibit so many points of re- 
 semblance as to convince most who observe them, 
 thatthey belong to the same family. The near neigh- 
 bourhood of a lighter stock may have contributed to 
 render their features less distinct, and their fleeces 
 less heavy. These low tracts generally produce long- 
 wool adapted to the worsted manufacture, and 
 wrought into that description of goods at Norwich. 
 The quantity of stock kept in this extreme part of 
 the Lincoln district, is about eleven sheep to eight 
 acres, each yielding a fleece of seven pounds. The 
 whole extent of land in this division of Norfolk is 
 about thirty two thousand acres ; and that of the 
 other marshes thirty one thousand three hundred and 
 fifty, upon which the sheep producing long-wool 
 are very few. But as there is no mention made of 
 the stock kept upon a given space, the number of 
 fleeces cannot be ascertained, and it will produce no 
 material error if we omit it entirely. Perhaps the 
 wetness of the pasture which is surrounded intirely 
 on the land side by soils of a very different descrip- 
 tion, and has no communication with the larger 
 districts producing long-wool, may have induced the 
 farmer to attend more to cattle than to sheep. Upon 
 the whole therefore, we estimate the number of long- 
 stapled fleeces in Norfolk at thirty eight thousand 
 and five hundred, whose weight amounts to eleven 
 hundred and twenty packs. 
 
 The Lincoln district of long-wool'comprises also 
 a considerable proportion of Cambridgeshire. About 
 half thecounty produces small fleeces, obtained from 
 
207 
 
 sheep which are nearly allied to the Norfolk breed ; 
 but upon the fenny lands and in the Isle of Ely long- 
 wool is the prevailing kind, and is used for the same 
 purposes as that of the dryer pastures in the manu- 
 facture of worsted goods. But the land is so very 
 different from that of Lincolnshire, and its drainage 
 and culture are so incomplete that the stock of sheep, 
 which is kept upon it, must vary both in the breed 
 and the number. A stranger, who passes from the 
 rich meadows of Long-Sutton and Iiolbeach into 
 the northern part of Cambridgeshire, is surprized at 
 that change which takes place in the appearance of 
 the country within a few miles, and without the in- 
 tervention of more elevated pastures. Instead of the 
 rich and verdant fields with which he was lately sur- 
 rounded, lie travels through a muddy district, over- 
 grown with aquatic vegetables, and where the eye 
 passes over an immense Hat, and observes neither 
 hedge-row nor tree to relieve the sameness of the 
 prospect ; for the round horizon is broken only by 
 the naked and stiffly-formed windmill used as an 
 instrument of drainage, and by the distant uplands 
 of Norfolk and Huntingdon. A person unacquaint- 
 ed with these quaking roads, sometimes feels al- 
 armed for his safety, and the desolation of the scene 
 serves to preclude all hope of assistance. In such 
 a country, it is impossible that the stock of sheep 
 should be heavy ; for when the land by some un- 
 toward accident, or an extraordinary wetness _of the 
 season is laid underwater, the flocks are wifhd.ffi- 
 culty preserved from destruction, and must be distri- 
 buted among the farms which are moresecurely situat- 
 ed. On the return of more fortunate times, a stock is 
 hastily repurchased from every quarter, where it 
 
 S pan 
 
208 
 
 can be obtained upon the most advantageous terms; 
 but the flocks by this meaus assume a motley and 
 undecided character, aqd the parcels of wool contain a 
 greater variety of fleeces than can be found in any other 
 part of the district. From the black peatiness of the 
 soil, the wool of this country assumes a blue and 
 dingy appearance which never leaves it, even though 
 washed with the utmost care ; and the collection of 
 different kinds of sheep in the same flock, produces 
 a combination of qualities in the fleece, which are 
 sometimesso incongruous as to render itilladapted to 
 every kind of manufacture. During the last summer, 
 I examined a singular fleece from this country, whose 
 staple not more than three inches long, and mode- 
 rately fine, possessed all the brilliancy, stubbornness 
 and ill formed curvature of the pile, which is found 
 in the roughest sorts of the Lincoln breed ; every 
 staple had grown almost detached from its neighbour, 
 possessed every disgusting quality when considered 
 as short wool, and its length was totally unfit for 
 the comb. It seemed the produce of a sheep whose 
 progenitors had been of the most dissimilar breeds. 
 
 In this northern part of Cambridgeshire, so ill 
 adapted to the comfort and health of the sheep, 
 and where but little care can be taken of them while 
 grazing a thinly inhabited country, it is not probable 
 that the stock will exceed a sheep to two acres. An 
 intelligent farmer, well acquainted with this tract, 
 though residing in another part of the county, esti- 
 mated the stock at one sheep to six acres, but re- 
 marked that the number in winter was much smaller 
 than during the summer months, and appeared to form 
 his opinion from the worst portion of the fens. If we 
 estimate the number of sheep on the ground at the 
 
 time 
 
^09 
 
 time of shearing upon an average of one to three 
 acres, probably the result will not be far from the 
 truth. But the whole quantity of wool produced here 
 must not be included in the class of combing fleeces, 
 for one third of the number at least must be deducted 
 as that portion which is applicable only to the card. 
 The quantity of long-wool then is nearly fourteen 
 hundred packs, produced upon one hundred and 
 eighty eight thousand acres of land, and by forty one 
 thousand seven hundred sheep, each of them yielding 
 a fleece of nearly eight pounds. 
 
 The soil of Huntingdonshire in different parts of 
 the county, is adapted both to the long and short 
 wools. In the north-eastern quarter, the fleece is 
 large and well suited to the comb; but upon the 
 dryer grounds approaching to the center of the coun- 
 ty, and to the border of Cambridgeshire south of the 
 Ouse, it becomes lighter and the sheep are a mingled 
 breed, exhibiting some features which resemble those 
 of the heavier flocks, and others which seem to have 
 been derived from the Norfolk blood. This latter 
 kind of sheep is evidently making progress in the 
 country, and its features become annually more con- 
 spicuous, promising to render the wool grown upon 
 the gravelly soils more adapted to the woollen manu- 
 facture. On the Northamptonshire border the 
 fleece is of a more dubious kind ; a part of it is comb- 
 ed in the neighbourhood, and employs the numerous 
 poorin spinning, another part of it is sent to Leicester 
 and wrought into stockings, a third portion finds its 
 way into Yorkshire, and is used in the manufacture of 
 woollens, while the remainder is distributed among 
 the workshops of Bury St. Edmunds, and the looms 
 of Norwich. Amidst flocks of such dubious charac- 
 
 S 2 ter, 
 
210 
 
 ter, and in a country of which few particulars are 
 given, it is not easy to attain complete satisfaction, 
 either respecting the quantity of land adapted to the 
 growth of long-wool, or the number of sheep which 
 it maintains. Mr. Maxwell, the author of the A<rri- 
 cultural View of this county, whose account I have 
 not seen, states the quantity of fenny land at forty nine 
 thousand acres, which is something higher than the 
 estimate of others. If we add to it an equal sum for the 
 richer soils in the other parts of the county, and 
 suppose that one hundred thousand acres are employ- 
 ed in the sustenance of long woolled sheep, and that 
 each of them maintains a single animal, we shall most 
 probably include all the combing wool which is pro- 
 duced there. The average fleece I apprehend can- 
 not exceed seven pounds, even when confined to the 
 most productive flocks; and leads us to suppose that 
 the utmost quantity of long-wool to be obtained 
 from hence is little more than two thousand and five 
 hundred packs, shorn from eighty sgven thousand five 
 hundred sheep, and produced upon as many acres of 
 land. In estimating the stock of Huntingdonshire 
 and the quantity of wool produced there, the data 
 are taken from an imperfect knowledge of that part 
 of the kingdom, rather than from the opinions of peo- 
 ple at present resident in it ; and I presume, will be 
 thought to be above the truth, for some of the fens 
 are singularly moist, and they contain several exten- 
 sive lakes. 
 
 This immense tract of low and fertile land, con- 
 sisting of a large proportion of Lincolnshire, a small 
 part of Northampton to the east of Peterborough, a 
 portion of Huntingdon, the Isle of Ely, and that part 
 of Norfolk separated by the Ouse from the rest of the 
 
 county, 
 
county, nature seems to have formed for the pro- 
 duction of long-wool in the most perfect state to 
 which it can attain ; and it would be absurd, so long 
 as the demand for that sort of wool continues, to ap- 
 propriate such luxuriant and nutritious grasses to the 
 support of naked sheep, as has sometimes been wish- 
 ed, or of those whose pile shall resemble that of the 
 liyeland or the South Down breed. The shepherds 
 here will certainly find it contribute much more to 
 their interest, if they continue to cultivate a fleece 
 suited to established manufactures, and to those which 
 have long depended for their existence upon the pro- 
 duce of these pastures, if they adopt those altera- 
 tions which shall enable the worsted manufacturer to 
 suit the present taste, than by introducing a fashion- 
 able breed of sheep, whose produce is better suited 
 to other soils than they occupy, to other manufac- 
 tures than have yet required it, and to other custo- 
 mers than have yet sought for the wools of Lincoln. 
 
 Perhaps it is scarcely proper to consider the range 
 of the Dishley sheep, as a separate district from that 
 which has just been described, because their blood is 
 now most intimately mingled with that of the native 
 stock in Lincolnshire, and their features are discern- 
 able in almost every pasture through that extensive 
 county ; yet as they still possess some distinctive cha- 
 racter, and since agriculturists have not laid aside 
 the old denominations, it is at least pardonable in us 
 to retain them. 
 
 In Leicestershire, besides the small animals which 
 rove through the lonely wastes of Charnwood Forest, 
 and producing a short wool must be noticed here- 
 after, there were formerly two distinct breeds of 
 sheep, known familiarly by the names of the Old and 
 
 S 3 New 
 
212 
 
 New Leicester; but at present the first of them has 
 very generally given place to the last. The sheep of 
 the Old breed were large rough animals, ill formed 
 in many of the points to which graziers pay much 
 attention, and yielded a long, tough, coarse and 
 hairy fleece. Its colour however was much better 
 than that of some other kinds of wool, and it possessed 
 excellent qualities for the manufacture of worsteds. 
 The race which succeeds it has been already describ- 
 ed, is much handsomer in its shape, and produces a 
 fleece moresoftand fine, evenly grown, and possessing 
 some other qualities of wool in great perfection, but 
 which is in general too short and weak to be admitted 
 among the first ranks of combing wool, adapted to 
 the manufacture of worsted yarn. In the hose trade, a 
 portion of it has become very useful, and the applica- 
 tion of machinery to that manufacture will most proba- 
 bly require a larger supply. But the whole improve- 
 ment which may be traced in some sf the wool of the 
 Leicester district, must not be attributed to blood ; 
 part of it may be owing to the superior care which 
 is taken of the sheep, and to the better management 
 of the pasture where it feeds. 
 
 The district which is more immediately appro- 
 priated to the New Leicester breed, comprehends the 
 pastures of its native county,' the fields of Rutland- 
 shire and the inclosures in the counties of Northamp- 
 ton and of Warwick ; it includes also the richer soils 
 in the eastern corner of Staffordshire, and the south of 
 Derhy. Throughout this extensive tract, the second 
 in point of dimension which produces long- wool, the- 
 Dishley breed of sheep has been generally cultivated; 
 its qualities have been infused not only into the flocks 
 which graze upon the most valuable lands, but into 
 
 those 
 
213 
 
 those which lodge upon fallows, and in some in- 
 stances have penetrated the close-bitten commons. 
 The staple which it produces is from five to seven 
 inches long, very commonly well formed, and of a 
 colour beautifully white; and there are few districts 
 in the kingdom, I conceive, where the fleece is kept 
 so clean or sent to market in such good order, and 
 not many where the grazier has been more amply 
 repaid for his attention to the coat as well as the 
 carcase of his sheep. Those which are so generally 
 adopted have been described as remarkably defi- 
 cient in the weight of their fleeces; but though the 
 quantity of wool which they afford be smaller than 
 that which isshorn from the Lincoln breed, yet weight 
 is seldom considered as the only criterion of ex- 
 cellency ; and when compared with the antie.nt stock 
 of the county, they yield a larger quantity of wool 
 upon a given surface than that produced ; and being 
 kept much cleaner than sheep formerly were, the 
 intrinsic weight of the woo! produced by an individual 
 is not very deficient. But from the accounts which 
 have been preserved of the weight of the fleeces pro- 
 duced by the same breed in the Low-lands of Lincoln- 
 shire, and in the dryer pastures of the county of 
 Leicester, there appears to be about half a pound in 
 favour of the former. 
 
 The soils of Leicestershire, though somewhat 
 various, are chiefly a rich vegetative loam, w^ell 
 adapted to the production of excellent long wool ; but 
 owing to the system of sheep farming adopted there, 
 the average fleeceeven from the best lands cannot be 
 reckoned at more than seven and a half pounds, and 
 perhaps for the whole long wool of the county it may 
 not reach seven. The quantity of stock varies in 
 
 different 
 
214 
 
 different parishes, from three fourths of a sheep to 
 each acre, to a sheep and one eighth upon the same 
 space of ground ; and if I have been fortunate in the 
 farms from which the stock has been collected, the 
 average for the whole county, except the Forests of 
 Charnwood and Bardon, is about twent}^ one ani- 
 mals upon twenty two acres of land. Perhaps the 
 computation may be deemed low by those who re- 
 collect that the stock of sheep has been estimated 
 at one per acre by some persons, at a still higher rate 
 by others, and by a very few at one and a half. But 
 in such cases it is not uncommon for people to 
 form their estimate from those farms which lie in 
 their own immediate neighbourhood, and where 
 only one mode of farming is adopted, without taking 
 a general view of the district in which they reside, 
 or recollecting that in parts remote from them ano- 
 ther kind of sheep may be kept, and the owner pro- 
 fess to manage them upon other principles. 
 
 After deducting from the extent of Leicestershire 
 the quantity of land contained in the forests, which 
 .probably amounts to about fifty thousand acres, and 
 making the usual allowance for unproductive land, 
 there remain about three hundred ninety eight 
 thousand and seven hundred acres, which yield long 
 wool ; and being stocked with three hundred and. 
 eighty thousand five hundred sheep, produce more 
 than eleven thousand packs of wool. 
 
 Northamptonshire is properly included in the 
 district of the Dishley sheep, because that breed has 
 become the prevailing one not only upon the rich and 
 verdant pastures of the county, many of which may be 
 compared with the most luxuriant plains, but has also 
 been distributed over the dryest fallows, giving a better 
 
 shape 
 
215 
 
 shape and a superior fleece to their ancient stock. 
 The uninclosed fields of this county are still nume- 
 rous, and the farms are often distributed in small 
 portions through the whole extent of the parish to 
 which they belong ; and the flocks being composed 
 of the sheep which are kept by all the farmers, yield 
 but a thin and ill-managed staple ; much lighter than 
 it ought to be and of a very inferior colour. In the 
 inclosed parishes the grazier is enabled to keep 
 a more perfect sheep, and to produce a superior sort 
 of wool; but the defects of the Dishley fleece, which 
 have been described already, are observed in almost 
 every flock, and deserve the especial regard of per- 
 sons who reside in a county formerly celebrated for 
 its worsted manufactures, but where they are now 
 almost universally declined, leaving behind them a 
 numerous and an indolent poor. Perhaps there are 
 few districts in the kingdom where the fleece requires 
 more attention than Northamptonshire, for upon 
 some of the soils it not only assumes a brown and 
 dirty appearance, but the pile is coarse, hairy, brilli- 
 ant, and bard, and possesses an undesirable portion 
 of elasticity. One of the good effects of inclosing 
 such kind of land, and laying it down for pasture, is 
 the preservation of the fleece from a soil which 
 absorbs the yolk and injures the staple. The fleeces 
 of this county produce a large proportion of those 
 sorts, which must be appropriated to the woollen 
 manufacture, although sometimes shorn from the 
 backs of animials sufficiently large to produce a dif- 
 ferent pile; and upon the borders of the county to^ 
 ward Rutland and Buckinghamshire, and in some 
 other parts of it, the sheep are too small to yield a 
 fleece suited to the operation of the comb. But as 
 
 it 
 
216 
 
 it is impossible to separate these two kinds of wool 
 from each other, in the estimate which we form of 
 the produce of this part of the island, the whole must 
 be included among the larger fleeces, until the gross 
 quantity of that sort of wool which the kingdom pro- 
 duces be ascertained. From the best accounts, 
 which I have been able to collect, the stock of sheep 
 is heavier than in some other districts equally fertile, 
 and which produce a larger quantity of grass. It 
 amounts to eight sheep upon seven acres ; but per- 
 haps if taken at that number may be rather too large, 
 as in a few instances a common right is annexed to a 
 farm, but not included in the measure of it. This 
 county also contains a larger quantity of wood than 
 some others, which probably might reduce the num- 
 ber of productive acres below that which we obtain 
 by subtracting one eighth from its whole extent; but 
 these are minute points, which fall more immediately 
 under the view of those who reside in the district ; 
 and though they produce an error in the statement, 
 it is not of sufficient magnitude to require a deviation 
 from an established rule. Some of the farms in this 
 county have been described as maintaining a sheep 
 and a half upon every acre of land, others as support- 
 ing only one half of that number, and a few others as 
 furnishing food for more than the double of it. A 
 well-informed grazier, a character not uncommon 
 there, has told me that he estimates the stock of sheep 
 at one to every acre through Northamptonshire, and 
 the weight of the fleeces including those of ever}’' de- 
 scription cannot be fairly estimated at more than six 
 pounds; so that the produce of the county is sixteen 
 thousand packs of wool, upon five hundred and sixty 
 thousand productive acres, and from six hundred and 
 
 forty 
 
217 
 
 forty thousand sheep. In giving the average weight 
 of the fleece at six pounds, a wool-stapler, residing 
 almost in the center of the county, has obligingly 
 informed me that he thinks I have stated it too high ; 
 among his more immediate connections, he does not 
 find the sheep produce more than about five pounds 
 of woof, and supposes that weight to answer most 
 exactly to the fleece of the county. But as some of 
 the richer soils certainly produce a heavier fleece 
 than he has intimated, and since in other dubious 
 cases we have taken the higher average, it was deem- 
 ed most proper to retain that which had been pro- 
 cured from many other accounts. 
 
 Had Rutlandshire been surrounded by soils, which 
 were adapted only to the fine and short-stapled 
 wools, the produce of this small county would have 
 been very different from what it is at present ; for 
 nothing here could have induced the farmer to. cul- 
 tivate a heav}^ fleece, but the existence of rich pas- 
 tures and large sheep all around him, and the demand 
 of an old established manufacture within the province 
 audits neighbourhood. The land, though fertile, is 
 in a great measure elevated and dry, and in these re- 
 spects well adapted as pasture for sheep; but a con- 
 siderable proportion of it being under the plough, it 
 does not seem to be well suited to the heavy sheep of 
 Dishiey. "The gentle swells of the country render it 
 pleasing, and expose the stock of the pastures to a 
 traveller’s view much more effectually than the 
 richer plains of Lincolnshire. It is evident upon 
 the slightest inspection that the Bakewell blood, not- 
 withstanding all the obstacles which it has to sur- 
 mount in an arable country, has here deeply affected 
 the stock, and perhaps greatly improved the native 
 
 sheep. 
 
218 
 
 sheep. Yet as tic accounts of the extent and the 
 the produce of o into my rods, I 
 
 can form on this subject only a general o und^ 
 
 ed upon the appearance and the circumstances of trie 
 country. The number of sheep, I imagine, does not 
 exceed one hundred and fourteen thousand, upon one 
 hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred acres 
 of what we have called productive land. If the 
 average fleece weigh five pounds, the whole produce 
 of the county will amount to almost two thousand and 
 four hundred packs of wool. The staple is of an 
 ambiguous character ; a considerable proportion of 
 the fleeces being adapted to the worsted manufac- 
 tures, another portion of them to the hose trade, and 
 and a third part, not a small one, to the manufacture 
 of woollens. A yellow tinge is the prevailing colour 
 of the pile, except in the pastures whose sods produce 
 a thick herbage, which preserves the whiteness of the 
 wool ; and upon some of the lighter soils where the 
 exterior of the fleeces is thin and brown. The prin- 
 cipal part of the wool which is produced in this 
 county is supplied with a quantity of yolk sufficient 
 to preserve the lower parts of the staple from injury ; 
 and the pile is so thickly placed upon the pelt, as to 
 prevent those effects of water and sand, whicli are 
 often discerned in a thinner fleece. Among the neg- 
 lected sheep, as is usual in other places, the points of 
 the staple are coarse and hairy. 
 
 Some who have described the rural practice of 
 Warwickshire lead us to suppose that the sheep of 
 Dishley did not so early affect those of that county as 
 might have been expected. But it is observeable, 
 that ail improvements in agriculture make only a slow 
 progress; being adopted in one farm with success, 
 
 they 
 
they are introduced into those which surround it, and 
 thus gradually disseminate themselves until the whole 
 district is benefited ; but if obstacles are interposed, the 
 most beneficial systems are arrested in their course, 
 and it is often many years before they can proceed 
 with their usual rapidity. Thus it was with the 
 sheep of the low part of Warwickshire ; the pastures 
 where they grazed were not only situated remotely 
 from the meadows of Dishley, but the hills of Bardon 
 and Cbarnwood rose between them and interdicted 
 agricultural intercourse, until the celebrated breed 
 bad obtained a large share of public attention, and 
 diffufed itself over the rich soils of its native county. 
 Before it could penetrate to the banks of the Avon, 
 and much more before it could touch the utmost verge 
 of the county which that river chiefly adorns, a spirit 
 of enterprize must be introduced among the owners 
 and the holders of land, and a taste for experimental 
 farming must triumph over the maxims of ignorance, 
 and defy the cynical sneer of self-opinionated folly. 
 Hence the old rough and large-boned animals of 
 Warwickshire, aboriginals of the soil, and which 
 might puzzle a naturalist who attempted to class 
 them, retained their bad qualities through a consider- 
 able period ; while the more handsome and profitable 
 sheep of Leicestershire was rapidly diffusing itself in 
 other quarters. But rough and unsightly as the breed 
 appeared in the eyes of a grazier, it is said to have 
 yielded a good fleece ; wool which in son^e instances 
 has been pronounced fine. That term has been so 
 miserably abused as to convey at present only a vague 
 idea, for while the stapler almost invariably connects 
 with it the notion of tenuity, the agriculturist and 
 those less acquainted with wool seem as though 
 
 T thev 
 
220 
 
 they wished to convey the description of a staple 
 long, well-formed, and white ; or they use it as a 
 word synonymous with good. When applied to the 
 wool grown upon the richer soils of Warwickshire, 
 it meant that the fleece was large and the staple well- 
 formed, perhaps that the colour was good ; but there 
 is no reason to suppose that the pile was smaller or 
 would spin to a greater length than that which might 
 be obtained from other places. At present, some of 
 the fleeces have a tinge of redness, obtained either 
 from the land or the taste of the farmer, and a great 
 deal of the pile is very tender. I have seen wool of 
 this county wrought upon the comb, which in many 
 other parts of the kingdom, more favourably situated 
 for the woollen manufacture, would have employed 
 the card, and perhaps, as was then supposed, might 
 have been wrought upon this latter instrument to 
 the greatest advantage. But as it is some years 
 since this circumstance was noticed, great alterations 
 may have occurred both in the fleece, and the me- 
 thods adopted to render it useful . 
 
 The wool of this county, like its surface and soil, 
 is various. Long-stapled fleeces are chiefly found in the 
 part of it which lies south of the Avon, and upon the 
 border of Leicestershire. But since some of the ac- 
 counts which have been published of the number of 
 sheep are vague, and were taken before the altera- 
 tions had occurred, which in most places during the 
 last few years have succeeded each other very ra- 
 pidly, we cannot repose that confidence in them, 
 which is desirable when attempting to form a general 
 estimate connected with a difficult subject, and one 
 which with the best assistance must contain a great 
 deal of uncertainty The stock of sheep however is 
 
 most 
 
an 
 
 most heavy in the south-eastern quarter of the county, 
 and lightest in the point directly opposite to that. Even 
 upon the richest soils, when compared with others of 
 a similar description in the neighbouring counties, 
 we cannot estimate the number of sheep at more than 
 seven to eight acres of land. And from the best in» 
 formation yet obtained, I conjecture that the quan- 
 tity of pasture employed in producing long-wool is 
 about one hundred and eighty two thousand acres; 
 that the fleece does not greatly exceed the weight of 
 five pounds, and conclude that in the county there 
 are a hundred and sixty thousand sheep, which pro- 
 duce annually about three thousand four hundred 
 packs of combing fleeces. 
 
 It has been said that Warwickshire, which, accord- 
 sngto Mr. Wedge as quoted by the Rev. C. Cruttwel), 
 contains six hundred and eighteen thousand acres, has 
 more than one fourth part of it occupied by gardens, 
 woods, rivers, canals, roads, wastes and commons ; 
 so that perhaps one eighth of the extent may be too 
 small a proportion to deduct from the gross amount 
 for unproductive land ; especially as in this instance 
 there is no mention of towns or buildings of any kind. 
 But we must not always consider land, which is 
 usually denominated common and waste, as entirely 
 useless in sheep farming, since it often serves as a 
 summer pasture for a considerable number of the 
 flocks, and thus assists the better soils in the produc- 
 tion of wool. In this instance therefore we retain 
 the old quantity, though possibly not quite accurate. 
 
 Wool is produced in such small quantities in that 
 part of Staffordshire, which must be included in the 
 Leicestershire district, as to make only a trifling 
 error in the general calculation of the long-wool 
 T 2 grown 
 

 grown' in the kingdom, whether we include or neg- 
 lect it entirely. Large fleeces are found chiefly upon 
 the rich land near to the Trent, in the south-east 
 angle of the county ; and the stock which is kept 
 there, according to the number of sheep annexed to 
 the quantity of land in many farms, is probably not 
 more than seven sheep upon twenty five acres. The 
 whole quantity of land over which the heavy breed 
 ranges, is perhaps not more than fourteen thousand ; 
 feeding three thousand seven hundred animals of that 
 kind ; and producing something more than a hun- 
 dred packs of fleeces. 
 
 In this small portion of Staffordshire, it is common 
 to sell wool by the tod of thirty pounds ; in almost 
 every other part of the Leicester and Lincoln di- 
 stricts, through which we have now passed, the tod 
 of twenty eight pounds is used ; and in order to ac- 
 commodate the seller, a pair of seven pound weights 
 is conveyed by the stapler to the place where the 
 wool is to be weighed. They are usually cast in a 
 fiat form, with the arms of his Majesty upon them, 
 and adjusted by the tower standard. For the con- 
 venience of carrying them on horseback, they are 
 united by a thong of leather, which sometimes weighs 
 from five to sixteen ounces. This some farmers 
 allow to be balanced with the weights, in order to 
 make up the tod, and actually produce a weight for 
 their wool which varies from twenty eight pounds 
 ten ounces to thirty pounds. The practice of using 
 the strap, and of balancing it, is commonly defended 
 upon the ground of old acts of parliament, which are 
 said to allow such an extra weight, as a counterpoise 
 to the moisture and the dirt which the fleeces contain ; 
 but at present, I believe, it rests entirely upon custom, 
 
 being 
 
<223 
 
 being sanctioned by no law whatsoever. When the 
 practice of using tower weights was first adopted, the 
 design was an admirable one ; for it prevented those 
 endless disputes, which must constantly have arisen 
 when the farmer sold his wool by handsel!, a practice 
 now entirely laid aside in Britain. But instead of pro- 
 moting justice, it has sometimes been made the means 
 of fraud ; for unless a specific bargain was made for 
 the weight of the tod as well as for the price of the 
 wool, the quantity sold for agiveii sum of money was 
 only nominal, and was to be determined b}' the con- 
 science or the policy of the buyer. In many cases, 
 the increase of the tod to thirty pounds did not more 
 than compensate for the trash which was often found 
 in the fleeces; the manner of winding wool was, 
 shamefully unjust, for the bundles contained, besides 
 dirt of different kinds, a quantity of dag~)ocks, of 
 wool from dead sheep, and that which had been shorn 
 before the staple had attained its full length, of which 
 the ancient technical names are now almost for- 
 gotten even among staplers themselves. False wind- 
 ing, or the enwraping of any wool or other substance 
 in a fleece, which does not naturally belong to it, is 
 still cognizable by the law and punishable with a very 
 heavy fine, to be recovered Iry an easy process. But 
 farmers, at least the enlightened part of them, are 
 guided in their commercial transactions by better 
 principlesthan penal Statutes afford; and the dishonest 
 ones are soon known sufficiently to prevent any ad- 
 vantage accruing to them from practices, which bring 
 the whole body into disrepute among persons, who 
 indulge in general censure when irritated by the 
 crimes of individuals. Buyers of wool, I am per- 
 suaded, would consult their own interest if they laid 
 T 3 aside 
 
<224 
 
 aside all local customs, and weighed wool from the 
 farmers upon the same broad principles that are 
 adopted among themselves. Indeed farmers are now 
 so much better acquainted with the principles of 
 commerce than they were formerly, as to see the ad- 
 vantages resulting from an universal weight, as well as 
 a regulated measure, and from exchanging local cus- 
 toms for more general manners; and I am acquainted 
 with woolstaplers, who rejoice when their weights, 
 the badges and the tests of honesty, are found to be 
 useless. 
 
 The next district of long-wool is confined almost 
 entirely to the county of Kent, and by far the larger 
 quantity is grown near its southern extremity. The 
 marsh of Romney may be considered as the natural 
 pasture of those sheep, whose heavy fleeces distin- 
 guish them from all others in the southern part of 
 the kingdom, and which have diffused themselves in 
 small numbers over most of the other low lands in 
 the county. Mr. Marshall thinks that the aboriginal 
 sheep of the southern part of England proceeded 
 from one common stock, distinguished from those of 
 the Midland counties by the colour of the face and the 
 horns. Rut the inhabitants of the marsh, like all the 
 Jong-wooled sheep, which we have had occasion to 
 notice in the plains of Lincolnshire, and the pastures 
 of the Leicester district, are a polled breed with 
 white faces and legs, except a few individuals gene- 
 rally found upon the skirts of the marsh, which dis- 
 play in their faces some grey spots, the sure proof of 
 a blood contaminated by the old breed of the upland 
 farms. The wool, w hie by he marsh produces, is well 
 adapted to the worsted trade ; but the staple is often 
 too much pointed and hard at the extremities, some- 
 times 
 
times exhibiting on the exterior of the fleece a bluish 
 tinge, not uncommon in wool which is produced 
 upon low and rich pastures. Nearer to the pelt the 
 colour is much better, and the pile partakes of that 
 yellowness which sometimes proceeds from a rich 
 and healthy yolk. There is also a circumstance ob- 
 servable in some of this wool, which I never noticed 
 in that of any other district; the leach of the fleeces 
 appears as though a yellow pqwder had been scatter- 
 ed among the hair, and adhered closely to the pile, 
 producing upon the sense of feeling an impression 
 similar to that communicated by a waxed thread. It 
 is probably owing to the yolk assuming a concrete 
 state, bv some process at present unknown, but 
 which deprives the pile of that brilliancy so frequently 
 observed in the Old Lincoln breed of sheep, and also 
 of that clear and lucid appearance for which the wool 
 of the New Leicester is so eminently distinguished. 
 But this is not the character of all the large fleeces of 
 this county ; by far the greater part of them possess a 
 large quantity of nutritious and oily yolk, which 
 through every changing season has retained its liquid 
 form, and contributed to the health and the perfec- 
 tion of the staple. Nor does the yolk assuming a 
 constipated state produce that injury to the pile which 
 might have been expected ; for notwithstanding this 
 apparent disad vantage, it produces in the process of 
 combing excellent workmanship, and a sliver more 
 compact than the old wools of either the Leicester or 
 the Lincoln district. This circumstance may be 
 owing iu part to tbe smaller degree of elasticity, which 
 the wool of these marshes possesses; a quality for 
 some particular purposes most desirable, but which 
 is seldom attained by the grazier of the midland 
 
 counties 
 
226 ‘ 
 
 counties without destroying that toughness, which is 
 indispensably necessary in good combing wool. The 
 quantity of this article produced in Kent is annually 
 decreasing, if the assurance that the staple is growing 
 shorter and finer be correct, and that there are few 
 kinds of wool in which the tenuity of pile may be 
 pursued with greater advantage. In this district, an 
 instance occurs of the great alteration which may be 
 produced in the stock of the country by the enter- 
 prizing spirit of its graziers, for the sheep are now 
 described “ as animals with short legs, true round 
 barrels, of a fine size, and bearing a fleece remarkably 
 white.” But the custom which prevails of shearing 
 the lambs must deprive the manufacturer of the ad- 
 vantage, which he might derive from hog wool ; 
 although it furnish some other branches of the woollen 
 manufacture with the article which they require. 
 
 Some parts of this extensive county produce wool 
 of an ambiguous character; such as may be wrought 
 either by the card or the comb, as circumstances, 
 especially the demand for the respective kinds, 
 may direct, and render it difficult to separate the 
 land which produces long-wool from that which 
 yields only the shorter staple. That which is best 
 adapted to the heavier sheep lies round the coast in 
 various detached parts, along the southern bank of 
 the Thames, in the isle of Sheppev, and the Weald 
 of Kent; but the extent of it is estimated very vari- 
 ously, for some reckon that the marshes in the 
 southern point contain only forty four thousand 
 acres, while others fix upon different numbers from 
 that even up to seventy thousand. The accounts 
 are reconcilable only by supposing that those, who 
 give us the higher numbers, include with the marsh 
 
of Romney a portion of the Weald, which joins to it, 
 or of the low lands of Sussex, the levels of Guilford 
 and of Pevensey. Mr. Pennant, in his tour to the 
 Isle of Wight, mentions forty six thousand nine 
 hundred and twenty, as the exact number of scotted 
 acres; and his authority is certainly sufficient to guide 
 us when estimating the quantity of stock which these 
 marshes support.. As they contain few towns, roads, 
 or streams, and but little wood, the number of acres 
 may be taken as a neat one. 
 
 The average of seven different accounts of the 
 stock supported upon the fertile plains of Romney, 
 amounts to five sheep to each acre ; a quantity un- 
 paralleled in any other part of the kingdom. But as 
 the land is appropriated almost entirely to sheep, and 
 the lambs are most probably counted with the older 
 part of the flock, it does not seem incredible ; although 
 a gentleman, whose writings have been already 
 quoted, informs us that u the immense stock said to 
 be maintained upon the land is not justified by the 
 appearance of the fields, by the quality of the land, 
 nor by the accounts collected upon the spot.” We 
 estimate the number of sheep at five to the acre, 
 therefore, with less confidence than other accounts 
 would authorize, and consider it as subject to correc- 
 tion. In the winter season, the quantity of stock 
 upon these bleak and stormy plains is greatly dimi- 
 nished, the lambs being sent into more sheltered 
 situations ; and if surveyed at that time of the year, 
 and the account betaken into the general estimate, 
 the number of sheep will appear smaller than it really 
 is, and the quantity of wool which they produce less 
 considerable. 
 
 It is not probable that the fleece of this part of 
 
 Kent 
 
Kent weighs upon the whole more than seven pounds, 
 although some instances are mentioned of the pro- 
 duce of a single sheep rising to twelve and fourteen. 
 The weight of the fleece is certainly diminished by 
 the custom of shearing the lambs, which so generally 
 prevails ; and this accounts in some measure for the 
 small quantity of wool obtained from a district, 
 which has been long celebrated for that article, both 
 among those who grow, and those who manufacture 
 it. From the data with which we are furnished there 
 appears sufficient reason to conclude, that the marsh i 
 does not support a smaller number of full grown sheep 1 
 than one hundred and eighty five thousand; nor pro- 
 duce a less quantity of wool than five thousand and 
 four hundred packs. In calculations of this nature 
 it is impossible to arrive at absolute certainty ; but in 
 this case the conclusion is rendered satisfactory by 
 the opinions of some farmers, who residing upon 
 the spot may be esteemed good judges in a case of 
 this kind, and who reckon the quantity of rvool at 
 considerably more than twenty pounds per acre. 
 
 But these celebrated sheep, when removed to 
 other parts of the county, produce a lighter fleece, 
 or must be placed more thinly upon the pasture. In 
 the Isle of Sbeppey, upon the low lands near to it, and 
 those which are found on some detached parts of the 
 coast, the same breed of sheep produces seven pounds 
 of wool, hut the stock amounts only to five of the 
 animals to three acres of the soil. When they 
 crop a dryer or less luxuriant pasture, their fleeces 
 become much more thin and light, being reduced in 
 one instance at least to four pounds and a quarter as 
 the average weight; a striking, but not a singular 
 proof of the effects which hunger or excessive labour 
 
 will 
 
will produce* It is not easy to ascertain the extent 
 of land in Kent, separate from Romney marsh, 
 which is devoted to the support of long- woolled sheep ; 
 but it may be safely taken at twenty live thousand 
 acres in the eastern part of the county, and at forty 
 thousand upon the banks of the Thames, the Med- 
 way, and some other waters. They support more 
 than a hundred and eight thousand sheep ; and fur- 
 nish to the manufacturer almost three thousand two 
 hundred packs of wool. The marsh of Guilford 
 which joins to that of Romney, and forms a part of 
 this district is included in the number of acres which 
 has been taken as the basis of calculation ; and 
 Pevensey level is devoted almost entirely to cattle, 
 and furnishes so little wool that the quantity which 
 has been stated, may be considered as the whole 
 produce of the district. 
 
 The fleeces are disposed of here either by the 
 pound, or the pack of two hundred and forty pounds 
 weight, with a small allowance for waste ; and it 
 does not appear that abetter mode, can possibly be 
 adopted, for the weight made use of is certain, and as 
 well known to the seller as the buyer, and is that 
 which staplers use among themselves throughout 
 most of the southern parts of England. Exeter is 
 the principal market to which the long-wool of Kent 
 is conveyed, four thousand bags being imported 
 into that city for the use of the manufacturers in the 
 west of England; the remainder is purchased by the 
 staplers of London, and finds its way to the northern 
 looms; or perhaps a small portion of it may be 
 wrought in those of Norfolk and Suffolk. 
 
 Having never visited that part of England which 
 lies west of the line drawn from Bristol to Lewes, 
 
 the 
 
230 
 
 the description which I shall be able to give of the 
 sheep and the fleece of the western and southern 
 counties is chiefly collected from the accounts, which 
 others have given of them. In Devonshire we find 
 another district of long-wool ; but confined almost 
 entirely to the southern part of the count}- , although 
 the staple through the whole is longer than most of 
 that which is usually deemed proper for the card; 
 but is decidedly suitable for the comb in the South 
 Hams, and along the banks of the principal rivers. 
 The sheep are usually distributed into two classes, 
 the horned breed, and those which are provincially 1 
 called notts, or knots; to which some add a third' de- 
 scription distinguished from both the other kinds by ! 
 a singular protubrance upon the head. Some think 
 that they are a mongrel breed, but Mr. Marshall ima- 1 
 gines that they belong to a distinct family. In the ( 
 South Hams, a tract which penetrates far into the 1 
 channel, and celebrated both for the mildness of the 8 
 climate and the beauty of its scenery, the fleece re- j 
 sembles that which is obtained from the marsh of ! 
 Romney* and is used for the same purposes in the 1 
 manufactures of the county. The polled breed is c 
 said to be particularly large upon the meadows of the 
 Ex, and especially in the neighbourhood of Tiverton ; ' 
 
 but at present in the greater part of the district, the s 
 Dorsetshire face seems to be the most fashionable 2 
 stock, and 'derives its superior excellency from the 
 production of early lambs. The sheep of Dishley £ 
 also, which we have found in every district of long- 2 
 wool, excepting that of Romney, has penetrated even 1 
 to those distant pastures, and contributed to the im- ( 
 provement of their flocks. Like the larger sheep in 1 
 other parts of the kingdom, those of Devonshire 1 
 
 possess 
 
23 1 
 
 possess white faces and legs, except a few on the 
 eastern side of the district, which perhaps have been 
 mingled with the inferior breeds of the county, and 
 display the proof of their degeneracy in the spots 
 'which they exhibit, and the dinginess of their fore- 
 head. 
 
 In this kind of wool the fleeces have been calcu- 
 lated at nine pounds ; a few have been produced 
 which weighed as many as eighteen; but as the pile 
 is not usually planted very thickly upon the back of 
 the animal, perhaps eight pounds, taken as an 
 average, may furnish us with some accurate idea of 
 the quantity which the district j-ields. It is not 
 always customary with the farmers in the South of 
 Devonshire to wash their flocks ; and some sensible 
 people have justified their conduct upon the ground 
 of utility ; the wool they say keeps better, weighs 
 more, and the yolk being of a saponaceous quality 
 assists the scouring of the pile. Yet as the practice 
 is unknown in all the other districts which produce 
 long-wool, even those where the carcase and the coat 
 have been observed with the minutest attention, and 
 cultivated with the best success; as among the shorter 
 piles it is most commonly found in poor districts, 
 where the land is cold or wet, and the sheep are 
 smeared to perserve their health, where the farmers 
 are oppressed, and husbandry ill understood, or but 
 lately studied as a science ; as instead of saving 
 expence to the manufacturer who would fabricate 
 articles distinguished for the purity of their colour, 
 it furnishes more employment, and causes a larger 
 expence ; I cannot but suppose that the practice is 
 pernicious, and indicates that the county has not 
 made that rapid progress in the art of agriculture, 
 
 U which' 
 
232 
 
 which has distinguished some other parts of the king- 
 dom. When the value of the unwashed fleece in this 
 part of Devonshire has been taken at seventy five, 
 We observe that a quantity sold in a purer state 
 reached ninety five, allowing little more than one 
 fourth of the weight for the yolk, which incumbered 
 the grosser fleece. There are few staplers, I am 
 persuaded, who will not infer from this, either that 
 the wool which had been washed was not clean, or 
 that the quantity of yolk in which the pile had been 
 produced was very deficient. If this deficiency arise 
 from the constitution of the sheep it must be deemed 
 a bad one ; if it be produced by the moisture of the 
 climate, some care should be taken to preserve the 
 fleece from its deleterious effects, which might be 
 more easily accomplished in acountry where the mvr- 
 tle sometimes flourishes unprotected through the whole 
 winter, than in districts where the flocks are exposed 
 to the utmost rigour of the chilling blast. 
 
 In places where the system of farming is so 
 different, and the soils so various as in Devonshire, 
 it is no wonder that customs should prevail in one 
 parish, which are utterly unknown in another; ac- 
 cordingly we find that there is not only a diversity in 
 the mode of treating the fleece, but that the wool is 
 sometimes weighed by a pound of eighteen ounces, 
 while in other places that of sixteen is mentioned. 
 If the first be used for unwashed wool, and the other 
 for that which has passed through the pool, it w ill 
 produce a difference of one eighth in favour of the 
 yolk, and render the deficiency of that nutritious 
 substance less considerable than we have supposed 
 it to be. In some few cases we have found that a 
 pound of twenty one ounces is used, but it seems to 
 
 be 
 
 
 ! ! 
 
 I ( 
 1 
 
 I ‘ 
 
 1 
 
 I i 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 ( 
 
233 
 
 be confined principally to the transactions of the 
 master manufacturer with his spinners. The price 
 of wool in this county is always given by the pounds 
 but the weight made use of between the buyer and 
 the seller is the tod of twenty eight pounds. 
 
 From the best estimate which I can form of this 
 western district, the land supporting the larger sheep 
 contains about three hundred and eighty seven thou~ 
 sand five hundred acres ; the sheep amount to almost 
 one hundred ninety four thousand, and produce six 
 thousand four hundred and fifty packs of wool. A 
 small quantity might be added to it, which is grown 
 both in Somersetshire and Cornwall, but as this is too 
 much blended with the shorter fleeces of those coun- 
 ties, we must pass it over without distinct calcula- 
 tion. 
 
 The last, the smallest, and the most singular of 
 the districts producing long-wool is situated in Glou- 
 cestershire. The Cotteswold hills, which have been 
 Jong celebrated as the spot whence the most excellent 
 of the Spanish flocks derived their origin, are still 
 distinguished among the eminent sheep walks of Eng* 
 land; but if the history given of these pastures be 
 correct, the flocks must have very greatly changed 
 both their nature and their produce ; and it is not 
 reasonable to suppose, notwithstanding the opinion 
 of an eminent grazier, that these lofty swells should 
 have supported a heavy sheep at the time when 
 agriculture was but little understood, and the country 
 less populous than it is at present. Their larger 
 stock was most probably introduced from the South 
 of Warwickshire, and the North of Oxford ; and the 
 existence of such sheep upon such soils, is asurprizing 
 circumstance. In point of elevation and general 
 U 2 appearances, 
 
234 
 
 appearances, they bear some resemblance to the 
 Downs of Sussex and of Kent; and in the thinness of the 
 staple of vegetable eaith to the unsheltered plains of 
 Suffolk ; but they support a very different sort of 
 sheep, and produce wool of an opposite character, 
 showing: that in the culture of the longer fleeces 
 much more depends upon management than richness 
 of pasture, and that if it be necessary they may 
 be produced upon the driest hills, provided only that 
 the flock, either by means of artificial grasses or 
 other aliments, have its appetite satisfied and remain 
 at ease. This likewise is the only district, except a 
 small portion of Yorkshire, which affords long-wool 
 from chalky hills; all other pastures in which the 
 heavy sheep are found, are celebrated for the rich- 
 ness of their loams, and for the comparative depres- 
 sion of their surface. The moorlands of Yorkshire, 
 the heaths of Lincoln, the forests of Leicester, the 
 wolds of Kent, and hills of Devonshire, when raised 
 above the common level of the country around them, 
 support a smaller sheep though surrounded on every 
 side by those of the heaviest description. But on the 
 Cotteswold hills, the staple of wool is from six to eight 
 inches long, and the fleece upon the average weighs 
 about eight pounds; and in the vale of Gloucester are 
 found some of the smallest breeds in the kingdom. 
 The wool of the district, though produced in what 
 are generally deemed unfavourable circumstances, “ is 
 strong, of a good colour, rather coarse, but of a mel- 
 low quality.” The Dishley breed of sheep, which has 
 been adopted upon these elevated farms, so different 
 from its native pastures, has produced a handsome 
 carcase, but a smaller and more defective fleece than 
 that which was obtained from the native sheep. Upon 
 
 such 
 
235 
 
 such soils, it has been Said, a large stock of sheep will 
 be indispensable, especially while the farmers adhere 
 to their present system ; and being a region adapted to 
 the constitution of the animal, it is not probable that 
 sheepfarming will be neglected there; indeed for many 
 years past the stock has been perpetually increasing. 
 It is from such general accounts compared with the 
 circumstances of the country, and the stock which can 
 be supported upon similar or more favourable soils, 
 that the number of sheep must be obtained ; for I 
 have not met with a single instance in which any num- 
 ber of these animals is connected with a given quantity 
 of land upon the Cotteswold hills. Perhaps one of 
 them upon each acre is as heavy a stock as can 
 be sustained, because the hills are not like some other 
 pastures entirely devoted to grazing ; and the flock 
 upon an arable farm is only a secondary object with 
 the proprietor. The district contains about two 
 hundred thousand acres, and produces perhaps about 
 six thousand seven hundred packs of fleeces. They 
 are commonly weighed by the tod of twenty eight 
 pounds : but it is more than probable, that a large 
 proportion of them, notwithstanding what is said of 
 the qualities of the staple, may be wrought into 
 woollen goods by the manufactures of Oxfordshire 
 and Gloucestershire. It is rather singular, that a 
 district so remarkable as this should not have been 
 more particularly described by those who have writ- 
 ten upon rural affairs, and that the purposes for which 
 the wool is employed should not be even hinted at. 
 
 These detached parts of the kingdom, the fleeces, 
 of which we have described, contain almost all the 
 sheep which produce long-wool ; a few farms in 
 other situations yield a fleece whose staple possesses 
 U 3 sufficient 
 
236 
 
 sufficient length and toughness to be wrought by 
 means of the comb, but the quantity is too small to 
 claim attention, unless we enter more minutely into 
 the subject than is necessary for general purposes. 
 The total number of this kind of fleeces, therefore 
 which England produces, is nearly four millions two 
 hundred thousand, from almost four millions of 
 acres ; and the weight of the wool amounts to a hun- 
 dred thirty one thousand and eight hundred packs, 
 of two hundred and forty pounds each. To this 
 quantity of shorn fleeces must be added that portion 
 of skin-wool suitable to the comb, which the fellmon- 
 gers procure every season from the pelts of slaughtered 
 sheep. In the View of the Agriculture of Middlesex, 
 a work which is drawn up with great care, and pub- 
 lished under the sanction of the Board, it is estimated 
 that the proportion of breeding ewes to other sheep 
 is as three to five, and that the former are killed off 
 at the age of five years, and the latter at three. Hence 
 it follows, that from the stock of long woolled-sheep, 
 the slaughter amounts to nearly one million one 
 hundred and seventy seven thousand, whose average 
 fleece, if it had attained its complete growth, would 
 have been rather more than seven pounds and a half, 
 producing a quantity of wool equal to about thirty 
 four thousand packs. But as no more can be employ- 
 ed in the fabrication of worsted goods than that 
 which has attained to a considerable length of staple, 
 and can be procured only at the latter part of the 
 season, I suppose that the quantity pulled during the 
 last two months before the usual time of shearing 
 the sheep, is as much as can be safely reckoned among 
 the long wools of England, which amounts to five 
 thousand seven hundred packs. Yet as this includes 
 
 also 
 
237 
 
 also the quantity procured from sheep which die 
 carrion, and whose wool is always too tender to be 
 combed, we must deduct from it two hundred and 
 eighty five packs; for it is supposed that one twen- 
 tieth of what is improperly called the slaughter die 
 in, that state. We have therefore one hundred 
 thirty seven thousand two hundred and twenty eight 
 packs, as the grand total of English combing wool. 
 But the whole of this quantity is not actually made 
 into worsted goods; forbesides the proportion wrought 
 into woollens, the quantity of which we have no 
 means of ascertaining, it contains a large portion of 
 absolute waste, of staples which must be separated in 
 sorting as improper for the comb, and when submitted 
 to that instrument, produces about one^seventh of its 
 gross weight in noils. But these are subjects belong r 
 ing rather to the manufacture than the growth of 
 fleeces, and though of intrinsic importance areforeign 
 to our purpose. 
 
 The Short-wools of the kingdom do not arrange' 
 themselves so distinctly in districts as those of a lon- 
 ger staple do, but fillup the whole space besides that 
 which has been noticed as the pasture of the heavier 
 breeds of sheep. Those families which produce a 
 fleece suitable to the card, though originally posses- 
 sing features much more strongly characteristic than 
 are found in the other kind, are sometimes so mingled 
 with each other and with the sheep of the larger 
 fleece, as to render it difficult to determine what par- 
 ticular race many of the individuals belong to. Yet 
 it will be found most convenient to describe them in 
 classes, and to proceed from that county where the 
 species appears most pure, to those where its blood 
 becomes intimately mingled with that of another 
 
 variet . 
 
238 
 
 1 - variety. We know not the period when any of these 
 sheep were introduced into the country, nor whence 
 they were procured, but there remain at present in 
 England and Wales six different kinds of them, viz. 
 the Norfolk, the South-Down, the Wiltshire, the 
 Hyeland, the Heath sheep, and the Mountaineer; 
 besides some small collections of different varieties, 
 which seem to have descended from families now 
 almost extinct. 
 
 The Norfolk sheep is found chiefly in the county 
 from which it derives its name, in Suffolk, a part of 
 Cambridgeshire, and in Essex. Individuals of this 
 family, when their blood is pure have horns and re- 
 markably black faces and legs. The visage is long 
 and thin, very flat in the front, and pointed towards 
 the extremity. The carcase is generally narrow, 
 long and light, supported by tall and slender legs. 
 In many respects the shape of the animal resembles 
 that of a Deer; and it expresses both in its motions 
 and by its eye a great degree of timidity. By blend- 
 ing it with sheep of another description, it appears to 
 drop its characteristic marks very readily. 
 
 Norfolk is generally well adapted to sheep, and 
 to the growth of good wool ; for the soil is exceed- 
 ingly dry, the atmosphere not loaded with such dense 
 fogs as are common in some of the neighbouring 
 counties, and the system of farming adopted in the 
 numerous inclosures is well calculated to supply the 
 stock with a sufficient quantity of nutritious food. 
 In the western part of the county, the sheep walks are 
 very extensive, and the animal which is placed upon 
 them must possess a hardy constitution and active 
 limbs, be able to collect its food from commons, 
 upon which the vegetation is sometimes so scanty 
 
 as 
 
23 9 
 
 as scarcely to furnish a blade of grass even to the 
 hungry rabbit. But these tracts, which some 
 years since were reckoned at more than sixty 
 three thousand acres, have been considerably 
 narrowed by the spirit of agriculture, which so 
 generally pervades this extensive county. The di- 
 minution is obvious even to an occasional passenger, 
 ■who in his successive journies is gratified by remark- 
 ing that land once appropriated to rabbits, or the 
 more useful though half-starved sheep, is now em- 
 ployed to better purposes ; and soils which once pos- 
 sessed scarcely tenacity enough for a warren, are now 
 rendered capable of producing good crops of corn. 
 
 The avooI produced here is short and fine; but 
 trpon the lighter soils, the fleece is so slightly attached 
 to the animal as to be separated from it in the spring 
 of the year with the utmost ease. Indeed a consider- 
 able portion of it is often left upon the commons, 
 entangled among the benty grass and the few bushes 
 which they produce, or upon the hedges of the in- 
 closures. People are employed in collecting these 
 scattered fragments, and though they are often very 
 dirty and contain a great deal of trash, yet they are 
 useful in some of the inferior parts of the woollen ma- 
 nufacture; but the loss which the grower sustains from 
 this circumstance must be very considerable. Before 
 it was usual among sheep-farmers to blend the 
 properties of different families together, the fleece of 
 this district Avas composed of filaments remarkable 
 for the flatness of their form, and the wool has been 
 described as possessing a larger degree of that true- 
 ness of hair, which is always esteemed a good quality 
 by the manufacturers, than the pile of many other 
 counties; but the fleece was not distinguished for its 
 
 uniformity, 
 
240 
 
 uniformity, was often infested with kemps, and 
 abounded with grey hairs. In the course of a few 
 years, from the attention which in this county has 
 been paid to the sheep, the pile has undergone a 
 great alteration. The colour of it issuperiorto that of 
 the old fleece, nor do we so frequently observe in the 
 flocks that large quantity of coarse wool which once 
 disgraced the buttocks of the sheep. The filaments 
 in general are finer, and retain those excellent qua* 
 lities which at first procured them a distinguished 
 regard among clothiers, .At present the wool is well 
 adapted to the manufacture of cloth, possessing a 
 great degree of the felting quality, and but little of 
 that elasticity which often proves hurtful in the wool 
 of some other parts of the kingdom. It requires per- 
 haps rather more toughness in the staple than is com- 
 monly found in the fleeces, which are shorn from the 
 flocks of the open field, the banishment of those 
 grey hairs which are mingled with the pile and limit 
 its application, and the farmer who is desirous of 
 distinguishing himself as a wool-grower will send his 
 fleeces to market in a much purer state, free from the 
 sand, the locks, the grass, and many other substances 
 which too commonly injure and disgrace them. If he 
 design the produce of his sheep for the woollen manu- 
 facture, he will avoid contaminating his flock with 
 inferior blood, or increasing the length of the staple; 
 but will procure a greater weight from an individual 
 sheep, by selecting those animals whose coat is the 
 most thickly planted, or which produce the best and 
 most regular supply of yolk. Perhaps in this county 
 a substitute for that valuable substance might be 
 applied with advantage ; and it is rather singular 
 that none should be adopted among the farmers 
 
 whose 
 
 |! n'h 
 th< 
 | va 
 I wi 
 | a 
 j F J 
 san 
 liul 
 
 I tap 
 
 hr 
 
 ok 
 
 (lie 
 
 fad 
 
 of 
 
 aim 
 eft 
 I ho 
 per 
 | be t 
 kit 
 tura 
 of 1 
 
 mini 
 asce 
 fact 
 facti 
 tura 
 .bit' 
 whi 
 it iv, 
 
241 
 
 whose flocks are of the most valuable kind, while 
 those who keep only the most inferior sheep in- 
 variably use one. The combination of the Merino 
 with the Norfolk sheep, would probably produce 
 a richer supply of yolk, and by thickening the 
 pile, render it less liable to be injured by the 
 sand, which at present is always mingled with it ; 
 but I doubt whether the same advantages can be so 
 rapidly obtained, or with an equal degree of success, 
 by the introduction of the South-Down breed. 
 
 One circumstance, which I have met with in tvool 
 obtained from the breed of Norfolk sheep, deserves 
 the attention both of the wool-grower and the manu- 
 facturer. In a very few instances, too few to admit 
 of a general conclusion, the hair has been observed 
 to be composed of a number of small fibres, lying 
 'parallel to each other, and capable of being separated 
 almost through their whole length. This structure 
 of the hair resembles that of a bristle, which it is well 
 known a dexterous workman will divide into a num- 
 ber of component longitudinal parts. Whether this 
 be the texture of all animal filaments I know not, 
 but it appears a question worth the notice of the na- 
 turalist. I never could perceive it in any other kind 
 of wool, nor in this excepting in five or six instances, 
 although some millions of filaments have been exa- 
 mined with this particular object. Perhaps if it were 
 ascertained that the texture of all wool were fibrous, the 
 ifact might not be of much importance to the manu- 
 facturer ; yet it is not often that the qualities of na» 
 tural substances are observed without being applica- 
 , ble to some useful purpose. In the few instances, in 
 . which I observed the fibrous texture of the filament, 
 it was most visible near to the root of the hair, and 
 ! it 
 
242 
 
 it divided invariably from that part and proceed- 
 ed towards the point. 
 
 There are not many counties, which can boast of 
 such rapid improvement in its fleece as Norfolk has 
 witnessed. Even in the memory of some persons 
 not yet grown old, its wool was kempy, rough and 
 thin. Situated out of the common rout of travellers, 
 in an angle of the kingdom ; possessing but few ob- : 
 jects within itself to attract the notice of strangers ; 
 not many large and well frequented roads, and which 
 center only in Norwich and in Lynn ; producing also 
 a sort of wool unsuitable to its domestic manufacture, 
 the fleece of this district was long neglected. But 
 the introduction of a new mode of husbandry, parti- 
 cularly distinguished by the name of this county, 
 roused the attention of its farmers, and fixed it upon 
 those general objects which are connected with their 
 calling. By furnishing a larger supply of food for 
 both sheep and cattle, these became objects of the 
 first importance, and the flocks soon exhibited proofs 
 of that laudable spirit for enterprize and experiment, 
 which had been infused into their owners. Had this 
 occurred when the manufactures of Norwich were in 
 the most flourishing state, and before the taste for 
 fine woollen cloth had taken firm possession of the 
 public mind, it is probable that a very different race 
 of sheep had been cultivated, at least in the richer j 
 and appropriated part of the county. But the < 
 existence of flocks producing fine wool, in the imme- ( 
 diate neighbourhood of a manufacture which demand- ( 
 ed a coarser pile, shows the impossibility of procuring , 
 under the old system of farming the longer-stapled , 
 fleeces from dry and thin lands. And when the fleece 
 of Norfolk is compared with that which is produced 
 
 upon 
 
M3 
 
 upon the Cotteswold hills, an elevated, thin and dry. 
 pasture, situated also in the neighbourhood of a 
 manufacture requiring the finer pile ; it furnishes 
 one of those anomalies in rural affairs which often 
 surprize us. Yet in the actual state of things, when 
 the fleeces of this district first began to improve, the 
 wool growers consulted their own interest when they 
 cultivated the smaller fleeces, and have been most 
 amply repaid for their attention ; perhaps there is 
 •no other district in the kingdom whose wool has 
 risen to more than seven times its former value,, 
 in the course of a very few years. This fact 
 alone contains sufficient encouragement to maintain 
 the attention of the Norfolk shepherd, to urge him to 
 still further efforts to promote the amelioration of the 
 fleece, until it arrive at a degree of perfection yet 
 unknown among British wools ; and to excite others, 
 particularly in the northern parts of the kingdom, to 
 follow his example. There are few districts, in which 
 the circumstances connected with thegrowth of good 
 wool are better arranged. The soil and the climate are 
 favourable, the farms are furnished withakindof stock 
 whose qualities are accurately known, and it already 
 produces in some instances a fleece of superior excel- 
 lency; the land-holders also possess wealth, enterprize 
 and intelligence, enough to insure their success. Some 
 parts of the county, it is true, are destitute of that 
 shelter which is always advantageous to sheep in a 
 climate like ours, and particularly in a part of the 
 country where the winds are unusually keen ; but 
 this inconvenience is in some measure obviated by 
 the inclosures and plantations which are formed 
 even upon the most desolate commons. 
 
 The wool which is grown in the division of 
 X Marshland, 
 
244 
 
 Marshland, and upon the low tracts which are found 
 near to the coast, has been already included with 
 that of the Lincoln district. There remain there- 
 fore in Norfolk rather more than one million two 
 hundred and sixty thousand acres, which produce a 
 smaller fleece ; supporting an average stock of 
 thirty two sheep upon fifty nine acres of land ; each 
 fleece weighing about two pounds. The whole 
 produce is five thousand seven hundred packs of 
 wool, from almost six hundred and eighty-four * 
 thousand sheep. 
 
 Comparing this statement with some general cir- 
 cumstances which are mentioned of the countjq we 
 have reason to suppose that it cannot be very erro- 
 neous. Perhaps it may be somewhat over-rated, for 
 it has been usual to estimate the stock at half a sheep 
 to the acre, upon the lands which have been almost 
 entirely appropriated to their use ; and in some 
 places attention is paid to cattle as the principal 
 stock, and the sheep are but thinly scattered over 
 these richer farms. Yet since it is acknowledged 
 that even the commons will maintain half a sheep of 
 the native breed to each acre, and that the South- 
 Down breed will thrive when a double proportion 
 is placed upon the same quantity of land ; and 
 especially since this latter sort of sheep is very 
 commonly introduced, it is probable that the num- 
 ber which has been stated as the stock of the county, 
 is not much too high. It is also remarked, that at 
 least thirty thousand sheep are sent out of the 
 county every year ; and this added to the internal 
 consumption of mutton, which has been calculated 
 at a pound and a half to each inhabitant for every 
 week, will require a stock of sheep in the county 
 
5 
 
 quite as large as we have supposed it to be ; for the 
 supply here is not furnished from any neighbouring 
 district, the geographical circumstances of Norfolk 
 render it necessary that the country should depend 
 upon itself for sustenance. Yet I cannot conceive 
 how the value of the wool sent out of this county 
 should be estimated, in the year 1792, at only twenty 
 | thousand pounds. The finer fleeces are almost 
 universally sent into Yorkshire, and I am not aware 
 that Norfolk contains a single manufacture which 
 requires that sort of wool. Perhaps this error (if it 
 be one) may arise partly from the very contracted 
 dimensions, which the gentleman who drew up the 
 report for this county assigns to it ; for he makes the 
 extent to be almost two-fifths smaller than that which 
 | h by some ether aether? * v/hcse opinions also 
 are confirmed by the measurement of several of the 
 lesser maps. Upon the whole, therefore, we con- 
 | elude, that though the stock of sheep which has been 
 stated above, may be estimated too high, yet the 
 error is not of material magnitude. 
 
 The same breed of sheep extends itself through 
 the county of Suffolk ; but there the proportion of 
 rich loams and of clayey soil being greater, they 
 [ afford a rather heavier fleece. From the best ac~ 
 
 | counts which I have met with, the average may 
 | be reckoned at nearly two pounds and a half. 
 In general the same system of farming prevails here, 
 upon the lighter lands, as in Norfolk ; but those of a 
 stiffer quality are employed in the dairying of cows, 
 and the stock of sheep in that part of the county is 
 of course smaller. Upon two hundred and twenty- 
 seven acres, there have appeared, from the account of 
 farms which I have met with, about one hundred 
 X 2 and 
 
246 
 
 and thirty eight sheep ; but perhaps they were select- 
 ed chiefly from that part of the county where these 
 animals are the most numerous, for Mr. Arthur 
 Young estimates the number very differently. 
 Dividing the district, in his View of the agri- 
 culture of this part of the kingdom, according to 
 its soil, he calculates that the best land supports one 
 sheep upon five acres, the sandy part of the county 
 one upon two acres, and the fens one on six ; making 
 a total of two hundred and forty thousand of the 
 sheep, and eight hundred thousand of the acres. But 
 from the data which I had obtained before that pub- 
 lication was procured, there seemed to be in Suffolk, 
 upon eight hundred and seventeen thousand calcula- 
 ble acres, a stock of more than four hundred and 
 ninety thousand sheep, affording upwards of five 
 thousand packs of wool. Convinced that this state- 
 ment is too high, and possessing no means of correct- 
 ing it but those which are obtained from the work 
 mentioned above, and suspecting that that also is not 
 correct, I thought it best to give both the accounts 
 and leave them to the judgment of the reader. Mr. 
 Young, however, confines himself too much to round 
 numbers, estimates the quantity of laud in a loose 
 and hasty way, and makes not the smallest allowance 
 whatever for water, roads, wood or buildings, which 
 in such a county as Suffolk ought to furnish a large j 
 deduction. Perhaps if the mean number were 
 taken, it might represent the stock of sheep with 
 tolerable accuracy, but until other information be 
 communicated, my opinion remains undecided.* 
 
 Ever 
 
 * The difference between these two statements of the stock j 
 ©f Suffolk was communicated to the Secretary of the Board of 
 
 Agriculture 
 
247 
 
 Ever since the reign of Edward the third, the 
 worsted manufacture has subsisted in Suffolk, and 
 employed a great proportion of its inhabitants ; yet 
 the county has not yielded the wool suitable to its 
 own consumption, although it includes a quantity of 
 ‘land upon which the heavier kind of sheep might 
 have been supported. This may be considered as 
 another instance of the slow progress which agricul- 
 ture made in improvement, so long as farmers con- 
 tented themselves with following the example of 
 their forefathers, and did not examine whether the 
 principles upon which they proceeded were such as 
 reason and science could justify. Through several 
 centuries it seems to have been thought more easy to 
 import the wools of Lincolnshire into Suffolk, than 
 to produce an alteration in the stock of the county • 
 and no individual arose among farmers, who 
 had knowledge or resolution enough to adopt a dif- 
 ferent system from that of his brethren. But the 
 worsted manufacture in this county is now so greatly 
 declined, and the demand for smaller fleeces so much 
 increased, that it is probable the staple produced in 
 this part of the kingdom, will differ still more widely 
 from that which is manufactured there. 
 
 Passing from hence into Cambridgeshire, we 
 observe traees of the same breed of sheep ; but its 
 characteristic marks are blended with those of the 
 neighbouring districts, and the animal is greatly 
 debased. The old sheep in the higher parts of this 
 county, was an ill-formed and half-starved creature, 
 
 Agriculture some months since, and from his acquaintance with 
 the county, it was hoped that the errors of both might have 
 been corrected. 
 
 X 3 
 
 with 
 
248 
 
 with some black spots upon its face and legs, and 
 producing grey hairs amongst its wool. The pile 
 was much longer and more coarse than the wool of 
 the pure Norfolk breed, was often very much point- 
 ed at the extremity of the staple, and destitute of 
 wool in the lower part of it. Nor were the pro- 
 prietors of the sheep more solicitous to display a well- 
 managed fleece, than to exhibit the most approved 
 qualities in the carcass; for the wool was generally 
 washed with little care, incumbered with a great deal 
 of yolk, pitch, and other filthy substances, and the 
 brand, which always destroys the staples upon which 
 it is imprinted, was commonly found on the 
 most valuable part of the fleece. Indeed there are 
 not many districts in the south of England, where 
 the shepherds appeared to be more ignorant or more 
 slovenly in their mode of preserving the fleece. 
 But the spirit of improvement has reached even ; 
 these dreary fields, has roused the attention of per- 
 sons, in whose manners the simplicity of the ancient 
 shepherd is more conspicuous than in most other 
 places, and induced them to cultivate the purer 
 breed of Norfolk. Formerly this kind of sheep w r as 
 confined to the eastern part of the county, and 
 almost to the border of Suffolk ; while in the more 
 distant parishes the flocks were composed of animals, 
 in whose features, form, and fleece, the qualities 
 of an inferior blood were distinctly visible. Those 
 of the Wiltshire breed were especially conspicuous 
 in the southern and central parts ; and have doubtless 
 been introduced there by that long range of chalky 
 swells, which we shall have occasion to trace even 
 from Dorchester to the eastern marshes. In the 
 "upland part of Cambridgeshire, the number of sheep 
 
249 
 
 is greatly diminished by the inclosures, which have 
 been but lately set out, and promise ultimately to 
 adorn and improve this naked and inferior region, 
 although at present they may be attended with many 
 inconveniences. When the fences have attained 
 that degree of firmness, which will admit the return 
 of sheep, the proprietors of the land will probably 
 be solicitous to obtain a larger race than that which 
 they formerly possessed ; but it will be advantageous 
 to the country, perhaps to themselves also, if they 
 cultivate the finer sorts of wool. At present the 
 stock upon the dryer lands of this county cannot be 
 reckoned at more than one sheep to four acres, but 
 perhaps in a few years it will be much more nume- 
 rous. From some of the fields these animals are 
 almost banished ; and a gentleman, whose opinion was 
 noticed when we described the long wool of this coun- 
 ty, assured me that in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of Cambridge, the produce of wool was not one hun- 
 dredth part of the quantity which was obtained a few 
 years since. The average fleece is something less 
 than four pounds, and the number of sheep on one 
 hundred and eighty seven thousand acres is almost 
 forty seven thousand ; w r hich, together with the 
 twenty one thousand producing small wool from the 
 fens of the county, yield about eleven hundred and 
 twenty packs of wool. The upland soils in this 
 county are well adapted to sheep, being dry and 
 warm ; and the climate is less infested with fogs than 
 might have been expected in a district so near to the 
 marshes. Even in their neglected state, the sheep 
 produce a fleece well furnished with yellow yolk, 
 and which does not seem to have been diminished by 
 the absorbent quality of the soil even upon the 
 
 chalky 
 
95 0 
 
 chalky land. I confess that though formerly suspi- 
 cious that the wool grown in the south-eastern part 
 of Cambridgeshire would be destitute of the felt- 
 ing property, I have never either from experiment 
 or information had that suspicion confirmed, but 
 have some reason to think it utterly groundless. 
 Perhaps the fleece may be preserved from the per- 
 nicious influence of the chalk by that thin stratum 
 of gravelly soil, with which this tract is almost 
 universally covered. 
 
 But Cambridgeshire is not the only county in this 
 part of England which contains sheep of indefinite 
 or mingled features ; we find them in every one of 
 those which surround what may be called, with some 
 impropriety of expression, the Norfolk district ; and 
 though the flocks in some cases may exhibit no 
 traces of the black-faced, or even of the horned 
 
 of them now, than when describing any other family 
 
 of the English sheep. 
 
 A considerable part of Huntingdonshire has been ] 1 
 included in the districts which produce long wool, and ' 
 
 a general description of the soil, of the flocks, and 1 
 of their fleece has been given. It will be only ne- ' 
 cessary therefore to observe in this place that the 1 
 
 smaller sheep derive a part of their qualities from : 
 
 those of Cambridgeshire, but blend them more inti- 
 mately with the properties of the kinds cultivated 
 in the richer pastures, for the advantage of the ' 
 worsted manufactures, in proportion as we approach 
 to the districts in which they prevail ; and that the 
 same small kind which is commonly found in the 
 south of the county, and on the border of Cambridge- 
 shire, becomes more intimately blended with a 
 
 heavier 
 
£51 
 
 heavier sort, but bearing a staple only of medium 
 length, as we approach the county of Bedford. The 
 . j quantity of land, which produces small wool in Him- 
 ; tingdonshire, is about one hundred and forty four 
 ; | thousand acres, exclusive of the usual deductions ; 
 which support, perhaps, nearly three-fourths of a 
 sheep per acre, and afford from one hundred and 
 eight thousand animals, about two thousand packs 
 I of wool ; each fleece weighing almost four pounds 
 j and a half. 
 
 Bedfordshire contains a greater variety of soils 
 I than most other counties' of the same extent, and 
 produces upon each of them a different fleece. In 
 the northern part we meet with a stiff and 
 I cold clay, which declines as we approach the 
 Ouse into a graveiW loam. To this succeeds a ridge 
 of dry sandy hills of a loose texture, and which 
 produce but little corn or wool. Along the southern 
 i border is a part of that long tract of chalky land, 
 which has been already noticed in Cambridgeshire. 
 On the western side of the county, it was not un- 
 common for the farmers to have a flock of sheep 
 from a distance, whose proprietor and shepherd 
 ! attended them hither in the summer season, folded 
 them upon the lands of his master, and as the winter 
 | approached, withdrew them from a spot ill adapted 
 to their constitution. The sheep, which composed 
 these travelling flocks, were small and hardy, pro- 
 duced in general a lighter fleece than those which 
 remained in the country, though often very thin and 
 dirty. Upon the stronger soils the fleece is rather 
 heavy ; the sheep which produces it of a more valu- 
 able kind than that which is supported upon the 
 uninclosed commons, and if the pasture be covered 
 
 with 
 
252 
 
 with an herbage sufficient to prevent the intermix- 
 ture of the soil with the wool, the colour of the pile 
 is exceedingly good. The sandy tract which, like 
 others of a different description, passes through the 
 county almost from East to West, is capable of sup- 
 porting only a lean and diminutive sheep, whose coat 
 is often very inferior, short stapled, and hairy about 
 the breech ; light, but not fine ; and though produced 
 upon a dry and healthy pasture, destitute of yolk. 
 On the southern hills, the staple is rather longer than 
 the breed of sheep which produces it generally 
 affords, and indicates by its sickly hue the absence 
 of one essential quality of good clothing wool. By 
 far the greater part of the pile grown in this county 
 has a yellow tinge, is commonly too long for the 
 
 card, but seldom possesses that degree of toughness 
 which would fit it for the fabrication of worsted 
 goods, although a portion is sent to the stocking 
 manufacturers and for their purpose it is often well 
 adapted. Possessing less elasticity than the fleece of 
 some parts of Northamptonshire, that portion of it, 
 which must be wrought into woollen cloth, will pro- 
 duce an article not of the most inferior quality. A 
 small part of the produce is consumed in the county, 
 but by far the greater proportion is sent out of it in 
 an un wrought state, and serves to employ the poor of 
 distant places. The influence and the example of 
 the late patriotic Duke of Bedford has certainly 
 improved the country in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of Wooburn Abbey, but in the remoter parts 
 of the district agriculture seems not to have made 
 a rapid progress. Something has been done of late 
 years to promote the benefit of the farmer by inclos- 
 ing the open fields, and to insure the advantage of 
 
 th§ 
 
 t 
 
 a 
 
 D 
 
 tl 
 
 tl 
 
 c 
 
 a 
 
 a> 
 
 d, 
 
 k 
 
 Ik 
 
 in 
 
 at 
 
 P< 
 
 ai; 
 
 k 
 
253 
 
 the land-owner by planting. But the same spirit of 
 enterprise does not seem to pervade this county 
 which has been observed in some others, situated 
 more remotely from the scene and the centre of 
 philosophic husbandry. In the inclosures the sheep 
 have decreased in number, but their produce of wool 
 weighs heavier than it did when more numerous 
 Hocks wandered promiscuously over the same extent 
 of land. The wool, it must be regretted, is of 
 that kind which is least wanted, and which might be 
 produced upon pastures not so well adapted to the 
 growth of a finer staple. In every instance where 
 land naturally suitable to sheep, which produce a 
 fleece of the finest description, is employed in the 
 support of one which yields coarser wool, whatever 
 advantage an individual farmer may procure to him- 
 self, the community is certainly a loser. The quan- 
 tity of stock, as it is collected from the different 
 accounts which have been given of it, amounts to 
 ninety two sheep upon ninety seven acres, but as 
 the farms from whence it is obtained were chiefly 
 those of the better kind, and since a large proportion 
 of the county is evidently incapable of supporting 
 a stock so numerous, if allowed to correct this 
 average by my own unsupported opinion, I should 
 deduct from it one-fifth of the number of sheep ; 
 leaving two hundred and four thousand as the pro- 
 bable stock of animals of that kind, which graze upon 
 nearly two hundred and sixty nine thousand acres, 
 and produce an average fleece of almost five 
 pounds, or about four thousand packs of wool. 
 
 From the native sheep of Essex, which are now 
 almost if not entirely unknown in the county, a 
 fleece of long and coarse wool was obtained, usually 
 
 weighing 
 
254 
 
 “weighing about four pounds. Instead of its ancient 
 stock, that part of the country now pastures the ( 
 breeds of sheep which derive their origin and their 
 names from Wiltshire, the South-Downs, Nor- 
 folk, Dorsetshire and Wales. The Dishley race 
 * has diffused itself around the coast, and has 
 sometimes without judgment been placed upon the 
 commons, contributing with other circumstances to 
 spoil the w r ool of those flocks which it found there. 
 But the farmers seem to be now convinced that 
 this breed is ill adapted to such pastures, and to the 
 neglect with which the sheep upon them are often 
 treated. The white-faced Wiltshire, a more hardy 
 family, distinguished by the scantiness of its coat, 
 occupies the north-western part of the county ; and 
 the Norfolk race is the most prevailing one on the 
 border of Suffolk. Upon Epping forest, in the farms i 
 near to it, and on the numerous commons with w’hich j i 
 this county abounds, the breed of Wales is chiefly t 
 distinguished. But the sheep known by that name I 
 in Essex have little claim to the appellation, i 
 They are indeed light mountain animals, w’ith some r 
 features which resemble the stock of the Principal- ( 
 lity ; but their blood is mingled with that of many a 
 other families. The wool produced by them is often a 
 coarse, short and kempy ; yet when they are | 
 attended with more than usual care, the fleece is 
 fine, pliable and soft, possessing some of the best n 
 qualities of clothing wool. The black-faced family p 
 of Norfolk, which w r as formerly numerous in this a 
 . eastern division of England, is losing ground very B 
 fast ; and the South-Down race occupies its pastures, q 
 It has been introduced, and spread through a S1 
 large part of the district, by the influence of gentle- a 
 
 men, 
 
Q55 
 
 men, who first reared them in their parks, and with 
 praise-worthy exertion convinced their tenants of 
 the superior advantages to be derived from the culti- 
 vation of such a stock. Here, as in their native county, 
 the Norfolk sheep yield about two pounds of wool ; 
 those of the South Down breed nearly three ; and the 
 descendants from the Wiltshire blood about three 
 and a quarter. There are but few of the Dorsetshire 
 sheep in Essex, and the breed of Dishley is 
 now almost confined to the marshes of the county. 
 No accurate accounts have been given of the stock 
 of this part of the kingdom, but it is almost uniform- 
 j 3y represented as a light one ; and placed very 
 irregularly upon the soil, a circumstance frequently 
 ! observed in districts where sheep-farming does not 
 constitute one of the chief objects of the landholders 
 , attention. If we estimate the number of sheep, as 
 j it appears from an average of eight accounts, at 
 | two upon three acres of land ; and the average 
 ! fleece at three pounds, the result will be amply suf- 
 i ficient to include all the wool of the county. The 
 number of calculable acres being nearly seven hun- 
 dred and seventy eight thousand ; that of the sheep 
 amounts to five hundred and nineteen thousand; 
 and the quantity of wool to almost six thousand five 
 hundred packs. 
 
 Several of the preceding particulars were fur- 
 1 nished by a gentleman, who for many years has 
 purchased wool in different parts of the countv; 
 
 I and the very handsome manner in which he com- 
 municated them conferred an obligation, which re- 
 , quires my public acknowledgment. But whenas- 
 i sured 66 that he finds no data upon which to found 
 a calculation of the quantity of stock,” it may be 
 ,|j Y deemed 
 
&56 
 
 deemed presumptions in me perhaps to state even 
 a conjecture respecting' it. 
 
 The soil of Essex is certainly well adapted to 
 the constitution of sheep, and to the growth of a 
 valuable wool ; being for the most part dry, and free 
 from a light sand, or a cretous surface. It is ge- 
 nerally an inclosed and well sheltered county, and 
 can boast of a mild and genial atmosphere. 
 
 In the district, which, with some impropriety of 
 language, may be denominated that of the Norfolk 
 sheep, wool is often sold by the pound ; in some 
 parts of it by the tod of twenty eight, and in others 
 of twenty nine pounds ; but there seems through 
 the whole a disposition to lay aside local customs, 
 and to adopt those of a more general nature. The 
 use of the strap, which has been described before, is 
 not always dispensed with; but many farmers com- 
 plain of it, and are disposed to adopt a new method 
 of weighing their w’ool, one which is calculated to 
 destroy all ambiguity in the tod which they make 
 use of. Through almost every part of this district i 
 the native sheep is acknowledged to be a bad one, 
 and is gradually giving way to superior breeds. In 
 the counties of Bedford, Huntingdon and Cambridge, 
 the wool-growers are desirous to obtain a heavier 
 race; and even in Norfolk itself, the distinguishing 
 excellency of the South-Down variety is strongly 
 pleaded for, as ascertained by actual experiment, j 
 and some of its advocates are sanguine enough to ; 
 expect, that in a few years it will be the only wool ( 
 bearing stock of the county. c 
 
 The sheep which we have had occasion to notice c 
 as the favourite breed, even in one part of the Norfolk 5 
 district, takes its name from a long range of chalky 
 
 hills. 
 
Q57 
 
 hills, which passing from the general bed of that kind 
 of earth in the southern part of England, enters the 
 county of Sussex on the west, and runs through it 
 almost in a direct line, until it meets the sea, near to 
 East Bourne. This range of hills, extending in the 
 county almost fifty miles, is of considerable eleva- 
 tion, destitute of inclosures, and contains a succes- 
 sion of open Downs, distinguished by their situation 
 and name from a more northern tract of similar soil 
 and elevation, which passes through Surry and Kent, 
 terminating in the rocks of the Forelands and the 
 celebrated cliff of Dover. It was upon these South- 
 Downs that the sheep of that name were first culti- 
 vated with success ; and hence they sent out those 
 colonies, which are gradually producing an altera- 
 tion in the short-wooled sheep of the surrounding 
 counties, and of some distant parts of England. 
 But they have not yet, like the Dishley breed, sup- 
 planted any race of the native sheep of those countries 
 where they have been introduced ; for they still 
 subsist only as foreigners, and exhibit to shepherds 
 their properties and their produce as objects of com- 
 parison, confident that when tried their superior 
 value will be obvious to aih The animal, though 
 its size place it among the smaller breeds of sheep,, 
 and though its wool be short and fine, has no horns ; 
 its face and legs are grey, and its limbs are not very 
 long ; its head and upper part of the neck is thick, 
 and appears heavy ; and the pile is planted v^ry 
 closely upon the pelt. This kind of sheep, though 
 greatly altered by management, is supposed to have 
 descended with unmixed blood from the original 
 stock which at a very early period diffused itself 
 Y 2 over 
 
258 
 
 over the southern parts of England, even from the 
 eastern shore to the extreme point of Cornwall. 
 
 In the fleeces of the South-Down sheep we have 
 observed a great want of uniformity. That part 
 of them which grew upon the back of the animal, 
 often differs very considerably from the produce of 
 the sides and shoulders ; and the breech becomes 
 suddenly coarse, being larger also than might have 
 been expecied from sheep bearing such fine wool, 
 and grazing in the neighbourhood of the oldest 
 manufactures. Sometimes the pile is not so uniform 
 in itself as the clothier wishes it to be, but contains 
 a number of those coarse and long hairs, which have 
 been described in another part of this work, as giving 
 the fleece a bearded appear mce, and proving hurtful 
 to the cloth. The zeal, however, with which the 
 shepherds of these parts pursue the improvement of 
 their flocks, may have produced a great alteration 
 in the qualities of the fleece, since the time when I 
 was more accustomed to this kind of wool, than at 
 present, and doubtless, under their superintendance, 
 attempts will be made to remedy every known 
 defect. 
 
 Upon the Downs grazing of sheep is the chief 
 object among farmers, and the condition of their 
 flocks is uniformly represented as excellent. In the 
 less elevated parts of the county these useful qua- 
 drupeds exhibit symptoms of neglect. They 
 are rougher animals, bear a much less valuable 
 fleece, and in accounts which have been published 
 of the rural concerns of Sussex, are often passed 
 over in silence, or but slightly mentioned, while the 
 good qualities of the other breed are repeatedly 
 described. In this county we find the native stock 
 
 of 
 
259 
 
 ©f Hampshire, and also that which derives the pecu- 
 liarities of its nature from the race which abounds 
 most upon the plains of Dorchester. Upon the 
 level tract, near to Pevensey, a breed is found of 
 a heavier description such as was noticed upon 
 the marshes of Romney ; but the sheep of this kind 
 are few in number, and their produce of wool has 
 been included with that of Kent. 
 
 Among the soils of Sussex, that long tract of 
 chalk, which has been mentioned as the native pas- 
 ture of the South-Down breed of sheep, is most 
 noticed by the wmolstaplers and clothiers ; some of 
 whom, unacquainted with this part of the kingdom, 
 are surprized, when informed that it contains a i 
 quantity of rich fertile land, varying from a stiff 
 clay to light and barren sand, and that the extent 
 of the chalk is not more than one fourth part of the 
 whole. Upon the variety of soils, the quantity of 
 stock which is maintained, is very different. The 
 chalk, with the assistance which it derives from win- 
 ter food procured in the vale, supports a large num- 
 ber of sheep ; and the country about Petwortb, and 
 along the coast, seems to bear a heavy stock of 
 the Dorsetshire breed, kept here, as well as in other 
 places, principally on account of its early lambs ; 
 but farther to the north few sheep are observed ex- 
 cept upon the commons, which are numerous and 
 sometimes extensive. 
 
 In this district it is usual to shear the lambs ; 
 the quantity of wool produced by each is commonly 
 about eight ounces, but in some years amounts to 
 considerably more, and in others falls short of it. 
 The fleeces also of t-he full-grown sheep, produced 
 at two different seasons of shearing, vary in their 
 Y 3 weight 
 
260 
 
 weight. If compleat dependence may be placed 
 upon the returns of wool made to the custom-houses 
 on the coast, the parcel entered by the same person, 
 containing an equal number of fleeces, and most 
 probably produced by the same flock, and upon the 
 same land, in different years has varied full one 
 seventh of its weight. If the flocks of other parts 
 of the kingdom afford in different years fleeces so 
 dissimilar in their weight, the total produce of the 
 country must sometimes vary to a degree, which has 
 not been commonly supposed. There is indeed 
 scarcely any part of the island where the produce of 
 wool, like that of most other substances, has not been 
 served to be sometimes plentiful, and at others 
 scanty. It would be useful to ascertain the causes 
 upon which the variation depends, and the ex- 
 tremes between which it vibrates. 
 
 Upon the South-Downs, the sheep produce about 
 two pounds of wool. Perhaps the average fleece 
 is not heavier, although the entries at the custom- 
 houses make it about two pounds five ounces. But 
 it should he recollected, that no distinction is made 
 there of the farms upon which the fleeces were 
 grown, and in the less elevated parts of Sussex, 
 and upon the stiffer soils, each sheep furnishes three 
 pounds at least. This we shall consider as the aver- 
 age produce of that part of the county.. 
 
 The quantity of land occupied by the South- 
 Down flocks must be taken at something more than 
 the extent of the chalky hills, for in the win- 
 ter season they derive a part of their support from 
 the richer soils, A gentleman well acquainted with 
 the district has computed that the extent of their 
 pasture is about sixty miles long, and from five to 
 
261 
 
 six broad, supporting a stock of three sheep to two 
 acres. In some parts of the range, particularly to- 
 wards the east, it cannot be lighter than two sheep 
 upon every acre"; but from the banks of the Adur 
 westward, to the extremity of the county, it scarcely 
 exceeds one upon the same quantity of ground. From 
 these data therefore, confirmed by many accounts, 
 the land appropriated to this kind of sheep, may be 
 estimated at two hundred and eleven thousand two 
 hundred acres, the stock at three hundred sixteen 
 thousand eight hundred sheep, and the wool at two 
 thousand six hundred and forty packs. In the other 
 parts of Sussex, after deducting from their general 
 extent the level of Pevensey, the number of sheep 
 seems to amount to nearly one hundred and four- 
 teen upon a hundred and five acres. But this gene- 
 ral average is evidently too large for many parts of 
 the county, and has been affected by the descrip- 
 tions of those places, where the system of sheep- 
 breeding is adopted in preference to any other 
 mode of occupying land. Making some allowance 
 therefore for the sandy tract upon the northern 
 verge of the county, and for the forests of Saint 
 Leonard and Ashdown, where the stock of wool- 
 bearing animals is light, we compute that six thou- 
 sand eight hundred packs of wool are produced 
 by almost six hundred and twenty four thousand 
 acres, and five hundred and forty seven thousand 
 sheep. 
 
 Of this quantity of wool a considerable propor- 
 tion ultimately reaches the manufactures of York- 
 shire. Probably those of the West of England may 
 derive from hence part of their supply, as the 
 vicinity of the looms, the nature of their produc- 
 tions, 
 
262 
 
 tions, and the qualities of the fleece produced upon 
 the Downs, invite a connection between the clothiers 
 of Wiltshire, and the wool-growers of Sussex. But 
 we have no means of tracing with c curacy the 
 destination of the whole produce of the county, i 
 Among those who manufacture the thicker kind of 
 coloured cloth, a strong prejudice prevails against 
 the South-Down wool, because it is generally found 
 to be destitute of that felting quality, which is abso- 
 lutely necessary to the perfection of those articles 
 which they commonly fabricate, and although con- 
 vinced that this deficiency in goodness is to be attri- 
 buted to the influence of a chalky soil, and assured 
 that land of that description does not extend through 
 more than one third of the county, and that the soil 
 of other parts is favourable to the production of a 
 fleece distinguished for superior excellency, yet 
 the clothier has heard so much of the South Downs 
 of Sussex, and has so often suffered by misapplying 
 their fleece, that he feels jealous of all the wool pro- 
 duced in the county. It is unfortunate that the 
 name of its native pasture should have been re- 
 tained by that species of the sheep, which was 
 first fostered here, when removed to other parts 
 of the kingdom ; since it has rendered many of the 
 wool buyers suspicious lest the fleece produced by 
 it should retain its peculiar defect, even at a distance 
 from the Downs, and though placed upon a soil ma- 
 terially different from that which originally supported 
 it. Some who have the interest of the country at 
 heart, have been apprehensive lest it should commu- 
 nicate the peculiar tenderness of its pile to some of 
 the most approved wool of the island. The intro- 
 duction of the Merino family upon some parts of 
 
 these 
 
263 
 
 * these celebrated pastures, so favourable to sheep, 
 rs but.so much the object of dread to one class of clo- 
 it thiers, will shortly ascertain whether the defect in the 
 8 Wool arise wholly from the soil, or partly from the 
 | constitution of the animal, whether it may be 
 f counteracted by the production of a larger supply 
 | of yolk and a closer coat, the natural effects of a 
 I combination with the Spanish race, or whether the 
 S intermixture of absorbent earths with the growing 
 I pile, will convert the best kind of fleeces into an 
 ! ! imperfect staple, and destroy one of the most dis- 
 tinctive qualities of wool. 
 
 Here, as in the eastern parts of the kingdom, 
 fleeces are weighed by the tod ; but in Sussex it has 
 been raised to thirty two pounds instead of twenty 
 eight, the original number, and that which is adopted 
 I 1 through every district of long wool. England has 
 derived from Flanders many of the technical terms, 
 which the clothier and the stapler adopt, and some 
 of the customs which prevail in their respective 
 branches of trade ; but it is in the south-eastern quar- 
 ter that these betray their origin most strongly, and 
 indicate, as might have been expected, a closer con- 
 nection between that part of the island, and the an- 
 cient seat of the woollen manufacture. It is in these 
 parts alone that the tod is used, and perhaps the 
 advance in different places, from twenty eight to 
 twenty nine thirty and thirty two pounds, might 
 arise from some local circumstances which are now 
 entirely forgotten. But as this weight is not ap- 
 plied to in ascertaining the quantity of lamb’s wool, 
 it is probable, that the practice of shearing those 
 tender animals was not adopted until after the per- 
 manent establishment of the woollen manufacture 
 
 in 
 
26 4 
 
 in England. The quantity of this hind of wool 
 which is now procured in Sussex, if wp suppose that 
 the whole produce is collected, amounts to about 
 six hundred and thirty packs, reckoning that the 
 number of lambs is generally about one third of the 
 old sheep, and that the proportion of the slaughter 
 is as one to five. 
 
 When describing the wool of Romnev marsh, a 
 general account was given of the native sheep of 
 Kent, and of their fleeces, which it is not necessary 
 to repeat. Both those which have been placed upon 
 the richer land?, and those which have grazed a 
 more elevated and adryer pasture, being derived from 
 the same stock, exhibit nearly the same distinctive 
 marks in their carcase, and in their wool. Yet, in 
 the higher parts of the county, the native animals 
 have long since admitted into the same fold the pecu- 
 liar breed of Wiltshire, which has been very 7 gene- 
 rally diffused through the country, and that of Dor- 
 set, favoured among those who supply the London 
 market with lamb, because they produce their young 
 at an earlier period than most animals of the same 
 kind. But the South-Down race, valuable on ac- 
 count of its close feeding, its wed formed carcase, 
 and its superior coat, is at present esteemed, and 
 makes rapid progress. At some future period, if it 
 supplant not the natural stock, it may so alter it as 
 to procure a form aud a fleece nearly resembling 
 those of Sussex. 
 
 The county of Kent displays a great variety in 
 its soils, which, though commonly resting upon a 
 substratum of chaik, are usually thickenough to pre- 
 serve the fleece from the pernicious influence of 
 cretous earth. This substance abounds most in 
 
 the 
 
265 
 
 the nor them and eastern parts, and in some places gives 
 them theappearance ofsterility, but generally requires 
 a large stock of sheep. Toward the south is an ex- 
 tensive tract of rich and fertile land, now improperly 
 denominated the Weald of Kent, where the clayey 
 soil is well adapted to the production of wood and 
 of heavy animals, and is more devoted to oxen than 
 to sheep. In the western quarter there is a greater 
 variety of husbandry, and a more happy mixture of 
 pasture and ploughed land. In the middle of the 
 county but few sheep are observed during the sum- 
 mer months; but in the winter season the fields 
 are thickly set with the young stock, which is sent 
 to these milder regions from the more exposed and 
 boisterous climate of Romney marsh ; and in the 
 western corner, the enclosed lands, owing to the 
 vicinity of London, are too valuable to be employed 
 as sheep pastures. Under these circumstances we 
 cannot expect that the stock of the county can 
 amount to more than four hundred and five sheep, 
 upon five hundred and sixty two acres ; but the in- 
 troduction of abetter breed than that of the old 
 upland farms, and the neighbourhood of the first 
 market in the kingdom, encourage extraordinary 
 attention to this serviceable animal. The wool of 
 the county is purchased by the pound, and finds its 
 principal demand in London. It is sent chiefly to 
 the northern manufactures ; and amounts to about 
 seven thousand packs, shorn from almost five hun- 
 dred and twenty four thousand five hundred sheep ; 
 supported by seven hundred and twenty eight thou- 
 sand acres of land. Each full-grown sheep is es- 
 timated to produce three and a quarter pounds of 
 wool ; and the lambs, which here also are stripped 
 
 of 
 
266 
 
 of their coat during the first year, furnish eaoh about 
 eight ounces. But the system of sheep farming, 
 which in many places has for its object the rearing 
 of lambs for slaughter rather than for stock, does 
 not allow the whole number to be considered as pro- 
 ducing wool. 
 
 The introduction of South-Down sheep into 
 Hampshire, and the ready reception they meet with 
 there, has induced me to place that county within ; 
 the district, which may be considered as their more i 
 appropriate pasture. The original stock was very 
 different from that which derives its blood from the 
 Downs of Sussex, and from that rougher sheep, 
 which Mr. Marshall thinks was the original stock 
 of the southern counties. The natives of Hampshire j 
 had most commonly white faces and legs, which i 
 beeame speckled only when their blood was mingled 
 with that of some more dingy breed. They had 
 horns, long limbs, and the carcase was light and j 
 narrow. Almost every part of this description 1 
 
 would lead us to suppose, that these old sheep be- 1 
 
 longed to -a family of very singular character, which ; 
 we shall have occasion to notice, when describing the j 
 wool of Wiltshire, and which perhaps ought to be j 
 a sufficient reason for including them with those of 
 another district. In their improved form, which 
 seems to have been effected in some measure by the 
 judicious selection of rams from the same stock, 
 and by spirited experiments which have been 
 conducted upon a large scale, the length of the legs 
 has been reduced, and the carcase rendered rounder 
 and more compact, while in other respects they re- 
 tain their old characteristics. But in those instances 
 where they have been coupled with the Sussex 
 
 b reed 
 
£67 
 
 breed, and which seems to be the mode of improve- 
 ment most commonly adopted, the progeny resem- 
 bles more exactly that of the South-Downs. This 
 latter breed is found to thrive upon harder fare, and 
 produces a finer fleece than the original stock, and 
 in a county possessing a large quantity of dry and 
 elevated pasture, situated near to extensive manufac- 
 tures, and including within itself thescite of the first 
 woollen loom wrought in Britain, this breed may ex- 
 pect to be adopted with a superior degree of judgment 
 and success, and with a nobler spirit of enter prize, 
 formerly the wool of Hampshire was of inferior 
 quality, but as is generally the case, attention to the 
 carcase has produced a casual but very important 
 effect upon the fleece. That wool which is grown 
 upon the forest land, (a term which seems to be used 
 provincially, and to denote uninclosed common land 
 less elevated, or differing in soil from the Downs) 
 is described by an elderly stapler as 44 fine, but filthy 
 and full of sand ; that upon the Downs is larger and 
 more harsh, and upon the arable land it is harder 
 and harsher still.” Probably one part of the altera- 
 tion which is allowed to have taken place in the 
 fleece, produced in this part of the kingdom, may 
 consist in rendering it more soft and mellow. From 
 some circumstances mentioned in rural descriptions 
 of Hampshire, and from the manufactures of 
 the county, it seems to produce some long 
 wool ; but in quantities too small, and too much in- 
 termingled with the shorter kind, to admit of a sepa- 
 rate estimate. The quality of its fleece in general 
 is described as holding the middle place between 
 that, of Wiltshire, which is better, and that of Dorset, 
 which is worse. In weighing the produce of the 
 
 Z sheep 
 
268 
 
 sheep the tod is used, but varies from twenty eight 
 to thirty one pounds. The latter is the most com- 
 mon one, and perhaps that of twenty nine pounds is 
 the least so. 
 
 In this division of the kingdom, the stock of sheep 
 placed upon a certain number of acres, varies con- 
 siderably ; a circumstance easily accounted for 
 when we observe the soils and local situation, 
 which must always preclude uniformity in the mode 
 and object of farming. Toward the North, the land 
 is deep and good. A broad tract of chalky Downs, 
 continued from those of Sussex, and similar to 
 them in elevation and general appearance, passes 
 from East to West through the centre of the county, 
 and joins to land of the same description in Wilt- 
 shire. Descending toward the South, the country 
 becomes more fertile and woody, but owing to the 
 numerous large bays which indent its coast, the at- 
 mosphere is moist and ill adapted to the constitu- 
 tion of sheep. The Downs, although usually de- 
 scribed as chalky land, are said to have for their 
 surface a thin stratum of another soil, but having: 
 never visited this part of Hampshire, nor seen the 
 wool which it produces, I am not able to say whe- 
 ther it affords a fleece furnished with that felting 
 quality, which is always essential to prime clothing 
 wool. 
 
 If we estimate the extent of Hampshire, exclu- 
 sive of the Isle of Wight, and deduct one eighth for 
 the land occupied by wood, buildings, and public 
 roads, we have seven hundred and seventy five 
 thousand acres, with a stock, calculated I hope with 
 some degree of accuracy, at two sheep upon three 
 of them. The animals each yield about three pounds 
 
 of 
 
 si 
 
 S£ 
 
 I s; 
 
 0 
 
 01 
 
 W! 
 
 ca 
 
 r 
 
 I Sli 
 01 
 w 
 th 
 P 1 
 
 in 
 
 flc 
 
 an 
 
 be 
 
 P 
 
 cu 
 
 P r 
 
 I lie 
 j Tl 
 I as 
 pa 
 
 I wa 
 
 I tin 
 Sii 
 
 tbi 
 
269 
 
 of Wool, and furnish as their total produce almost 
 six thousand five hundred packs, amounting them- 
 selves to nearly five hundred and seventeen thou- 
 sand. But perhaps we ought to deduct more than 
 one eighth from the general extent of Hampshire, 
 owing to its forests, and the very large quantity of 
 water which is found on its southern border. In that 
 case the number of sheep would agree more exactly 
 with another account, which states them in a round 
 sum, at three hundred and fifty thousand, but with- 
 out any circumstances to confirm, and with some 
 which render the statement suspicious. One part of 
 the wool grown here probably furnishes a sup- 
 ply to the western manufactures, another portion 
 most certainly reaches the northern ones. 
 
 • Among the rural scenes and well cultivated pas- 
 tures of the Isle of Wight sheep graze, which are si- 
 milar to those of the native breed of Hampshire, 
 lank and unsightly animals. The appearance of the 
 flock is mended by some individuals of the Wiltshire 
 and Dorset breeds, but will most probably derive its 
 best improvement from the introduction of the South- 
 Down variety, which to use the simile of an agri- 
 cultural traveller, appear among the natives as the 
 proud and well-combed steed of Arabia, among a 
 herd of the the most humble and stupid of animals. 
 The South- Down sheep produces here as good wool 
 as upon its native soil, and the ridge of hills which 
 passes from east to west, and verges considerably to- 
 ward the southern part of the island, furnishes a pas- 
 ture not widely different from the elevated parts of 
 Sussex. Upon the farms which include a portion of 
 the Downs’ sheep, as is commonly the case, yield a 
 lighter fleece than that which is obtained from the 
 
 Z 2 flocks 
 
270 
 
 flocks whose pasture is confined to the more level 
 plains ; and a larger quantity of wool is procured also 
 from the animals which graze in the western part of 
 the country, than from those which are maintained 
 near to the eastern angle. The former afford a 
 fleece whose weight is estimated at three pounds 
 and a half, while the latter furnish only about three 
 pounds of wool. Upon the less fertile soils the 
 quantity of stock is about six sheep to five acres of 
 Jand ; but upon the richer farms, which are not en- 
 tirely appropriated to sheep, it amounts only to 
 one animal upon two acres. It is not possible 
 to estimate the extent of the upland pasture alone, 
 with that minute exactness which is always desirable ; 
 but perhaps we shall not be far from the truth, if 
 conjecturing that it comprises about one third part 
 of the island, we calculate that the whole of it sup- 
 ports about sixty one thousand sheep, produces 
 nearly eight hundred packs of wool, and furnishes 
 them from eighty seven thousand five hundred pro- 
 ductive acres. The wool after been weighed by a 
 tod of twenty nine pounds, is sent out of the island, 
 and most probably has the same ultimate destination 
 as that of Hampshire in general. It has sometimes 
 been supposed that the quantity of wool grown in 
 the island, is not so large as we have reckoned it. 
 The number ot sheep has been stated at thirty thou- 
 sand, of lambs at eight thousand ; and some other 
 accounts have given forty thousand as the total 
 amount of both. 
 
 In Surry, the last county to be included in the 
 south-eastern district of short wool, the soil is less 
 various than in many other parts of the kingdom. 
 The interipr of the county is chalky, dry and barren, 
 
 and 
 
271 
 
 andcontainslarge tracts of sandy heath, which prodace 
 but little food for sheep or other quadrupeds. About 
 ninety six thousand acres are of this description ; 
 and if we deduct any thing for the near neighbour- 
 hood of London, which always prevents attention 
 to sheep farming upon the richer soils, it may 
 safely be supposed that one fourth part of Surrv 
 produces as little wool as a similar space of ground 
 does when selected from some of the widely ex- 
 tended heaths of the North of England. At a 
 greater distance from the metropolis, the Dorset- 
 shire sheep are cultivated, and early lambs are 
 reared, perhaps in greater numbers than in most 
 other districts. The old native sheep, still found 
 upon the heaths, are a branch of that family which 
 has so often been mentioned as the native stock of 
 these souther^ counties. From the better pastures 
 it has been expelled, not only by the Dorset, but 
 by the superior breeds of Wiltshire, and of Sussex, 
 each of which produces here a fleece resembling that 
 which is shorn from the inhabitants of its native 
 pastures. The wool of Bansted Downs has been 
 represented ft as short, thick and close, while that 
 of the other heaths is longer, but more soft, coarse, 
 dirty” (ili managed) “ and very full of sand ; 9> it is often 
 distinguished by a dingy hue acquired from the soil, 
 and possesses some of the best qualities of a fleece,. 
 Upon the more tenacious land, the stock amounts 
 to nearly five sheep on six acres ; or two hundred and 
 seventy three thousand fleeces are produced from 
 three hundred and twenty seven thousand acres of 
 calculable land. And if we add to this the stock of 
 the heaths, which may amount to about ten thousand 
 sheep, and take the average fleece at three pounds, the 
 
 Z 3 produce 
 
272 
 
 produce of the county is something more than 
 three thousand five hundred packs of wool. The 
 greater part of it being sent to the London market, 
 is ultimately consigned to the manufacturers of York- 
 shire and of Lancashire. 
 
 Wiltshire introduces us into a new district of 
 short wool, where a sheep is found, which differs 
 very widely in its features and fleece from those 
 which have hitherto attracted our attention. Here 
 the native flocks are composed of horned animals, 
 with perfectly white faces and legs, a flat untufted 
 front, a liglit and long carcase, which produces no 
 wool upon the belly and lower part of the breast, and 
 these sheep, by their tallness and short stapled-fleece, 
 are qualified to obtain food from dry soils and widely 
 extended pastures. 
 
 Nature, and the modes of husbandry adopted in 
 Wiltshire, divide the county into two parts. The 
 South-eastern division is distinguished by an amaz- 
 ing extent of high and chalky land, where open 
 Downs succeed each other, and to the tired eye of a 
 stranger appear dry, cold and comfortless. Yet 
 here the reflecting traveller will notice the features 
 and the soil of the country, the immense sh ells of 
 cretous earth, which seem the general deposit of that 
 substance, which forms so distinguishing a charac- 
 teristic of the southern part of Britain. He will 
 Observe, that though ill adapted for the habitation of 
 man, the wilds are every where traversed by numer- 
 ous flocks of sheep, attended by their solitary and 
 unsocial conductors, and evince that the driest 
 wastes, by human industry, may be rendered pro- 
 ductive. Monuments of ancient transactions will 
 recall to his recollection the manners, the taste, 
 
 the 
 
27 3 
 
 fbe turmoils, and the superstition of former times ; but 
 upon the Downs of Marlborough, and the Plains of 
 I Salisbury, he must expect no pleasure from rural 
 scenes, for he will observe neither the secluded 
 dell, nor the meandring brook, the verdant mead, 
 
 ! nor well-planted coppice, the seat of easy affluence, 
 i nor the humbler dwelling of contented labour. In 
 I the lower parts of the district indeed, he will be de- 
 lighted with the pursuits of husbandry, the patience 
 of manufacture, and the bustle of trade. It is from this 
 singular part of the kingdom, we repeat, that the three 
 loftiest and most naked ridgesofthesouth-eastern quar- 
 ter proceed, and regulate the system of agriculture 
 in the counties through which the}? pass ; the first 
 of these chalky tracts, after intersecting Hampshire 
 and Sussex, terminates at Beachy-Head ; the se- 
 cond extends to the eastern shore of Kent ; and the 
 third, after conveying the Wiltshire breed of sheep 
 even to Cambridgeshire, loses itself beneath the 
 sands of Suffolk. 
 
 The management of the flock is well understood 
 in Wiltshire, and the animals which compose it ex- 
 hibit, both in their structure and habitudes, evidences 
 of great attention in their owners. Here the farms 
 required an animal light and active, able to pass 
 without injury over a large space in little time, to 
 climb without difficulty the most abrupt steeps of a bil- 
 lowy district, to endure the heat of the summer sna 
 without a shelter, and to subsist upon the herbage 
 which it could crop from the driest Downs. As 
 the fold is the chief object for which flocks in this 
 district are kept, they must travel far at morning 
 and evening, to their pasture and their lodgment. 
 For circumstances like these, eyery one who observe^ 
 
 the 
 
274 
 
 the Wiltshire breed of sheep, will find it well adapted 
 both in its structure, disposition, and lightness of 
 fleece. As they are objects of prime importance in 
 the system of husbandry which prevails here, every 
 farmer supports a large number. Those which sub- 
 sist in the chalky division have been estimated, 
 with their lambs, at five hundred thousand ; but the 
 calculation is an old one, and the basis upon which 
 it is founded loose and unsatisfactory. Another ac- 
 count supposes that the same district supports a 
 sheep and three fourths per acre ; hut perhaps, as 
 is too commonly the case, it estimates the farm, 
 without considering the advantage derived from a 
 common right ; or the acre to w hich it refers may 
 be a computed one, and considerably larger than 
 the statute measure. It is said that the number 
 is smaller now' than it formerly was; but the South- 
 Downi breed, . a hardy animal, and one which allows 
 of a numerous stock, is very generally adopted here. 
 The best accounts to which I have had access induce 
 me to suppose, that the stock in this division of the 
 count}’, amounts to about four sheep upon three 
 acres ; and that four hundred and thirty seven 
 thousand productive ones, support five hundred and 
 eighty three thousand five hundred sheep; which 
 yield, at two and three quarters pounds each, a 
 produce of nearly six thousand seven hundred packs 
 of wool. 
 
 The north-western part of the county, where* 
 the mode and the object of farming are no less dif- 
 ferent than the soil from that which prevails in the 
 other division, supports a much lighter stock of sheep. 
 There some portions are so entirely appropriated 
 to cows, as almost to exclude all other cattle ; and 
 
 the 
 
27 5 
 
 the quantity of excellent cheese, which the country 
 produces, indicates that the fleece is not an object, 
 with farmers, of prime concern. From the accounts 
 which I have been able to collect, the stock is about 
 three sheep to four acres ; but this does not by afiy 
 means correspond with the general descriptions, and 
 the known circumstances of the country. If calcu- 
 lated upon an average of one sheep to two acres, 
 perhaps the result will be near the truth. Two 
 hundred and thirty five thousand acres therefore 
 maintain a hundred and seventeen thousand five 
 hundred sheep ; and since each of them produces 
 about three pounds of wool, the whole quantity of 
 that article is fourteen hundred and sixty packs. 
 Northern Wiltshire is much more pleasant than the 
 other division of the county, is less elevated and 
 better watered. Its lands are inclosed and contain 
 more wood. Its soils are rich and warm, well adapt- 
 to the Dairy, in the management of which its inha- 
 bitants greatly excel. 
 
 The wool of the county in general possesses a 
 considerable degree of uniformity. The pile is for 
 the most part white, soft, and remarkably clean ; 
 and since the fleece is scanty, the sheep producing 
 no wool uporv the bellies and lower part of the thighs, 
 it is free from dag-)ocks and skirts. “ Upon the 
 lands which have been broken up, the wool becomes 
 coarser and more hard, perhaps owing to the more 
 intimate mixture of the chalk with the pile, and in 
 the inclosures, sheep are chiefly kept for the pur- 
 pose of fattening.” The chalky Downs are, for the 
 most part, covered with a thin stratum of other soil, 
 but whether it be sufficient in all cases to preserve 
 the perfection of the fleeee I know not ; for the wool 
 
£76 
 
 is almost entirely wrought in the western manufac- 
 tures, and only a very small portion I believe reaches 
 the northern looms. The county itself produces 
 several articles of the woollen manufacture, to which 
 the domestic fleece must be well adapted, though al- 
 most destitute of the felting quality. 
 
 On the southern side of Berkshire, and especi- 
 ally upon the borders of Surry, a light and sandy 
 tract, we meet with a very small sheep, which does ■ 
 not yield more than a pound and a half of wool, 
 fine, soft and pliable. Along the banks of the 
 Kennet, and extending to some distance from the 
 river, the land sustains a heavier sheep than is found 
 in most other parts of the county and enables it 
 to afford a larger fleece with a longer staple. 
 Through the broadest part of the county, runs a 
 ridge of chalky hills, where the farms are large and i 
 the stock of sheep heavy, derived chiefly from the j ( 
 Wiltshire breed, and producing a sort of wool si- i 
 milar to that of their native plains. Toward the < 
 northern verge of the county, the land is rich and , f 
 fertile, perhaps equal in goodness to the best soils of i • 
 England, and produces a fleece well adapted to the 
 clothiers purpose. Even the chalky soils, by a thin j 
 stratum of gravel which covers them, are rendered | 
 less injurious to the fleece, which they afford, than 
 the pastures of some other districts. The flocks of 
 Berkshire are generally represented as composed of 
 good and handsome sheep, very useful by their 
 disposition and their form in the system of husbandry, 
 which are commonly practised there. Some of the 
 South-Down and Dorset breeds are also introduced, 
 and promise to contribute their share toward the 
 farther improvement of the flocks. At present the 
 fleece varies, both in its weight and its fineness, ac- 
 cording 
 
277 
 
 cording to the soil and the kind of sheep which pro- 
 duce it ; but in some parts of the county is too much 
 neglected while growing, and managed, when shorn, 
 in a careless and slovenly manner. Perhaps the 
 average weight of wool, produced by the different 
 sheep in this division of the country, may be about 
 three pounds and a quarter ; the stock about three 
 sheep upon four acres; the total number three hun- 
 dred and six thousand six hundred, supported by 
 four hundred and eight thousand eight hundred 
 acres, and the whole produce four thousand one 
 hundred and fifty packs of wool. A part of the 
 fleeces is wrought by the western manufactures, and 
 the remainder consumed by the northern ones. The 
 weight most commonly made use of is the tod of 
 twenty eight pounds. 
 
 Part of Oxfordshire, particularly the northern 
 corner, the tract of land which follows the river 
 Gharwell, and a portion to the south of Oxford, is 
 well adapted to sheep of the larger breeds. To the 
 east and west of these richer pastures the soil is thin, 
 and adapted to an animal producing a lighter fleece. 
 The hills of chalk, which enter the county from 
 Berkshire, and stretch across its southern division, 
 furnish a pasture of a very inferior kind. On the 
 richer lands, the pile is grown longer than some 
 branches of the woollen manufacture require it to 
 be, and the coarseness of the hair disqualifies it for 
 the more delicate fabrics. Even in the stony dis- 
 tricts, and upon the thinner lands, the wool is less 
 valuable than it would be, if more care were taken 
 to produce it for a definite purpose. Perhaps the 
 existence of the blanket manufacture at Witney, 
 and that of worsted shaggs at Banbury, both of 
 
 which 
 
278 
 
 which require considerable elasticity in the raw ma- 
 terial, may have contributed to render the fleeces 
 produced here less suitable to the fabrication of 
 woollen cloth, than those of the neighbouring coun- 
 ties. In the southerly division we observe the Wilt- 
 shire sheep, with their short and scanty coat, and | 
 as usual, cropping the dry grasses of a chalky pas- 
 ture. Estimating the number of sheep by the best 
 information which it was in my power to obtain, 1 
 four of them seem to occupy about five acres of the 1 
 surface. The fleece, which varies from three pounds 1 
 to seven, we take at an average of four pounds and 
 a half for the northern division of the county, and 
 at three and a half for the southern. Within the 
 former almost two hundred and sixty thousand pro- j 
 ductive acres are included, and one hundred twenty 
 two thousand five hundred remain for the latter. 
 The result therefore is nearly three hundred four 
 thousand six hundred sheep, and five thousand three ; 
 hundred packs of wool. Of this quantity one por- j 
 tion is consumed at home, a second at Leicester, 
 in the hose trade, and a third in Yorkshire for 
 woollens. 
 
 Buckinghamshire posseses on both sides of the 
 Ouse a quantity of land, which supports middle- 
 sized sheep, and some of their fleeces have a staple 
 tv hose length and temcity adapt it to the comb. 
 But the pile is finer than long-stapled fleeces 
 usually are, and mingled with too large a porpor- 
 tion of shorter wool ; very often it is rendered too 
 tender by the severity of the seasons, or the inju- 
 dicious intermixture of a different blood, which 
 abounds on the upland farms. 
 
 Further toward the south the fleece becomes 
 
 m ucli 
 
279 
 
 much smaller, especially that which is produced 
 upon those gentle hills, which separate the waters of 
 the Ouse from those which flow into the Thames ; 
 and in the vale of Aylesbury, the richer soils are 
 again favourable to the growth of a heavier staple. 
 Across the South of the county proceeds a tract of 
 chalky land, the continuation of that spur which 
 has induced us to include Buckinghamshire within 
 the district of Wiltshire. Upon these chalky Chiltern 
 hills we again find the light-fleeced breed of sheep, 
 distinguished from every other by the same strong 
 and decided features, which characterize it in its 
 native county. Descending from these dry and 
 elevated regions, we meet with a great deal of wood 
 and common land, with small and half-starved 
 sheep, whose coats declare their own poverty and 
 their master’s inattention. In general the wool 
 of Buckinghamshire, except that which is produced 
 on the chalky soils, is fit for the clothiers’ use, being 
 short, soft and pliable ; but it is very often filthy, 
 incumbered with a large and coar»e breech, and 
 sometimes debased with an intermixture of kemps. 
 The sheep most commonly met with are derived from 
 the blood of the Dorset, the Wiltshire, and from a 
 mongrel kind, which partakes of no decided charac- 
 ter. In some parts of the county, where the wet- 
 ness of the soil is injurious to the constitution of these 
 tender animals, the farmer is induced to hire a flock 
 from a distance, which, under the superintendence! 
 of its owner, shaji be folded upon the land during 
 the summer season. These foreign shepherds, as. 
 they are called, tell us that they come from Shrop- 
 shire, and represent the wool as the produce of 
 sheep from that part of the kingdom, although 
 A a both 
 
280 
 
 both the flock and their own dialect contradict 
 the assertion. The Dishley breed has been intro- 
 d need into some parts of Buckinghamshire, and a 
 taste for heavier fleeces very generally prevails. 
 Butin many cases, while with pleasure we notice 
 the increasing value of the carcase, it is to be re- 
 gretted that the pile is greatly injured. Gentle- 
 men in this county would do well to increase the 
 value of their wool, by a selection of the most atte- . 
 nuated coats ; for they are situated very far from 
 the ultimate markets, whither it must be sent, and 
 the transit thither is incumbered with an unusual 
 expence. When cultivating wools of an inferior 
 kind therefore they subject themselves to a de- 
 duction from its real value, which bears a much 
 larger proportion to the money they actually receive 
 than they would have submitted to, had they pro- 
 duced a less weight at a larger price. Here the 
 stock is about six sheep to eleven acres, i. e. four 
 hundred and eight thousand eight hundred acres of 
 land support nearly two hundred and twenty three 
 thousand sheep ; which, supposing each of them 
 to afford three pounds of wool (a weight amply suf- 
 ficient for the average fleece of this county) yield 
 almost two thousand eight hundred packs. It is 
 weighed by the tod of twenty nine pounds, and the 
 greater partis converted into a useful state in the 
 North of England, a small proportion of it is used at 
 Leicester. 
 
 The hills of a cretons texture, still stretching 
 eastward, divide Hertfordshire from the counties of 
 Bedford and Cambridge by a very irregular out- 
 line. But the larger portion of the soil in this 
 district is composed of a gravelly loam, resting upon 
 % deep bed of chalk. With good cultivation it is 
 
 extremely 
 
281 
 
 extremely fertile, and produces a large quantity of 
 wood. The sheep, which it supports, are chiefly 
 of the Wiltshire breed, but often mingled with the 
 blood of more northern districts ; and the distin- 
 guished race of Sussex has not only been introduced 
 with success, but at present is making rapid pro- 
 gress, and will most certainly improve both the floek 
 and its pile. The whole number of those valuable, 
 soft-coated animals of ail descriptions amounts to 
 rather more than two hundred and seventy seven 
 thousand, which constitute the stock of almost 
 i[ three hundred and seventy thousand acres of land. 
 
 | Upon most of the farms a heavier fleece is found 
 s than that which is produced by the pure blood of 
 the Wiltshire stock. The carcase is more cotn- 
 ; pletely enveloped with wool, and the staple is lon- 
 ger than that obtained from soils less favour- 
 j able to the production of a healthy pile. Some 
 i old accounts make the average fleece weigh four 
 pounds and three quarters, but as this seems to be 
 taken without any reference to the fleeces of the 
 commons, and before the introduction of a lighter 
 stock yielding a smaller quantity of wool, we must 
 i deduct something from it, and calculate at only 
 four pounds and an half, which gives us the produce 
 nearly five thousand three hundred packs of wool. 
 Almost the whole of it is wrought up in the North of 
 England, some little at Leicester, and some at Bury 
 St. Edmunds. This also I conceive to be a district 
 where finer fleeces might be grown with advantage 
 both to the farmer and the community ; for the 
 i| soil is dry and sound, the climate is free from the 
 I; moisture which destroys the yolk of the fleece, and 
 the chalk, except in the northern quarter, does not 
 A a 2 lie 
 
282 
 
 lie sufficiently near the surface to affect the quality 
 of the wool. 
 
 The amazing population of Middlesex imposes 
 upon it a system of agriculture, totally inconsistent 
 with the production of a large quantity of wool. 
 Some poor and ill-formed sheep of the Wiltshirebreed 
 procure a scanty subsistence from the commons ; 
 but very few are kept in the inclosures, and those 
 only for the purpose of producing early lambs, or 
 fattening for the butcher. The parks of different 
 gentlemen, with which this county abounds, perhaps 
 more than any other in proportion to its extent, 
 contain a great variety of sheep of different kinds, 
 procured from distant parts of our own country, 
 and from foreign regions. If more attention 
 were paid to these isolated animals, the proprie- 
 tors of them might obtain a degree of information 
 respecting the growth of the fleece in general, and 
 relating more particularly to the different varieties 
 of the wool-bearing species, which cannot fall 
 within the- compass of ordinary observation. The 
 accounts which have been collected of the stock 
 of sheep maintained in Middlesex, give us nine- 
 teen upon thirty two acres ; but we cannot with 
 propriety estimate more than half the surface 
 as contributing to their support, and hence we con- 
 jecture, that seventy six thousand acres produce, 
 at four pounds per fleece, seven hundred and fifty 
 packs of wool, from forty five thousand sheep. All 
 of it may be classed among the shorter piles, and 
 considered as applicable to woollen fabrics. 
 
 Perhaps it was not perfectly accurate to consi- 
 der some of those counties, whose produce has now 
 been described, as parts of the Wiltshire district; since 
 
 the 
 
 
the greater portion of their soils, their sheep and their 
 fleeces, differs very widely from those of the Downs. 
 But as the Wiltshire family is found in them all, 
 especially upon the tract of chalk, which most proba- 
 bly conducted them thither, and since almost all the 
 other kinds of sheep in this part of the kingdom exhi- 
 bit indistinct features, I know not how to arrange 
 them more properly than I have done. One fact 
 however is remarkable, the sheep to the South of the 
 chalky range are, with a few exceptions, of a much 
 smaller kind than those in the North. There charac- 
 teristic marks are more decisive, and this singular 
 tract of land appears to have formed for ages a bar- 
 rier which the flocks on either side could not pass 
 without other influence than that of the common 
 principles of husbandry. 
 
 The sheep of Dorsetshire, although bearing a 
 great degree of resemblance to the variety just de- 
 scribed, and perhaps descending originally from the 
 same stock, are considered by agriculturists as a 
 different breed. They have horns, which are placed 
 boldly upon the forehead, and which project in some 
 slight degree before it. Their faces and legs are 
 commonly white, though some individuals betray a 
 mixture of blood, by a dingy visage and a tufted 
 front. They are gifted also by nature with a capacity 
 of producing their young in great abundance, and at 
 any season. In general, they are smaller than the 
 Wiltshire breed, and lately have received some alter- 
 ation by the introduction of the Dishley blood. la 
 the neighbourhood of Weymouth, in the islands of 
 Purbeck and Portland, and the country' about 
 Wareham and Pool, a peculiarly small sort of sheep 
 A a 3 subsists, 
 
284 
 
 subsists, very different from those commonly called 
 the native breed of Dorsetshire, and described as 
 even smaller than those of Wales. 
 
 This is an uneven district, of which a large 
 proportion is well adapted to the support of the 
 woolly tribe, and applied by its occupiers to that 
 particular purpose. In the vicinity of Dorchester, 
 even within eight miles of the town, it has been sup- 
 posed “ that the whole number of sheep and lambs, 
 including those of all ages, amounts to an hundred 
 and seventy thousand”; and it has been sometimes 
 quoted as an instance of hard stocking, which could 
 not be paralleled in any other district. But if the 
 terms “eight miles round Dorchester,” describe a 
 circle whose radius is of that extent, and we do not 
 see how it can be interpreted, so as to include a 
 smaller space of ground, then the number of sheep 
 amounts to seventeen upon thirteen acres, which we 
 have seen to be more than equalled on some of the 
 downs of Sussex, and also in a few of those districts 
 which support a much larger animal, and produce a 
 far more weighty fleece. But on the contrary, the 
 author who supposes that six hundred thousand are 
 maintained upon almost the same plot of ground, 
 but within a circle whose radius is only six miles, 
 must surely have made some great mistake, for it 
 supposes a stock which could scarcely be supported 
 by the most luxuriant soil. When these two accounts, 
 both of which are given by high authority, are com- 
 pared together, they show how precarious is the basis 
 whereon all calculations of this kind are founded, 
 and teach us to be diffident in similar deductions. 
 From the best information which I have received, 
 and different statements being corrected by each 
 
 oi her 
 
£85 
 
 
 other, the sheep stock of the county seems to be about 
 six hundred thirty two thousand three hundred, or 
 twenty eight sheep to thirty one acres. Some other 
 persons have conjectured that the number is rather 
 larger than we have stated, but it is evident, even in 
 the same pages that their deductions are not accurate. 
 The extent of Dorsetshire is taken at seven hundred 
 thousand acres, the average fleece at three pounds 
 and three quarters, and the whole produce of wool at 
 almost nine thousand nine hundred packs. It is not 
 often that the total produce of a county is estimated 
 lower by the author of these pages than it is by others, 
 who perhaps have had better means of information ; 
 but in this case, if they are correct, his statement is 
 deficient by nearly two thousand packs. 
 
 The wool in this part of the kingdom is described 
 as short, fine and close, highly esteemed in the ma- 
 nufacture of woollens,although inferior to that obtain- 
 ed from the plains of Salisbury. Complaints also are 
 made against the sand, and filth of other descriptions, 
 with which it greatly abounds ; and some staplers 
 have thought that part of it is too coarse and long* 
 These latter defects I fear will not be remedied by 
 the introduction of Leicester rams, and the taste, 
 which at present prevails, is in favour of a large 
 sheep and a weighty- fleece. Here also, as is com- 
 mon in the southern counties, the Janibs are shorn, 
 and the wool produced by each is about one third of 
 the quantity obtained from the dams. The fleece 
 of the older sheep is employed in the western manu- 
 factures, and is weighed in a peculiar method. The 
 integral quantity is denominated a Wey, contains 
 thirty one pounds, and in making use of it great 
 exactness seems to be observed, for it is generally 
 
 described 
 
£86 
 
 described as <c standing weight,” whereas in other 
 parts of the kingdom it is usual to allow the chance 
 of draughts with a pound. Perhaps it is not possi- 
 ble now to ascertain how the custom of delivering 
 only a standing weight originated, nor what the 
 circumstances w r ere which gave it a local influ- 
 ence. 
 
 Dorsetshire contains a ridge of lofty chalk hills in 
 the centre of the county, which extend themselves 
 toward the South, and form bold cliffs baring the 
 ocean. This part of the district is covered only 
 with a shallow soil, and leaves the wool too much 
 exposed to a pernicious influence. On the northern 
 side of the Downs are rich arable and pasture lands ; 
 on the border of Hampshire, an extensive heath, but 
 declining on its southern verge into fertile vales. 
 Perhaps these richer pastures may produce the 
 fleece, which is sometimes complained of by woollen 
 manufacturers, although it may be very suitable to 
 the purposes of the worsted trade. 
 
 Some part of the wool grown in the adjoining 
 county, Devonshire, has been already noticed. 
 Among the breed of sheep, which produces there 
 fleeces usually consumed in the manufacture of wool- 
 len yarn, those provincially called Nots, and the 
 Exmoor, are the most numerous. Both kinds are 
 animals of the middle size, or at least are larger than 
 some others found on the eastern side of the kingdom, 
 and have white faces and legs. They seem not to 
 have distinct pastures, but graze promiscuously, ex- 
 cept that the vicinity of their native hills causes the 
 Exmoor sheep to abound more in the north of the 
 county than in the other quarters. These are 
 
 a 
 
287 
 
 a horned breed, produce a staple five inches long* 
 and a fleece weighing upon the average about six 
 pounds ; the others are polled animals, yield rather 
 heavier fleeces, and indicate that they naturally be- 
 long to a family of greater weight. But in Devon- 
 shire both the sheep and their coats seem to be greatly 
 neglected, and the descriptions which have been 
 given of its flocks are not so satisfactory as those 
 which may be obtained respecting the stock of some 
 I other counties. In general the staple is considered 
 as coarse and thin, more especially that which grows 
 I about the haunches of the sheep, and as susceptible- 
 of great improvement. To attain this object Mr. 
 Marshall strongly recommends the culture of the 
 ! Dorsetshire race, some of which are found here 
 possessed of the full purity of blood. And the su- 
 perior value of that and the Sussex breeds, when 
 compared with the native stock, appears to be un- 
 derstood, for both of them are said to diffuse them- 
 selves rapidly over these western pastures. A singular 
 variety of sheep, although not considered as a 
 j distinct breed, is frequently mentioned as subsisting 
 | in the neighbourhood of Okehampton, and if their 
 fleece be of superior quality, a circumstance which in- 
 ferior size does not always indicate, they might contri- 
 bute to the amelioration of other flocks. Allowing 
 something for the smaller weight of wool, which these 
 sheep produce, for the circumstance of fleeces not be- 
 ing washed in some parts of the county, and for the 
 general thinness of the staple, we cannot with proprie- 
 ty calculate the quantity of pile produced by the 
 sheep of Devonshire at more than four pounds each. 
 
 In this extensive district we meet with a great 
 variety of soil, although but little chalk ; for that 
 
 quantity 
 
288 
 
 quantity of it which is found in the eastern angle 
 bears no proportion to the general extent of the 
 county, and is not worth observing. A strong loam 
 upon a clayey bottom is the general character of the 
 land, which being often inclined to moisture, unfits 
 it for carrying a heavy stock of sheep. Devonshire 
 is for the most part mountainous, and its surface 
 greatly broken ; forming romantic vales, pleasant 
 both on account of the beauty of their scenery, and 
 the richness of their pastures. But they abound 
 most in its southern part, for the Forest of Dart- 
 moor, a naked, moist and sterile tract, with the hills 
 which extend beyond it, even to the Bristol Channel^ 
 occupies the West ; and the uncultivated regions on 
 the borders of Somersetshire deduct from the general 
 fertility of the North. These are open Downs, fit 
 pastures for flocks, and w'ell stocked with sheep 
 adapted to the mountains ; But the forest of Dart- 
 moor has no flocks properly belonging to itself, is 
 not grazed with sheep during the winter se ason, and 
 in the summer receives them only on the principle of 
 agistment. 
 
 Deducting, therefore, from the general extent 
 of the county the area of this forest, amounting to 
 one hundred and fifty thousand acres, and also 
 that of the pastures producing long wool, we have 
 upon eight hundred and seventy three thousand seven 
 hundred productive acres, almost four hundred and 
 thirty seven thousand sheep, which yield probably 
 about seven thousand three hundred packs of wool. 
 This it must be acknowledged is a much lighter 
 stock than we have met with in some other parts of 
 England, but it is as large as the statements of the 
 different farms will justify, and we must recollect 
 
 that 
 
£89 
 
 that the union of mountains and of moisture is 
 very unfavourable to the existence of numerous 
 flocks. 
 
 The wool produced in Devonshire is wrought 
 within itself, not as is usual in the North in large 
 factories, where crowds, intent only on their daily 
 task, and urged to early, unremitted and unvaried em- 
 ployment, form no habits adapted to general life ; 
 where the mind, left totally without stimulus, ex- 
 cept that which arises from the strong impulses of 
 nature, becomes more brutal ; where the best dis- 
 positions of childhood are corrupted by the designs 
 or the imprudence of more matured vice ; and where 
 the bland manners of youth are vitiated by perpetual 
 intercourse with full-grown depravity ; there, the 
 artizan, employed at home in the midst of his fa- 
 mily, superintends himself, and with the interest of 
 a parent not the mercenary views of a task-master, 
 all the concerns which relate to the health, the em- 
 ployment, the education and the morals of his do- 
 mestics. This old mode of manufacturing the 
 produce of our folds, inconsistent perhaps with the 
 commercial superiority of Britain, is almost wholly 
 laid aside in the southern half of the island ; being 
 retained only in this Avestern promontory, in Wales, 
 and, as I am informed, in a small village in Cam- 
 bridgeshire, whose inhabitants in some other re- 
 spects also retain in an eminent degree the simplicity 
 of ancient customs. 
 
 Cornwall exceeding mountainous, and almost un- 
 cultivated except upon the sea coast and the banks 
 of the rivers, which flow only a short distance 
 through the country ; exposed also to great degrees 
 of moisture, and the strong winds of the ocean, is 
 
 very 
 
290 
 
 very ill adapted to the constitution of sheep, 
 more especially toward its western point. Formerly 
 the native sheep were very small, and produced a 
 coarse fleece of but little value, wrought up by the 
 manufacturers of the county ; who when their trade 
 ■was more flourishing than it is at present, enjoyed 
 some peculiar immunities. Now both the flocks and 
 their wool are improved by the breeds, which have 
 been obtained from the adjoining county. But these 
 better formed animals are almost confined to the 
 richer soils, and some of them under good manage- 
 ment afford a fleece fitted to the worsted trade. 
 Yet the greater part of the wool is short, and none 
 of it is washed, or sent out in a raw state. The 
 yarn produced From it is partly wrought into the 
 common serge of the county, and the remainder sent 
 into Devonshire. In selling their fleeces the inhabi- 
 tants use among themselves the pound of eighteen 
 ounces. 
 
 Small sheep here yield only about four pounds of 
 wool, even though unwashed, but no account is given 
 of the quantity of stock, nor have we any means of 
 ascertaining the proportion of the better sheep when 
 compared with the number of the others. Consider- 
 ing the irregularity of the surface, the nature of the 
 soil and the climate, and comparing the district with 
 others which resemble it, I think we ought not to 
 estimate the number of sheep at more than one 
 to four acres. The county, containing eight hundred 
 and twelve thousand acres, may probably support 
 about two hundred and three thousand sheep, a 
 stock scarcely more than sufficient for the internal 
 consumption though the people may derive a 
 large portion of their food from fisheries ; and if this 
 
 number 
 
291 
 
 number of sheep be correct, the quantity of wool 
 they afford is almost three thousand four hundred 
 packs. 
 
 Few satisfactory accounts have been published 
 respecting the sheep of Somersetshire, and the 
 different modes of husbandry adopted there 
 contribute, with the irregularity of the surface, to 
 render it difficult to form an accurate idea of their 
 produce. Most of them have been originally 
 brought from the neighbouring counties ; in the 
 East those of Wiltshire abound, in the West those 
 peculiar to Devonshire, and the Dorset race has 
 diffused itself more generally through the whole 
 district. There is one indigenous variety, a small 
 horned animal, of ill shape, with white face and 
 legs, which produces from three to four pounds of 
 wool ; its present range and original pasture, is that 
 bleak and elevated tract distinguished by the name 
 of Exmoor. The Mendip hills are stocked with a 
 small animal, but I have never met with a particular 
 description of it, and am therefore unable to say, 
 whether it be a distinct breed, or claims affinity 
 with any of those families which have been men- 
 tioned. Its fleece weighs from two to three pounds. 
 In some detached parts of the county we meet with 
 a heavy polled race, which produces long wool, and 
 resembles, in its weight and shape, those ofDishley.. 
 On the richer soils it is very common for graziers to pro- 
 cure a polled breed, whose wool is much longer than 
 is requisite, or even desirable, for the manufactory of 
 'woollen cloth. By the exertion of a few spirited 
 individuals, the pure blood of BakewelFs breed 
 has been obtained, a few individuals from the Sussex 
 Downs, and in one instance, through the liberality 
 B b of 
 
of his Majesty, a descendant from the Negretti 
 race of Spain, which has produced a small but valu- 
 able flock, whose fleeces among the wools of Eng- 
 lish growth bear a distinguished price. Here the 
 peculiarities of the pasture and the climate seem to 
 have distributed the flocks very irregularly. Upon 
 the more elevated farms sheep are numerous and 
 small, in the richer vales they give place to oxen, or 
 are nearly expelled by a predilection for the dairy- 
 system of agriculture ; and the few which are 
 tolerated there, produce a heavy fleece. On the 
 moister soils, the moors or half-drained fens of the 
 county, the constitution of the sheep sqflers too 
 severely, and the stock of course is light. 
 
 When speaking of the Exmoor sheep of Devon- 
 shire, it was observed that their fleeces weighed 
 about six pounds, twice the weight w'hicb the same 
 race produces on its native pastures ; but it should 
 be recollected that here it is washed, while there 
 it is very often stripped of its fleece incumbered 
 with all its yolk. The real difference of pure wool, 
 I apprehend, is not very considerable. This county 
 has been known to furnish fleeces more dissimilar 
 in weight than any other district of the kingdom, 
 for when the smallest sheep has produced only two 
 pounds of wool, the largest has afforded fourteen ; 
 but the most common weight rises from three pounds 
 to eight, and the average perhaps is about four 
 and an half. Wool growm upon inclosed land 
 is described as soft and silky, rather long and of a 
 yellow tinge ; but the manufacturers of Yorkshire 
 say, that it produces cloth of too harsh a texture. 
 Only a small quantity is sent thither, and the 
 remainder is wrought at home. To ascertain 
 
 its 
 
ms 
 
 its quantity, a weight containing twenty one pounds 
 is made use of, but I know not whether it be deno- 
 minated a tod, a wey, a stone, or be distinguished 
 by some other name. But few data are furnished, 
 as a basis for the calculation of the stock ; such as 
 we have make it amount to ten sheep upon seven- 
 teen acres ; i. e. five hundred thousand and seven 
 hundred sheep occupy eight hundred fifty one 
 thousand two hundred acres of land, and produce 
 almost nine thousand four hundred packs of woof, 
 whose quality when compared with that of the 
 Dorsetshire fleeces, is as eight to nine and a half. 
 
 Much is expected in the culture of wool from 
 the county of Somerset ; for it not only is the seat 
 of a manufacture which must naturally, though 
 silently,, operate upon the fleece, and contains a 
 race of animals, from which it is possible to obtain 
 an unrivalled staple ; but the attention of the farmer, 
 the manufacturer, and the patriot have been di- 
 rected to it by the establishment of a society at Bath, 
 to investigate the principles, and to promote the 
 practice of scientific husbandry. No praises which 
 I can bestow upon institutions of this nature, the 
 character of their members, or their exertions, will 
 be of any avail in rendering them more celebrated. 
 Yet in common with my countrymen, I have the 
 privilege of being instructed by their communica- 
 tions, and the pleasure of congratulating every 
 friend of mankind upon the benefit which must re- 
 sult from their labours and their example, by the 
 improvement of the first, the most indispensible and 
 universal of human arts. It cannot be expected 
 that the lower class of farmers should at once change 
 their habits and adopt new practices, even though 
 B b 2 attended 
 
294 
 
 attended with obvious advantage ; but the institution 
 of agricultural societies has already excited among 
 persons of property, science and judgment, a thirst 
 for knowledge founded upon actual experiment, 
 which presages a brighter sera in the history of hus- 
 bandry* Bath is the centre of one, whose members 
 have already done much toward diffusing the know- 
 ledge of their art, even to the utmost verge of the 
 British isles. While the tepid fountains have been the 
 means of restoring to the enfeebled constitution its 
 natural tone and vigour ; the monuments of rustic 
 merit have tended to cure the mind of ignorance 
 and prejudice, to counteract the ill effects of habits 
 and modes of thinking in agriculture, formed un- 
 der the influence of principles and customs, tvhich 
 science and reason cannot justify. And one active 
 friend of man has not only watched the reviving 
 spirit, prescribed the salubrious course of medi- 
 cine and of regimen, but has endeavoured to re- 
 establish the debilitated mind, by rousing its atten* 
 tion to objects of a rural nature, and exciting it to 
 a course of active employments, well calculated to 
 confirm the health, to improve the understanding, 
 to enlarge the fortune, and to gratify the best feel- 
 ings of social beings. The benefit of more liberal 
 sentiments and rational practice in the manage- 
 ment of land, has been already felt, and will in- 
 crease, I trust, until every acre in the empire yields 
 its full share of a valuable produce. 
 
 Having had occasion already to notice the 
 kind of sheep grazing on the Cotteswold Hills, we 
 may now confine our attention to the other part of 
 Gloucestershire. It exhibits a great variety of soil 
 and rural management. In the eastern parts of the 
 
 county, 
 
295 
 
 county are the Southern Wolds, a ridge of hills 
 which resemble in their appearance the Downs of 
 Wiltshire, and are employed in the same manner. 
 Farther toward the North, the hills not only become 
 more picturesque and fertile, but are covered with 
 a light loamy soil. The southern parts of the 
 Yale of Gloeester, are rich, highly cultivated, and 
 do not yield perhaps in fertility or beauty to 
 any part of the kingdom, but are chiefly occupied 
 by cattle. Higher up the Severn the soil is too 
 wet to admit a large stock of sheep, and it is im- 
 possible with any advantage to support upon it a 
 breeding flock. To the West of that noble river, 
 which forms the principle feature of the county, 
 and gives the peculiar character to some of its 
 soils, both the land and the system of farming 
 bear a great resemblance to those of Hereford- 
 shire. 
 
 Perhaps few counties are so much affected by the 
 flocks of its neighbours. On the Wolds we meet 
 with the Wiltshire breed of sheep, in the Vale that 
 of the Cotteswold hills, and in the other district, 
 the descendants of the old Herefordshire race. No 
 account being given of the quantity of stock, we 
 can gather our ideas of it only from the general 
 circumstances of the county ; and perhaps after 
 ail the pains taken to obtain a correct opinion, 
 the following statement may differ widely from 
 the truth. If the more elevated parts of the 
 county be supposed to graze one sheep upon every 
 acre, fhe result wilt probably be above the truth, 
 for nine tenths of that kind of land are under the 
 plough, and they contain the forest of Dean, awpody 
 and uncultivated tract. The wet soils of the 
 B b 3 upper 
 
296 
 
 upper Vale can scarcely support above one sheep 
 upon two acres, and the rich pastures of the lower 
 district are appropriated, for the most part, to 
 other purposes than the feeding of those smaller 
 animals. It is not probable, therefore, that five 
 hundred and twenty eight thousand acres, support 
 more than three hundred and fifty five thousand 
 sheep, or produce of wool above five thousand 
 four hundred packs. In this statement the fleece 
 from the Wiltshire breed is estimated at three 
 pounds, that of the Ryeland at two, and that 
 procured from the Vale at five. The wool here 
 was formerly wrought in the county; but during 
 the period of depression under which the western 
 manufactures laboured, a part of it w r as sent 
 into other counties, some even to Yorkshire. 
 But the introduction of the modern machinery, 
 and the consequent revival of trade in these parts, 
 will cause a demand for the whole of it at home 
 In weighing it, toward the south the tod of twenty 
 eight pounds is used, that of twenty one is some- 
 times adopted, and on the Herefordshire border the 
 stone of twelve pounds and a half is the common 
 weight. 
 
 The limits of this western district of short wool 
 are very accurately defined by the ocean, the Severn, 
 and the bed of chalky soil which bounds it towards 
 the East. The sheep are placed irregularly upon its 
 surface, and their wool is of various descriptions. 
 Through a large proportion of the district, the animals 
 are greatly neglected; and though prompted to the cul- 
 ture of wool by the general diffusion of a manufac- 
 ture which requires it at their very doors, many of 
 its farmers are more careless of obtaining a perfect 
 
 fleece 
 
297 
 
 fleece, and of preserving it in the best manner, 
 than those in any other part of England, except on 
 the northern range of dreary mountains. It is most 
 sincerely to be wished that the spirited exertions of 
 the few scientific shepherds, who reside in those mild 
 and genial regions, should excite a general atten- 
 tion to the state of flocks, and render their owners 
 dissatisfied with producing an inferior fleece, while 
 they depend for the employment of the poor upon 
 the produce of the Spanish cotes. 
 
 Herefordshire contains another variety of sheep, 
 which diffuse themselves through that county, and 
 a part of those English ones which adjoin to 
 it. These animals have no horns, white faces 
 and legs, axid are sometimes very handsome, but 
 possess also the frequent concomitant of beauty, a 
 delicate and tender constitution. They afford about 
 two pounds of very excellent wool. But the com- 
 mon sheep of the district differ considerably in the 
 beauty and value of their wool from the Ry eland 
 race, probably that which composed the old flocks of 
 the district so celebrated in the age when fine English 
 fleeces were first diligently sought after. Certainly 
 the fleeces of Herefordshire in general are excellent ; 
 inferior it must be acknowledged to some wools ob- 
 tained from distant countries, but second to none in 
 Britain, except that which has been obtained from 
 the descendants of the Spanish breed. This also is the 
 only part of the island where the practice of cotting 
 has descended from our ancestors to the present day ; 
 and though its advantages may not always be evident 
 even to the eye of a shepherd, yet it indicates an 
 attention to the flocks which has most probably con- 
 tributed to maintain their superior excellency. Some 
 
 years 
 
 J 
 
298 
 
 years since, I was presented with a sample of wool 
 from this county of the most perfect kind I ever saw. 
 It was completely grown, with a staple very thick and 
 uncommonly full of pile, soft and delicate beyond 
 description, its colour was beautifully white, and the 
 hair extremely fine, in length it scarcely reached 
 half an inch. A small quantity had been preserved as 
 a curiosity, and the lock alluded to was presented 
 as such. But most of the wool, even of this county, 
 admits of a very different description* Upon the 
 sandy soils, it is said to be “ thin, harsh and out of 
 proof, (that is, grown with a smaller quantity of volk 
 than was requisite) in the inclosures, thick and yel- 
 lowish ; upon the commons yellowish, soft and silky, 
 but not always remarkably clean, and sometimes 
 subject to kemps.” This, however is a rather old 
 description of the fleece; and we have reason to sup- 
 pose in an age so attentive to every branch of agri- 
 culture, in a county where the highest price is 
 obtained for English wool, and where customs al- 
 ready prevail, which are admirably adapted to pro- 
 mote improvement, that the produce of the sheep 
 will become more valuable, and ^hat it will obtain a 
 nearer resemblance to the boasted pile of other 
 climates. No other part of our native land takes so 
 much pains to render its fleece marketable as this. 
 Here the old custom of employing sworn winders is 
 diligently adhered to, and they are engaged to strip 
 off the coarse part of the fleece and to wind up only 
 the better kind of wool ; to tie about half a dozen 
 fleeces together, and to ticket the weight of each 
 bundle, or as it is there called trendie.* In this 
 
 * Perhaps from the word trundle, which signifies a round 
 thing, or a substance that will roll. 
 
^99 
 
 county the bundle does not resemble that of Nor- 
 folk, as sometimes is supposed, for in Hereford- 
 shire the fleeces are wrapped up separately, very hard, 
 and commonly in the shape of a nine pin, and of 
 these the bundle is composed; but in Norfolk the 
 unwound fleeces are spread upon each other, and 
 when a sufficient number are thus disposed, all of 
 them are rolled up in one general mass and there 
 also called a bundle. This latter is certainly the 
 easiest and the quickest mode of securing the fleeces, 
 but it obliges the farmer to conceal the best of his 
 wool, and the buyer to purchase it rather from recol- 
 lection of the sorts which the parcel produced in 
 former years, than from any opinion formed of the 
 value of those particular fleeces which are offered to 
 his notice. The parcel of a certain person, he 
 knows, was last year either good or bad, and he 
 supposes that its quality will not be greatly altered 
 in this. But where every fleece is wrapped up 
 singty, there is evidently much more room for the 
 exercise of skill in estimating the value of a quantity 
 of wool, and a more solid basis whereon to found a 
 definite opinion. In Herefordshire, fleeces are sold 
 in public fairs by a stone of twelve pounds and a 
 half. The weight of them being ascertained before 
 they are exposed to sale, business is done at once, 
 and with ease; but it is grossly ridiculous to call 
 those agricultural meetings Wool-Fairs, where a 
 number of gentlemen meet in a private room, talk 
 learnedly about the different value of particular 
 breeds of sheep, and finally close by agreeing what 
 price they will have for their wool, and making a 
 general offer of it ; where not a single fleece is 
 to be seen, w r here no stranger can purchase but 
 
 at 
 
soo 
 
 
 at the utmost hazard of entering upon a bad spe- 
 culation, for being ignorant of the country and 
 its produce, it is highly probable that none but 
 rejected parcels will fail into his hands, and finally 
 discourage him from appearing at the fair again. 
 If it be the object of these gentlemen to encou- 
 rage competition in the buyers, let them show 
 us the article which -they offer, we shall each then 
 form his own opinion ; let them transact the whole 
 business upon the spot, then we shall not be obliged 
 to tarry whole weeks before it can be completed ; let 
 them adopt the customs of the more northern public 
 markets, and no disputes will arise, nor any jealousy 
 subsist between the sellers and those who purchase. 
 I confess m yself the friend of public markets, of open 
 and candid transactions, of institutions which give 
 to all an equal chance, of those which are calculated 
 to secure for an excellent article its adequate price, 
 and to deprive an inferior one of its fictitious value. 
 Ip the West-Riding of Yorkshire we certainly see 
 too plainly the benefits arising from public and open 
 markets, to be in the least apprehensive that if gene* 
 rally instituted for the sale of wool, they would 
 injure the interest of the stapler. But if they are 
 instituted, let them be markets, meetings where 
 something is to be seen as well as purchased, and not 
 a mere name, an unsubstantial something in which 
 the buyer has no interest. Then, and not till then I 
 apprehend, will the wool-grower have no reason to 
 complain that staplers do not attend, that they appear 
 to dislike these fairs. 
 
 From the trended fleece of Herefordshire about 
 one tenth of its weights taken of coarse and inferior 
 locks, but a considerable quantity, without being 
 
 treated 
 
 
SOI 
 
 treated in this peculiar manner, is sold at about teii 
 per cent, less price per stone; a circumstance which 
 leads us to imagine, either that the quality of the 
 untrended wool is not so good as the other, that 
 it contains a great deal of dirt, cr that the coarse 
 breech left upon the fleece is of no value. The 
 average quantity of wool produced by each sheep 
 is little more than two pounds, but as no mention 
 is made of the stock, which a given extent of land 
 supports, we are left here also to conjecture the 
 number of sheep contained in the county. Perhaps 
 a supposition that four acres of prqd active land 
 are grazed by three of the animals, will furnish a 
 general result quite as numerous as circumstances 
 will authorize, because this is a larger stock than 
 the other counties of the district support, because it 
 is chiefly an arable tract, and a larger proportion 
 than one eighth of the surface I apprehend is occu- 
 pied with wood, water, buildings, &e. Probably 
 five hundred thousand sheep may be supported upon 
 six hundred and seventy two thousand acres, and 
 produce about four thousand packs of wopl. The 
 fleece is here estimated only at two pounds, although 
 the Ryeland race is nearly extinct, and the new 
 mode of farming has enabled the shepherd to keep 
 a larger breed, because the estimated produce of 
 wool is supposed to be quite as large as the county 
 affords. Herefordshire sends its fleece both to the 
 clothiers of the West and of the North of England. 
 Situated between the two markets, it is scarcelv 
 possible to suppose that it does not obtain the full 
 value of its pile ; for though complaints are made by 
 the wool-grower of combination and monopoly, the 
 history of the woollen manufacture most clearly 
 
 evinces 
 
302 
 
 evinces a rivalry between the clothiers of these dis- 
 tant parts of the country. 
 
 The staple of Herefordshire shows that the soil 
 is well adapted Uo produce wool of the first qua- 
 lity, and if the Ryeland breed of sheep could be 
 rendered sufficiently hardy to become the stock of other 
 parts of the kingdom, it would furnish the means of 
 improving the quality of English wool, much more 
 rapidly than by the introduction of a few Spanish 
 rams. Dr. Parry informs us that he has produced 
 sheep, in which the blood of the Merino and the 
 Ryeland breeds are mingled, whose good qualities 
 seem not to be inferior to those of any other race 
 in the kingdom. The subject is fully discussed 
 in his Treatise upon the Possibility of Producing 
 Fine Wool in Britain; in which he describes the 
 fleece of this sheep as possessing a staple about three 
 and a quarter inches long, of uniform fineness 
 from every part of the sheep, of a colour beau- 
 tifully white, and, u in general” free from kemps, 
 'weighing also from five to six pounds. The Doctor 
 shows the hair to be excellent, by comparing it I 
 with Spanish wool, and describing its produce 
 when manufactured ; yet in this latter statement 
 he has failed of affording a definite idea respect- j 
 ing the value of his wool, by not detailing 
 more particulars. Still, however, his experi- 
 
 ments are highly useful, and his deductions de- 
 serve attention. The Treatise will be read with 
 pleasure by every impartial enquirer after that 
 kind of knowledge, which it professes to commu- 
 nicate. 
 
 Monmouthshire does not boast of a large pro- 
 ficiency in the art of agriculture, and but little 
 
 is 
 
503 
 
 is said either of its sheep or their coats. The 
 eastern part is upon the whole a fertile and woody 
 country ; the western exhibits the rough features 
 of Wales ; and its large commons are stocked with 
 small ill-bred sheep, whose yellow fleece is short, 
 fine and ragged. In some parts of the county 
 the wool differs considerably, and a few large 
 fleeces are produced. Upon the whole we reckon 
 that one third of the land, supports a stock 
 in the same proportion that South Wales does, 
 viz. ’five acres to one sheep ; each of the ani- 
 mals producing one and a half pound of 
 wool. Probably the remainder of the soil may 
 furnish food for three sheep upon four acres ; 
 that is, three hundred twenty two thousand six 
 hundred support one hundred and seventy seven 
 thousand six hundred sheep, which yield fourteen 
 hundred packs of fleeces as the general produce 
 of the county. Here the usual deduction of one 
 eighth is not taken from the extent of the moun- 
 tains ; and the most common fleece is estimated at 
 two pounds. 
 
 The soil of Worcestershire is sometimes sandy, in 
 general rich, and never of that kind which is most 
 pernicious to wool. The vale of Evesham, dis- 
 tinguished on account of its fertility, produces a 
 quantity of large wool, of which the fleeces weigh 
 nearly nine pounds. But the sheep of the county 
 are generally small ; and the mode of stocking the 
 land is various. From the average of the farms, 
 whose extent and number of sheep are given, in 
 any accounts which have fallen under my notice, 
 seven hundred and seventy eight sheep are placed 
 upon eight hundred and seventy acres ; and at the 
 
 C c same 
 
304 
 
 time it is acknowledged, that in some parts of the 
 county very few are kept. In some instances it 
 is evident that an extensive sheep-walk must be 
 connected with the farms ;for the acres, which they 
 are said to contain, could not possibly support 
 the quantity of stock assigned to them. There 
 are other cases similar to this, in which, though 
 sensible of error, we do not deviate from the general 
 average, because we have no means of correcting 
 it without substituting conjecture for facts ; and 
 it is easy for persons better acquainted with the 
 local circumstances of districts, to point out the 
 mistakes, and to furnish for calculation better data. 
 Were I to form an opinion, by merely passing through 
 the county, from a short residence upon its border, 
 and from casual and unsatisfactory information, 
 I should estimate the number of sheep at no more 
 than three to four acres, and the fleece, as it is 
 usually represented, at three pounds and a half. But 
 according to the statement given above, Worces- 
 tershire supports three hundred and thirty thousand 
 four hundred sheep, upon less than three hundred 
 and seventy thousand acres ; and yields from them 
 four thousand eight hundred packs of wool. The 
 pile here is short and well-grown, of a soft 
 and silky texture, and sometimes of a reddish 
 hue. 
 
 The Shropshire sheep are of various kinds. 
 It is probable that the native stock consisted of small 
 animals, with white faces and legs, destitute of horns, 
 and that it produced a valuable wool. The Dorset 
 race we are told, purchased at the fair of Wey-Hill, 
 has been introduced among the old flocks, and the 
 descendants from this mingled blood produce a 
 
305 
 
 staple too long for the best purposes of the woollen 
 manufacture. But we cannot help conjecturing 
 that these foreign sheep were not really inhabitants 
 of the chalky Downs ; that they have been collected 
 from some nearer pasture, and introduced into 
 Shropshire under a fictitious name. In the northern 
 part of the county, the rich and fertile pastures, 
 chiefly appropriated to the dairying of cows, 
 support but few animals of the fleecy tribe. 
 The central, southern, and western regions, being 
 more mountainous, contain large sheep-walks, and 
 are furnished with numerous flocks, Those on 
 the western border resemble the breed which has 
 already been described ; but in the southern divi- 
 sion of the county, the sheep have black, brown or 
 spotted faces and legs, and differ so much from 
 each other as to induce us to suppose, that they 
 are the remains of some old families, now almost 
 extinct ; but, if selected with judgment, they seem 
 capable of contributing their share toward the ge- 
 neral improvement of British wool. The race 
 which was originally cultivated upon the Morfe 
 common has been long admired, and has sent its 
 colonies into other counties. The Long-Mynd sheep, 
 when crossed with those from the Sussex Downs, 
 are represented as producing a hardy and valuable 
 stock. From the great variety both of domestic 
 sheep, and of those procured from a distance, which 
 abounds in the South of Shropshire, it appears that 
 its farmers push their enquiries with spirit, and 
 may be expected to obtain and communicate much 
 information from that wide field of experiment, 
 which is open before them. The fleeces of Shrop- 
 shire are generally light, bv far the larger number 
 C c 2 of 
 
30 6 
 
 of them weigh only from one pound and a half to 
 two and a quarter ; but in the more level parts of 
 the county, or when produced in the vales, they 
 advance to three pounds ; if procured from the 
 heavier breeds of sheep, they sometimes reach to 
 four. Supposing that the average for the whole 
 county amounts to two pounds and a half, then 
 it furnishes four thousand four hundred packs of 
 wool, containing fou$ hundred and twenty two 
 thousand fleeces, procured from almost seven hun- 
 dred and forty thousand acres of land ; for the 
 stock is nearly seventeen sheep to thirty acres. 
 
 The Morfe fleeces are very often trended according 
 to the custom of Herefordshire, and lose by this 
 mode of winding them about one tenth of their 
 gross weight. Wool is sold here by a stone of 
 fifteen pounds ; its quality is generally approved 
 of ; and being rather tougher than some of the most 
 celebrated eastern fleeces is mixed w r ith them, 
 and applied to very useful purposes. The whole 
 produce I believe is sent into Yorkshire. The pile fre- 
 quently has a tinge of redness ; and some samples 
 which lately passed through my hands were very 
 kempy, with coarse and spiry tops to the staple ; 
 circumstances which indicate a degree of negligence 
 in the shepherd not always excusable, nor consistent 
 with his interest. 
 
 Treating of Long- wool we observed that a small 
 quantity is produced in Staffordshire, particularly 
 upon its richer meadows. The remainder of the 
 county furnishes a fleece of shorter staple, which 
 is adapted to several purposes of the clothing trade ; 
 and the greater part of it is sent into Yorkshire • 
 the residuebeingeinployed in domestic manufactures. t 
 
 In 
 

 307 
 
 In tbe northern part of Staffordshire commences 
 that mountainous district, wild and unproductive, 
 which we shall have occasion to trace in our progress 
 even to the borders of Scotland. The southern 
 portion is fertile and pleasant, but in some places 
 betrays symptoms of its neighbourhood to more 
 elevated and barren pastures. Upon the wide com- 
 mons which abound there, and which seem from a 
 distance to be composed of light and dry soils, a 
 few sheep are seen, but they are poor and diminutive 
 animals. Several varieties of this class abound 
 in the county, and afford fleeces as dissimilar from 
 each other as though they had been produced upon 
 far distant pastures. Besides the Dishley breed 
 of sheep, which has been noticed before, we find 
 in the south-eastern parts polled ones, with 
 white faces and legs. Upon the Moorlands is a race 
 which appears to have subsisted there for several 
 ages, and to have undergone but little alteration. 
 In the pastures least adapted to this kind of stock, 
 the breed is far from being pure, some individuals 
 having horns, and others being destitute of them ; 
 while many show by the dark hue of their faces 
 and legs an alliance to one family, other flocks 
 betray a mixture of blood by their grey or spotted 
 visage. Indeed this variety might be expected, 
 for many of the flocks are only annual, and being 
 purchased from the more healthy walks of the 
 county, or from some neighbouring district, carry 
 with them the visible and unambiguous testimony 
 of their native pastures. On the heaths in the 
 South of the county is a grey faced sheep without 
 horns, bearing fine wool, and greatly resembling 
 the Sussex breed ; perhaps it was originally derived : 
 C c 3 from 
 
308 
 
 from Shropshire ; its produce of wool weighs 
 about two pounds. Upon the western commons 
 is a black faced, horned breed, yielding also fine 
 wool. But upon the eastern Moorlands, the sheep 
 have white faces, no horns, and wool rather 
 long ; a few individuals also may be observed from 
 the race of Dorset and of the Cotteswold hills. 
 The sheep of Shropshire reared here are said 
 to yield more wool than upon their native hills ; 
 and the general produce of the county, so far at 
 least as it comprises only small fleeces, is weighed by 
 the stone of fifteen pounds, or of fourteen. The 
 influence of the Yorkshire market embraces the 
 whole of this district, and extends far beyond it. 
 Farms here very frequently have a common right 
 annexed to them, which being neglected in the 
 statement of the acres, and stock of sheep, 
 creates some difficulty in calculating the produce 
 of the county, and renders those who attempt 
 it peculiarly liable to error. Twenty one sheep, 
 it seems from the best accounts I have met with, 
 occupy a hundred and fifty acres. The general 
 average of the county has been stated at three 
 sheep to ten acres of land, and from thence in 
 different proportions up to half a sheep per acre 
 without a common right, and with it u at a great 
 deal more.” But as I have no means of ascertain- 
 ing the proportionate extent of the appropriated 
 land and that which lies in common, we must es- 
 timate the stock of the district at the rate which has 
 been mentioned by others, concluding that five hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand acres, furnish food for more 
 than an hundred and eighty three thousand sheep, and 
 enable them to produce fifteen hundred and twenty 
 
 packs, 
 
30$ 
 
 packs, for each fleece is estimated at two pounds. This 
 small quantity of wool produced upon so large a space 
 of land, may perhaps surprise some who have been 
 accustomed to contemplate the more numerous flocks 
 of the southern districts ; but in our progress through 
 the mountainous regions both of England and Scot- 
 land we shall have frequent occasion to remark that, 
 though often appropriated almost entirely to sheep, 
 the number which feeds there is comparatively small. 
 Soils of a middle quality are generally best stocked 
 with sheep, and yield the most valuable fleeces. 
 
 Perhaps we shall not have a better opportunity, than 
 from this point, of returning to collect the quantities 
 of short wool which are produced in the counties of 
 Warwick, Leicester, and Lincoln. In Warwickshire 
 this sort of wool is produced toward the North and 
 West, a country containing a considerable proportion 
 of wood, and some extensive commons ; but the stock 
 of sheep is in general light ; some of the land is not 
 adapted to them in the winter season ; and though a 
 larger number is summered, and of course shorn 
 there, yet the produce of wool does not appear to be 
 very heavy. We have no general account of the stock, 
 that I know of, nor any particulars of farms selected 
 from this part of the county ; sheep we are assured 
 are few, and their fleeces weigh about three pounds. 
 It is not probable therefore, that three hundred and 
 sixty six thousand acres, under these circumstances, 
 will support more than one hundred and eighty three 
 thousand sheep, or yield above two thousand three 
 hundred packs of wool. 
 
 Upon the forest land of Leicestershire a quantity 
 of short wool is produced, but no particulars are given 
 of the farms. This past of the county is high, naked, 
 
 and 
 
310 
 
 and comparatively barren, resembling the Heath of 
 Ancaster in thecounty of Lincoln. If we may judge 
 of the stock of one place by the account which is given 
 of the other, we should estimate it at two sheep up- 
 on five acres, taking the average fleece at about three 
 pounds and a half. Fifty thousand acres have been 
 mentioned as the extent of Charnwood Forest and 
 the Wolds, in Leicestershire, and we take this 
 as a neat quantity, because in these parts of the 
 county there are no towns, but few roads, or woods, 
 or streams. The stock therefore consists of twenty 
 thousand sheep, and produces two hundred and nine- 
 ty packs of fleeces; and though this quantity be of 
 small importance to the manufactures of the king- 
 dom, as the calculation rests upon a very slight 
 basis, I was glad to find that it corresponded with 
 the opinion of a gentleman who is acquainted both | 
 with the pasture and the produce of this range of < 
 hills. The fleeces, in the county where they are 
 grown, are called fine ones, but we must not on this 
 account think that they resemble the valuable pile of 
 many other districts. 
 
 The short wool of Lincolnshire which is pro- 
 duced upon its elevated pastures, is generally 
 about four inches long, coarse, thin of hair, tender, 
 and sometimes the staples grow detached from each 
 other; the colour is not always good, and in some 
 instances a quantity of dirt is concealed by the cus- 
 tom of winding fleeces with the leech outwards, which 
 prevails in some part of the district. These dryer 
 parts of Lincolnshire, comprising the Wolds together 
 with the Heaths of Lincoln and Ancaster, contain 
 about three hundred and nine thousand calculable 
 acres, which support somewhat more than one hun- 
 dred 
 
311 
 
 ! dred and twenty three thousand six hundred sheep, 
 
 | and furnish to their proprietors more than two thou- 
 I sand eight hundred packs of wool. Had not this 
 tract of land been surrounded by pastures capable 
 of affording nourishment to the largest and most 
 | sluggish kind of sheep, it is probable that its flocks 
 ' would have consisted of much smaller animals ; that 
 I their wool would have been light and more valuable, 
 j: Since also both the soil and the climate are adapted 
 to sheep of the most attenuated coat, the wool-grower 
 | should enquire whether it would not consist more 
 with his interest to cultivate a perfect staple, rather 
 than that now obtained from his farm, and which 
 
 I generally betrays a great want of nourishment. 
 The stock here is estimated at two sheep upon five 
 acres, and the weight of the fleece at five pounds 
 ! and a half, 
 
 Nottinghamshire, on account of the general dry- 
 ness of its soil and its climate, is very suitable to the 
 constitution of wool-bearing animals. The extensive 
 ! tract of sand on the West of the Trent, the expanded 
 meadows of that broad and rapid river with the easy 
 slopes which bound them, the fertile Vale of Belvoir, 
 and the strong clays distinguished by the appellations 
 of North and South, form the principal features of 
 the county. On the first of these geographical divi- 
 sions we observe a small breed of sheep with black 
 hair both upon its face and legs, a horned animal ; 
 perhaps a cultivated branch of that family which 
 spreads itself so generally over the northern moun- 
 tains, or the remnant of a race now almost extinct and 
 similar to those breeds which we noticed in the counties 
 of Salop and of Stafford. It produces about two pounds 
 of short and fine wool, well adapted to the clothiers* 
 
 use. 
 
3 12 
 
 use. The inclosures on the western side of the river 
 contain a heavier kind of stock, which yields a lon- 
 ger staple and is evidently a mongrel breed produced 
 by the combination of the forest race with the blood 
 of the larger kinds of sheep which surround it. The 
 fleece obtained from it is of a medium fineness, 
 of a good colour, soft and clean. The wool from 
 a single sheep is generally about four pounds, and 
 its qualities are usually admired in the fabrication of 
 woollen cloth. From the meadows of the Trent, 
 and the borders of the county near to Leicestershire, 
 wool of an heavier kind is obtained, for the flocks 
 being generally affected by the Dishley blood, the 
 fleeces which they produce weigh nearly seven 
 pounds. The stock of the county, according to the 
 most correct general average which I have been able 
 to procure, is less numerous than might have been 
 supposed. It amounts only to twenty seven sheep 
 upon the extent of forty six acres; and the quantity 
 of productive land is almost four hundred thirty five 
 thousand seven hundred. If we estimate that the 
 forest breed occupies about one hundred forty five 
 thousand two hundred acres, the mixed race two 
 hundred seventeen thousand eight hundred, and that 
 the remainder of the county is grazed by the Trent 
 side and Dishley sheep, then of the first kind of wool 
 there are seven hundred and nine packs, of the 
 second sort two thousand one hundred and twenty, 
 and of the third twelve hundred and seventy ; the 
 ■whole number of sheep being nearly two hundred 
 fifty five thousand two hundred. Perhaps the pro- 
 portions of the different kinds of wool may not be 
 perfectly accurate ; the intelligent reader will per- 
 ceive that precision in this case was not to be expect- 
 ed ; 
 
313 
 
 ed ; but I trust that he will not find the total quantity 
 very erroneous. Part of the wool produced in Not- 
 tinghamshire is wrought at home, but by far the 
 [larger portion of it is sent into Yorkshire; and we 
 are sorry to notice that, upon soils as weli adapted 
 to the growth of fine wool as any in the kingdom, a 
 disposition prevails among the breeders of sheep for 
 the culture of an heavier fleece. The system of sheep- 
 farming, in almost every district of the kingdom, is 
 greatly affected by the neighbourhood in which it 
 is placed. The situation of Dishley, and the 
 success of Bakewell in producing a valuable breed of 
 Jong-wooled sheep, have diffused a taste for heavier 
 fleeces through the whole central part of England; 
 
 I and it is indulged almost without discrimination of 
 j soils, climature, or even the qualities of the native 
 stock. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that every attempt 
 i to improve the short wool has originated in mari- 
 I time counties, where we may justly suppose that 
 the influence of example is least perceptible, and 
 I where wool growers have depended more upon their 
 own genius than upon the opinion^ of their neigh- 
 bours. The culture of the middle kirids of wool upon 
 thin soils cannot ultimately benefit the farmer; for it 
 requires but little sagacity to foresee that fleeces of 
 this description will shortly be produced in more than 
 sufficient abundance ; that they will have to endure 
 the rivalship of the improving pile of Scotland, of that 
 which can be obtained from Ireland in considerable 
 quantities, and from foreign countries to almost an 
 i unlimited extent. But on the contrary, the stapler, 
 the manufacturer, and the merchant, find it diffi- 
 cult to procure a sufficient supply of the prime arti- 
 cles in the different branches to which they attend. 
 
 Notting- 
 
314 
 
 Nottinghamshire also, it must be observed, is most 
 admirably situated for the production of every kind 
 of wool in its perfect state; its soils in different parts are 
 suitable to each description of fleeces; it is connected 
 on one side with the seat of the woollen manufacture, 
 on the other with that of the worsted-hose trade ; it 
 contains within itself a manufacture of the longest 
 staples ; and possesses an easy communication both 
 by land and water with every market. 
 
 Derbyshire introduces us to a new district of short 
 wool, which extends from the High Peak to the banks 
 of the Tweed, and from the Moorlands of Yorkshire 
 to the Irish sea. It is occupied by a race of small 
 sheep with black faces and legs, with horns some- 
 what large. Its fleeces are remarkably loose, shaggy, 
 and coarse ; the breech of them is very hairy and 
 long; the staple is tender and ill grown, or it would 
 be adapted to the comb. This breed has a hardy 
 constitution, active temper, bold eye, and is well 
 adapted to the pastures which it occupies. Perhaps 
 no species of sheep is more neglected, not even 
 that of the Cornish mountains. Yet in some parts 
 of the district attempts have been made to im- 
 prove it, and their effects will be pointed out as we 
 proceed. 
 
 The South of Derbyshire, and its eastern bor- 
 der are rich and well cultivated tracts ; the North 
 is distinguished by those mountain scenes which 
 have been visited for purposes of health or curiosity, 
 and so often described as to be generally known. The 
 two portions of the county adopt different systems of 
 sheep-farming, and each maintains its peculiar kind 
 of stock, resembling, in both instances, that of the 
 adjoining districts. It is not possible to ascertain with 
 
 any 
 
335 
 
 any precision the number of sheep supported upon 
 the mountainous parts ; because the extensive com- 
 mons, which abound there, enable the cultivated 
 land to make a return of this kind of stock more 
 numerous than it really supports. From the few 
 accounts which I have met with of its farms, the 
 average stock amounts to nearly twenty one sheep 
 upon nineteen acres ; but this is subject to a large 
 deduction, for the moors here cannot be supposed to 
 maintain a heavier stock than the same kind of land 
 does in other parts of the district, where we are 
 assured it does not exceed a sheep upon ten acres. 
 Correcting the statement therefore by this general 
 information, we conclude that three hundred and 
 sixty two thousand four hundred sheep occupy 
 a pasture which comprises almost five hundred fifty 
 three thousand three hundred acres, exclusive of those 
 allowed for roads, wood, water, and buildings. The 
 fleece also, estimated upon an average of three pounds, 
 gives a result of four thousand five hundred and 
 thirty packs. The wool ot Derbyshire cannot 
 boast of a superior colour, most of the fleeces have 
 a blueish cast ; the pile is soft, silky and flexible ; 
 it felts well, but is grown rather too long, is imper- 
 fectly washed, and sent to market in a dirty state. 
 That market is Yorkshire. 
 
 Sheep are bv no means the favorite stock among 
 graziers in Cheshire; the few which are observed 
 there, are procured from Wales, or some of the 
 numerous counties which border upon this. The 
 high grounds of the eastern side, and Delamere 
 forest, support a larger stock than the other pas- 
 tures. The sheep have black or brown faces and 
 legs, are small and produce short and fine wool. 
 
 D d The 
 
316 
 
 The fleeces of the county in general vary in their 
 weight from one pound and a half, to four and an half. 
 Probably the commons, heaths, and wastes of Che- 
 shire, may support about fifteen thousand sheep, 
 and produce ninety three packs of wool; the other 
 parts, more cultivated, may be stocked by about 
 fifty thousand, or nearly twelve sheep upon one 
 hundred and sixty seven acres, which, yielding about 
 four pounds of wool each, supply the manufacture 
 with eight hundred and thirty packs. But it is 
 evident, that these flocks are not sufficiently nu- 
 merous to furnish the necessary supply of mutton 
 to the inhabitants of the country; and that a num- 
 ber of fat sheep, brought in from other quarters 
 for the purpose of slaughter, must cause the skin- 
 wool to bear a larger porportion to the fleeces, than 
 is usual in most other parts of England. 
 
 Lancashire also is very deficient in its stock of 
 sheep ; owing, says Mr. Holt, “ to the number of 
 dogs which are kept ; to the badness of the fences ; 
 and to the want of information among the far- 
 mers, who are acquainted with no other kinds than 
 the Welsh and the Scotch.” By this latter de- 
 scription, he probably means the mountain sheep, 
 so generally spread through the northern part of 
 England, and which resembling one of the favourite 
 breeds of Scotland, may be supposed to have been 
 procured from thence. Some flocks however are 
 kept upon the mountains in a very poor and neg- 
 lected condition, and others are found upon the low 
 and fertile pastures of the West ; but from the South 
 of the county, as from part of Yorkshire, Middlesex, 
 Kent, and Surry , they are almost banished by the excess 
 
S 1 7 
 
 of population ; none being found there but those 
 ■which are fit for the butcher. Between Lancaster 
 and Kendal], we meet with the Silver- Dale breed of 
 sheep, highly esteemed for its excellent qualities 
 and its fleece. The staple produced by it seems 
 to be long, white, and heavy. A rocky limestone 
 is the pasture on which it feeds, and the limits of its 
 range appear to be narrow. The breed is horned, 
 and has a white face and legs. 
 
 In the northern counties it is peculiarly difficult 
 to ascertain the number of sheep. Even in Lan- 
 cashire, although assisted by a View of the Agricul- 
 ture of the county, and by a Report made to the 
 Lord Lieutenant, in August 1803, which ought to 
 be correct, it is almost impossible to reconcile the 
 accounts with each other, or with the general cir- 
 cumstances of the district. It is universally allowed, 
 that the stock of sheep is small and ill attended; 
 and yet we are told, that c£ upon the high commons 
 there are not more than four or five per acre, but 
 that some inclosed land •will fatten seven or eight.” 
 It is not indeed asserted, that this number is actually 
 kept upon all the lands of the county, or that it 
 may be taken as the average stock ; but it seems to 
 indicate a number of sheep so large as to be totally 
 inconsistent with every other account. On the con- 
 trary, the return of stock made by the order of govern- 
 ment, in 1803, includes no more than eighty thou- 
 sand nine hundred and seventy sheep. Such state- 
 ments as this, when made in national exigences, are a 
 disgrace to the persons who draw them up, and 
 are better calculated to mislead than to inform. 
 From the best accounts which I have seen, the stock 
 may be estimated at nearly one sheep upon three 
 D d 2 acres, 
 
318 
 
 acres, and the average fleece at three pounds and 
 a half ; so that three hundred and ten thousand 
 sheep are sustained upon nine hundred and fifty 
 two thousand acres, which, according to the pre- 
 scribed rule, we take as the extent of the county, 
 and the whole quantity of wool which they yield is 
 four thousand five hundred and twenty packs. 
 This is wrought in the manufactures of the coun- 
 ty, and in those of Yorkshire. It is very dirty, 
 coarse, and kempy ; the greater part of it pos- 
 sesses all the bad properties of that kind, which is 
 produced by the neglected mountain sheep. In 
 some parts the lambs are shorn ; and most of the 
 full-grown sheep, at the close of autumn, are 
 smeared with a quantity of tar mingled with 
 grease. One custom, which prevails here, is well 
 worthy the attention of shepherds in general, since 
 it not only saves a great proportion of wool, but 
 in many cases renders the fleece more valuable. 
 Instead of the common pitch-brand a permanent 
 mark is fixed upon the ear of the sheep ; and though 
 the wool-growers of this district are usually re- 
 presented as being careless both of their stock 
 and their fleeces, they assign for their conduct 
 this very judicious reason, “ we observe that the 
 common mode of branding spoils the wool.” The 
 fleeces are weighed here by the stone ; but it va- 
 ries from sixteen pounds to fourteen, and even to 
 twelve an a half. 
 
 The extent of Yorkshire creates some confusion 
 in the accounts of its rural concerns; to avoid this 
 as much as possible, we will describe separately the 
 wool of the three Ridings, into which the county 
 is divided. 
 
 Tha 
 
319 
 
 The southern and eastern parts of the West- 
 Riding contain a large quantity of good land, 
 much of it a strong loam, some light and sandy 
 tracts, but no chalk, nor any other soil injurious to 
 the staple. The other part consists of a long range 
 of lofty hills, on which the soil is commonly thin 
 and sandy, or wet and peaty ; but these eminences 
 are intersected by narrow valleys, whose pastures 
 may be compared with some of the richest in the 
 kingdom. On the low lands of this district we 
 meet with several varieties of sheep ; a horned 
 race, which bears evident marks of having derived 
 its origin from the mountain breed, but improved 
 by crossing it with another family, without horns 
 and having white faces ; a second sort, in which may 
 he traced evident symptoms of the Dishley blood, 
 mingled with the native stock ; a third, in which 
 the features of the Cheviot race are discernible; 
 and some betraying no ambiguity in their charac- 
 teristic marks, but derived from the genuine 
 stock of Northumberland, Lincoln, and Leicester. 
 In these more fertile parts of the Riding, the stock 
 amounts to about four sheep on seven acres ; and 
 perhaps the average fleece may reach four pounds 
 and a half. The wool of this part of Yorkshire 
 is very various, some of it is a great deal longer, 
 harder, or more elastic than the rest; hut little of 
 it is fine, or so clean as it might be made; and the 
 ultimate market for it is almost at home. 
 
 Upon the hills of this Riding, the sheep are of the 
 'mountain breed, similar to that which was described* 
 when speaking of Derbyshire, hut upon the moors 
 of Penistone it assumes softened features, and ex- 
 hibits strong proofs of cultivation* The animal 
 D d 3 there 
 
320 
 
 there is smaller than the breed generally re, has a 
 spotted face and legs, bearing also a finer stapled 
 fleece. The attention now paid to it upon these ele- 
 vated pastures promises to improve it still farther, 
 and with pleasure we observe that prizes have been 
 gained by stock, which was reared upon the moun- 
 tains. Indeed attention to sheep is a most natural em- 
 ployment in Yorkshire ; for there is the seat of the most 
 extensive and important woollen manufacture in the 
 United Kingdoms. Yetfrom the actual state of its native 
 docks, and of those in the neighbouring counties, some 
 persons may be induced to ask whether, in a preced- 
 ing section, too much influence was not attributed to 
 manufactures in the improvement of w r ool ; and 
 how it comes to pass that fleeces in the West Riding 
 of Yorkshire, are found in a much worse state than 
 in most other parts of the country ? We reply, that 
 this is naturally a very poor district ; that its farmers, 
 most of whom are also manufacturers, occupy only 
 small quantities of land, to which is generally an- 
 nexed an extensive right of common, the perpetual 
 bane of agricultural improvement; that a spirit of spe- 
 culation has but lately been excited among wool- i 
 growers ; and that the manufacture for several cen- 
 turies demanded only the coarser kinds of wool. When 
 thefabrication of finer cloths was introduced, supplies 
 of the raw material were obtained from a distance ; 
 and the demand for coarse wool continuing in full 
 force, conspired with the general temper of the 
 shepherds of those times to leave the flocks in this 
 part of the country unaltered.. 
 
 Towards the southern point of the hilly district 
 sheep are numerous, but proceeding northward 
 from Penistone, all the cultivated land is for a 
 
 can- 
 
321 
 
 considerable distance occupied by manufacturers, 
 and the population is too great to admit of a large 
 production of wool. On the uncultivated tracts 
 sheep are found, but they are poor rough ani- 
 mals ; a few years ago they were almost univer- 
 sally of the mountain breed in its worst shape, 
 but more attention is now paid both to the carcase 
 and the fleece ; or rather the sheep being purchased 
 from other parts of the country, and not bred upon 
 the commons which they graze, their proprietor 
 found a better stock than usual at market, and was 
 thusconstrained to introduce it. The few sheep, which 
 are found upon the best soils in the neighbourhood 
 of large towns, are of very different descriptions, 
 being generally brought from a distance already fat- 
 tened and waiting only for slaughter. There are 
 however some exceptions to this, a few breeding 
 flocks are kept, and one in the neighbourhood ot 
 Leeds deserves attention. About three years since, 
 a gentleman well known as a woolstapler, brought 
 from the county of Norfolk a flock of polled and 
 grey-faced sheep. He placed them upon rich graz- 
 ing land, a very different pasture from their native 
 heaths, and attended them with no greater care than 
 he would have done the inferior native animals of the 
 bounty. They have been shorn twice, and I am 
 assured by Mr. Motley, the proprietor, whose know- 
 ledge of wool no person will venture to dispute, that 
 their fleeces the first year were as excellent as they 
 could possibly have been if the flock had not chang- 
 ed its pasture ; and that this year (1805) their wool 
 is by no means degenerated, but if any alteration has 
 taken place, it is rather improved. The animals are 
 quiet in their pasture, appear healthy, feed kindly, 
 and are prolific* I mention these particulars because 
 
 they 
 
they show that neither the climate nor the richest 
 pastures of this part of England are unsuitable to the 
 production of the finest fleeces. The breed from 
 which these sheep are selected, it is well known 
 ranks high as any for lightness of bone, quantity of 
 mutton, and the delicacy of its flavour; for close 
 feeding and a hardy constitution. Yet the lambs s 
 which it produces, esteemed by the butcher, are 1 
 every year, in several parts of the kingdom, consigned 1 
 in numbers to the knife. If it be of any importance j 
 
 to improve the fleeces of our country, and to mend 1 
 
 thestock, every lamb possessing any superior quality, J 
 which is thus wantonly slaughtered, is a public loss. 
 
 Beyond the overwhelming influence of population c 
 sheep again appear, but have not received the same £ 
 degree of improvement on the northern as upon the 1 
 southern moors. In the country about Settle however 
 we find a rather large sheep, with white face and legs, 
 and which produces fine wool. It has been compared 
 by some to the Dorset race ; but it is not probable, 
 that a few isolated flocks should have derived their 
 origin from such distant pastures, and have been pre- 
 served with unremitting care,inso wild acountry, from 
 the contamination of the basersort. They are most pro- 
 bably a branch of some white faced breed in the neigh- 
 bourhood, or the remains of an ancient stock. Among 
 the mountains of Scotland we shall frequently liaveoc- 
 ; casion to remark similar instances, where the old breed 
 is not entirely expelled by the prevalence of a more 
 modern and fashionable race. When all the circum- 
 stances which attend the mode of farming, the exist- 
 ence of manufactures and extreme population, the 
 pasture and the climate, are considered, we cannot 
 estimate the stock of this part of the Riding at more 
 
 than 
 
323 
 
 than one sheep to eight acres of land. The average 
 fleece is about three pounds and a half. We conclude 
 therefore that the produce of the whole Riding stands 
 thus, nearly five thousand packs of wool are obtained 
 from two hundred sixty one thousand seven hundred 
 ji sheep, and from four hundred fifty eight thousand pro- 
 ; ductive acres ; and also, seventeen hundred and 
 1 seventy packs are afforded by one hundred twenty one 
 I thousand four hundred sheep, which feed upon nine 
 i hundred seventy one thousand two hundred and fifty 
 acres. A large proportion of the wool is very dirty; some 
 fleeces are sold in the unwashed state ; and the whole 
 ! of them are weighed by the stone, but it consists in 
 j some places of fourteen pounds, in others of fifteen, 
 of sixteen, and even of seventeen. It is scarcely ne- 
 ! cessary to observe, that all the wool produced here is 
 ! wrought at home. 
 
 The features of the East Riding differ much from 
 i those of the West. In the long-wool district of Lin- 
 colnshire the produce of Holderness was noticed ; 
 
 ! the other part of the Riding consists chiefly of 
 | the Wolds of York, and the level tract vvhicb extends 
 from the foot of them westward. These Wolds, as 
 ] the name commonly indicates, form an elevated 
 tract of land destitute of wood, and affording fit pas- 
 [ ture for sheep. Here we meet with extensive plains, 
 and the hills are intersected with deep valleys. 
 Throughout the whole of that part of the Riding 
 which produces short wool, the soil is mostly of a 
 gravelly or sandy kind; for even the chalk which 
 forms the basis of the hills is generally covered suffi- 
 ciently to prevent any pernicious influence upon the 
 fleece. Sometimes the cretous substance rises to the 
 surface, and must then produce its peculiar effect 
 
 upon 
 
324 
 
 up^r the staple. The number of sheep in this part of 
 the district is large, amounting, according to the ac- 
 counts of farms, \ o thirty three upon forty nine acres; 
 and each of then* fleeces weighs nearly five pounds. 
 In general the wool, though long, is not fit for the 
 comb, and that grown upon the Wolds is sometimes 
 white without the clear lusture which betokens an 
 healthy state; its staples are often detached, or single, 
 and its pile is straight and elastic. From four hun- 
 dred and fifty four thousand seven hundred acres, 
 the quantity of wool is nearly six thousand four hun- 
 dred packs. The sheep, which yield it, are three 
 b and red and six thousand two hundred and forty. 
 Peri ps this number is estimated rather too high, as 
 about York the stock sometimes amounts to no more 
 than one sheep upon nine acres, and it it noteasy to as- 
 certain how far the system of farming prevails, which 
 reduces the average so greatl}'. This also is a district 
 well calculated for the production of fine wool. It 
 resembles the Downs of Sussex in general appear- 
 ance, soil, elevation, and exposure to the neighbour- 
 ing sea; and when compared, in reference to its sheep, 
 with the Cotteswold hills, those of Wiltshire and of 
 Sussex, it shows how much in the culture of wool 
 depends upon the breed of the stock, and how little 
 upon the nature of the pasture. 
 
 The North Riding of this county contains two 
 distinct clusters of mountains, separated from each 
 other by the Yale of York, a rich and highly cultivat- 
 ed tract, and in almost every part of it the soil is suited 
 to the properties of a good fleece. The Eastern 
 Moorlands, a bleak and barren country, contain some 
 contracted vales, in which the climate is favourable 
 to agriculture ; but upon the hills are tracts incumber- 
 
325 
 
 ed with large flat stones, or rendered impassable by the 
 deep and dangerous morass. Sheep here are usually 
 small, have black faces and legs, or, when mingled 
 with the lowland breeds, spotted ones, and in otherre- 
 spects the}* bear the distinguishing features of that race 
 which inhabitsmost of the northern hills. Their fleeces 
 are open, loose, and coarse, especially that partofthem 
 which was produced upon the buttocks of the animal, 
 and the pile is frequently mingled with brown or 
 grey hair. The average stock is stated at one sheep 
 to ten acres ; the fleece varies from three to four 
 pounds; the quantity of wool produced is almost six 
 hundred packs ; and the extent of land amounts to 
 two hundred ninety eight thousand six hundred acres. 
 We deduct nothing here, because the region is almost 
 destitute of wood, roads, streams and buildings. 
 
 The Western Moorlands form a part of that range 
 of mountains, which was first noticed in Stafford- 
 1 shire. Here however the soil is more than usually 
 productive, for the hills are composed of limestone. 
 I Their surface produces a short and sweet grass, and 
 affords good pasturage to sheep. Some of the Dales, 
 which proceed far among the mountains, are exceed- 
 ingly fruitful. They are the seat of a worsted manu- 
 facture, of good husbandry, and the pasture of an 
 improved race of sheep ; one which has horns, white 
 faces and legs, and bears a valuable coat. Upon the 
 j hills the mountain breed is almost the only kind ; 
 but it possesses a few distinguishing marks, the 
 most remarkable being a black spot upon the neck. 
 The fleece is loose, drv, and coarse. Although the 
 flocks are said to be numerous in this part of the Ri- 
 ding, it is not probable that the average stock will 
 amount, to more than a sheep upon five acres. 
 
 We 
 
326 
 
 We adopt the measurement of Mr. Tuke, and 
 estimate the land at almost three hundred and seven- 
 teen thousand acres, deducting from it the usual 
 eighth. Since the average fleece is about three 
 pounds, the result is fifty five thousand four hundred 
 sheep, and almost seven hundred packs of wool. 
 
 Between these two rough and boisterous districts 
 lies the Vale of York, a tract remarkable for its fer- 
 tility. Here the sheep, particularly those which 
 graze to the West of the Swale, are greatly improv- 
 ed by the combination of the Tees water, the Nor- 
 thumberland and the Leicestershire breeds. From the 
 best judgment I can form of the stock, we may take 
 the number of sheep at one to two acres. They 
 amount to two hundred and eighty thousand ; the 
 average fleece to six pounds ; and the total weight of 
 wool to four thousand six hundred and sixty packs. 
 
 But upon these points there are few districts in 
 which it is so difficult to obtain satisfaction. When 
 great pains have been taken to render the statements 
 correct, they sometimes remain dubious, because the 
 data from which they are deduced, are too general. 
 Upon the whole, sheep in almost every part of York- 
 shire are more attended to than formerly, they possess 
 a better form, and produce a more valuable fleece. 
 The custom of smearing them greatly prevails, and 
 is often not only managed with dexterity, but adopt- 
 ed with considerable effect. The enterprizing far- 
 mer who shall introduce a breed, which supplies its 
 fleece with a larger quantity of volk, will probably 
 find no occasion for the dirty mixture. In the North 
 Riding the growers of short wool seek their market 
 for it in the West ; but the weight they make use of 
 
 ii 
 
32 7 
 
 in ascertaining the quantity, is singularly irregular. 
 ’Tis always called a stone; but it is quoted in five 
 different forms, viz. sixteen pounds four ounces, 
 sixteen pounds twelve ounces, seventeen pounds and 
 a half, eighteen, and nineteen pounds. Of this 
 differencein the standard weight of wool, the growers 
 sometimes complain, but have not either resolution 
 or unanimity enough to correct it. 
 
 In Westmoreland the breed of sheep is of the 
 mountain kind. Upon the more elevated farms it 
 has long remained unaltered, but the flocks of the 
 lower parts of the county have been crossed with the 
 Leicester and the Lincoln varieties ; perhaps more 
 frequently with the mingled race which prevails in 
 the Vale of York. The quantity of low land con- 
 tained in the county, and which lies chiefly in the 
 northern and central parts, but intersected by exten- 
 sive commons, may be about one hundred and eighty 
 thousand acres. The western side is very moun- 
 tainous and rocky, but the verdure, which generally 
 covers it, shows that even this pasture is well adapted 
 to sheep; and the narrow vales are sometimes rich, 
 to luxuriance. The statements of stock, which have 
 been given, are so extravagant as to convince those, 
 who have only the slightest notions of agriculture, 
 that a very extensive common right is annexed to 
 the farms, but not included in the measure of them. 
 This circumstance renders it necessary, that we 
 should calculate the number of sheep only from ge- 
 neral facts ; and the similarity of this county to 
 Cumberland, both in its furface and mode of farm- 
 ing, induces me to take the stock at the same rate in 
 both districts. Farms therefore, upon the lowlands, 
 and without the aid of commons, are supposed to 
 E e maintain 
 
328 
 
 maintain about half a sheep per acre, but upon the 
 mountains not more than half that proportion. Four 
 hundred thirty one thousand two hundred acres 
 then, are stocked with two hundred twenty three 
 thousand seven hundred sheep, which afford three 
 thousand two hundred and sixty packs of fleeces, at 
 three pounds and a half to each. The wool from 
 the mountain sheep is as usual coarse and hairy, 
 lior can that which is obtained from the mixed breeds 
 boast of very superior qualities ; the produce of the 
 Silverdale seems to be the best. Here the sheep are 
 smeared very heavily ; a gallon of tar, and sixteen 
 pounds of grease being applied to thirty five sheep. 
 The pile is wrought chiefly at home, but the surplus, 
 that which is not wanted by the manufacturers of 
 Kendall, is consumed in Yorkshire. 
 
 Cumberland is properly described as a moun- 
 tainous country, but in the southern part alone the 
 eminences rise above the line of useful cultivation. 
 Sheep are kept even upon the highest of them during 
 the summer months, but are driven in the winter to 
 better pastures. From this, and some other circum- 
 stances, mentioned concerning the system of sheep 
 farming adopted here, more attention seems to be 
 paid to the animal than we have observed in several 
 other parts of the kingdom where the surface is 
 equally rough, elevated in a high degree, and where 
 the mountains consist of any thing but limestone, 
 or chalk. Upon the highest pastures of Cumber- 
 land, the mountain breed is almost the only kind of 
 sheep to be found, while the lower lands are occu- 
 pied by a more favourite sort, distinguished by their 
 speckled faces, which denote that they have deduced 
 their origin from a mingled blood. The Herd wicks 
 
 also, 
 
329 
 
 also, occupying a tract of the mountains in the south- 
 ern point of the county, are a distinct breed, which 
 have spotted faces, but no horns, arid perhaps may 
 have contributed to alter the stock of the better 
 farms. These sheep seem to be the remnant of some 
 old family, which existed in Cumberland before the 
 breed of Scotland had diffused itself so far to the 
 southward. The Herdwicks still produce a superior 
 pile, free from those kemps which always debase the 
 fleece of the mountain sheep. When the stock of 
 the low land is estimated without common right, it 
 amounts to nineteen sheep upon forty acres, and we 
 cannot suppose that the climate of the Fells, their 
 herbage, or system of farming, is adapted to support 
 more than one half the number on an equal quantity 
 of land. Dr. Parry, indeed, has estimated that the 
 uncultivated part of Cumberland may sustain two 
 sheep upon every acre of ground; and his opinion is 
 supported by a conjecture of Messrs. Bailey and Gul- 
 ley, who sat 7 that the forest of Skiddaw produces about 
 threepence per acre, by keeping upon that extent of 
 ground a single sheep ; and that if the wastes were 
 improved, and laid down in grass, (( they might sup- 
 port one sheep per acre more than t hey do at present.” 1 
 I am not farmer enough to form an opinion upon 
 the effect of bringing such exposed land to a state 
 of cultivation ; yet I cannot help thinking that these 
 gentlemen greatly over- rate the present stock. I should 
 rather suppose, that in Cumberland there must be at 
 least two hundred thousand acres, w hich do not sup- 
 port more than fifty thousand sheep ; and if w e esti- 
 mate the stock in the remainder of the district at 
 nearly half a sheep per acre, it follows, that this 
 division of the kingdom, which contains almost eight 
 E e 2 hundred 
 
330 
 
 hundred and fifty seven thousand productive acres, 
 maintains three hundred seventy eight thousand four 
 hundred sheep. It produces about five thousand 
 nine hundred packs of wool; for the average fleece 
 weighs nearly three pounds and three quarters. 
 
 One third of the land included in the Bishopric 
 of Durham has been noticed before, in the Teeswater 
 District ; and though a proportion of the remainder 
 produces a staple above the common length of card- 
 ing wool, yet little of it, I believe, is wrought 
 upon the comb. The fleeces of this part of the king- 
 dom appear, in general, to have a good colour, and a 
 free open staple, not fine, but destitute of kemps. A 
 few small, ill-bred sheep have been observed upon 
 the commons, whose coats were thin and ragged. 
 They occupy the north-eastern part of the county, 
 but perhaps do not extend themselves over any con- 
 siderable space. To the East of the county town the 
 land is high, rises into lofty swells, and affords a 
 good pasturage for flocks. These open Downs are 
 not covered with ling or heath, as the mountains of 
 the West are, but furnish grass to their summits. 
 At a distance they appear as though the soil consisted 
 either of white limestone or chalk. Such pastures are 
 evidently suited to small sheep, but that part of the 
 English Appennines, which passes through the other 
 extremity of the county, is doubtless stocked with 
 the common heath sheep of the neighbourhood. In 
 Durham therefore we should expect to meet with 
 some variety among the fleeces. Those which I 
 have seen were chiefly in the hands of Felmongers, 
 and had been too generally collected from the lower 
 pastures, to enable me to form an opinion respecting 
 the produce of the bills. These fleeces bore evident 
 
 marks 
 
33 1 
 
 marks of cultivation, and the sheep had been derived 
 originally from the Teeswater breed, or perhaps 
 from that mingled with some smaller race. We are 
 not furnished with many accounts of the stock, but 
 those imperfect ones, which have been procured, 
 lead us to suppose that five sheep occupy thirteen 
 acres ; and the average fleece is nearly five pounds; 
 so that this portion of Durham yields three thousand 
 three hundred packs of wool, from one hundred and 
 fifty nine thousand four hundred sheep, and from four 
 hundred fourteen thousand four hundred acres. The 
 average fleece here, including the produce of the 
 whole county, has been estimated at seven pounds ; 
 so that one of five is probably smaller than the inferior 
 kind of land really produces. 
 
 Through the mountains of Northumberland we 
 still trace the rough and black-faced heath sheep, 
 producing the same sort of hairy coat as in other 
 places. But from the river Reed to the Cheviot 
 hill, a better race occupies the country. The green- 
 ness of the pastures, in this part of Northumberland, 
 has conspired with the spirit of agricultural enter- 
 prize, to introduce one of the most valuable varieties 
 of this useful animal. The Cheviot breed of sheep is 
 a polled one, and in general has white faces and legs. 
 The spots, which formerly appeared upon them more 
 commonly than they do at present, prove that the race 
 is not entirely destitute of Scottish blood. Most pro- 
 bably the flocks were gradually formed to their present 
 excellency by a selection from the old breed, which in- 
 habited the lower country, and by its combination 
 with the heath sheep. The staple of the Cheviot 
 fleece is short and valuable, its pile is remarkably 
 clear and soft. The existence of such a race, in the 
 Ec 3 immediate 
 
332 
 
 immediate neighbourhood of the worst flocks in the 
 kingdom, and upon mountains naturally moist and 
 stormy, is a noble triumph of agricultural skill. It 
 shows us what may done in the improvement of 
 British wool, even in situations the most unfavour- 
 able, and requires our attention to its remaining de- 
 fects. A large proportion of the pile in Northumber- 
 land is still coarse, and the whole of it will admit of 
 amelioration ; it may be rendered both finer and 
 ir/ore uniform. On the lower grounds we find also a 
 polled breed called Mugs, having white faces and 
 legs, but know not when it was introduced, nof 
 whence it came ; it seems to have borne some relation 
 to the Tees water breed, but is now greatly altered 
 by the influence of Dishley rams. The fleeces 
 produced by this kind of sheep weigh about seven 
 pounds ; and their staple, as is common where the 
 Bakewell blood prevails, measures from six to four- 
 teen inches. It bears some resemblance to the tvool 
 of Leicestershire, but is much softer, and better 
 adapted, in some other respects, to the fabrication of 
 woollen cloth than the pile from the midland coun- 
 ties. Indeed softness is the characteristic of the 
 Northumberland fleeces, and gives a silky texture to 
 cloth which is scarcely to be imitated by the use 
 of any other wool. In point of softness I believe 
 these fleeces stand unrivalled among the produce of 
 Britain, and the sheep which afford them are certain- 
 ly more valuable than the common race in the North 
 of England ; they would thrive as well upon many 
 other pastures as those of their native county. Here 
 the practice of laying the w T ool with a dirty mixture 
 of tar and butter w r as generally adopted ; but the 
 late attention to sheep farming, and the judicious ex- 
 periments 
 
333 
 
 periments which have been made in this angle of the 
 kingdom, have shown that smearing is not, as was 
 supposed, absolutely necessary either to the health of 
 the flock, or the good quality of its fleeces Among 
 farmers who reside in the lower situations, and who 
 keep flocks of the long-wooled sheep, the practice is 
 almost laid aside ; and many shepherds even upon the 
 hills have omitted it without detriment to the staple. 
 Among those who retain the custom, a gallon of tar 
 and twelve pounds of butter are expended upon 
 twenty four sheep; and the quantity remaining upon • 
 the fleece at the time of shearing is supposed to be 
 about three quarters of a pound. When this is stated 
 of the Cheviot sheep, whose fleece weighs about three 
 pounds, the value of the white wool is to that of the 
 smeared as five to four ; when applied to fleeces of 
 seven pound weight it is as ten to nine ; and both 
 these proportions agree very nearly with other ac- 
 counts given of the weight of these wools. The mode 
 however of washing even the white wool, in this 
 part of the country, is by no means compleat ; a large 
 quantity of yolk is always left in the fleece, and 
 some portion of dirt. It is desirable that wool should 
 be sent to market in a better state. It has been ob- 
 served that the ciimature of Northumberland affects 
 the fleece very considerably ; that in wet seasons it is 
 coarser than usual, and that in fine clear weather, 
 and long continued frosts, the pile becomes more 
 attenuated. 
 
 In estimating the stock of other divisions of the 
 kingdom, we have adhered to the extent given of them 
 in Carey’s Atlas ; but of this county his measures are 
 so palpably wrong as to induce us to take those of the 
 Board of Agriculture, which gives as the exact 
 
 quantity 
 
33 4 
 
 quantity of land, one million two hundred sixty seven 
 thousand and two hundred acres, from which, as usual, 
 we deduct one eighth. Upon the summits of moun- 
 tains the stock must be lighter than upon land better 
 adapted for the pasture of sheep, and on this account 
 some deduction must be made from the general stock 
 of the county. This is discovered to be about one 
 hundred and seventy nine sheep on two hundred and 
 seventy seven acres ; and if there be four hundred 
 and fifty thousand supporting only one sheep on 
 four acres, then we have for the produce of Nor- 
 thumberland twelve thousand three hundred and 
 thirty packs of wool. They are yielded by five hun- 
 dred thirty eight thousand sheep, whose average 
 fleece is estimated at five pounds and a half. The 
 greatest proportion of this wool is sent to Yorkshire; 
 a part of it to Aberdeen and other places in Scotland; 
 and the residue is wrought at home. Here the stone, 
 by which the fleeces are weighed, consists of twenty- 
 four English pounds. 
 
 In Wales the sheep are singularly small animals, 
 with horns, white faces and white legs. The family 
 to which they belong, must have inhabited these 
 mountains for many ages, and appears to have un- 
 dergone fewer alterations than most other breeds in 
 Britain. At present the flocks are in the most 
 neglected state imaginable ; for though their shep- 
 herds, perhaps their owners, sometimes attend them 
 to the mountains in the summer season, living in an- 
 cient simplicity, yet the sheep exhibit few symptoms 
 of attention, and almost the only care taken of them 
 is intended to counteract the roving temper, for 
 which this variety of the animal is remarkable. — 
 The fleece is composed of short staples, with a fine 
 
 pile, 
 
335 
 
 pile, but infested withkemps, or coarse hairs, beyond 
 almost any other kind of wool In a few instances 
 however the influence of soils and manufactures is 
 perceptible even in Wales. The wool of Anglesey 
 has in one or two cases been altered, I will not say 
 improved, by a ram from Leicestershire, but which, 
 besides a superior length of staple, communicated to 
 the hardy native flocks a troublesome and mortal dis- 
 order. The influence of the market at Welch Pool 
 is discernible through the flocks of Montgomery ; for 
 by it they are rendered more numerous, and their 
 fleeces more valuable ; and the rich woody tract of 
 Glamorgan can boast of a weighty fleece, procured 
 from sheep which claim affinity to the Cotteswoid 
 race. But sheep are not the favorite stock in 
 every part of the Principality ; their roving disposi- 
 tion often renders them unsuitable for small inclo- 
 sures, and the meanness of both their carcase and 
 their fleece induces the proprietors of land to expect 
 a larger profit from the Mona breed of cattle. Yet 
 those who have been accustomed to hear, that in 
 Wales sheep are numerous, to observe some of the 
 counties distinguished by their multitude of flocks, 
 will be surprised to find that five acres in North- 
 Wales, according to the best accounts, are employed 
 in the sustenance of a single sheep, but not exclusive- 
 ly of cattle. It must be observed, however, that 
 no return is made of the number of sheep kept in 
 Montgomeryshire, where they are most numerous, 
 and that the markets of Bala and Pool, united with the 
 consumption of wool for domestic purposes, require 
 s a larger stock. Making some allowance for these cir- 
 cumstances, according to the best information which 
 I can obtain this part of the country supports six 
 
 hundred 
 
33d 
 
 hundred eighty three thousand sheep ; produces al- 
 most five thousand seven hundred packs of wool ; and 
 contains two millions and thirty five thousand acres. 
 We have estimated the fieece at two pounds, because 
 that is the general weight of it in the counties of 
 Denbigh, Flint and Montgomery ; in Carnarvon and 
 Merioneth it is something less ; but in Anglesey 
 it reaches two pounds and a half. Wool is sold 
 by the stone of five pounds ; and the principal 
 marts for it are the fairs of Llanrwst and Bangor. 
 
 The same small breed of sheep, which occupies 
 the mountains of North W ales, extends itself through 
 the southern division of the country. In general they 
 are most numerous upon the hills; and the counties 
 of Radnor, Cardigan, and Pembroke are described as 
 supporting the largest stock. Glamorgan has some- 
 times been distinguished for the superiority of its 
 wool, but in Radnor the fleece is “ thick-haired, 
 filthy and sandy.” No particulars are given of the 
 farms, by which we can conjecture the number of 
 sheep maintained in the country, but it can scarcely 
 surpass five hundred and seventy one thousand. The 
 fleeces are reckoned at one pound and a half, and 
 give as their total weight three thousand five hundred 
 and seventy packs, which are the' produce of nearly 
 two millions two hundred and eighty five thousand 
 acres. W ool is weighed in the county of Cardigan by 
 the stone of twenty four pounds, in Carmarthenshire 
 by that of eighteen ; and the prices, which have been 
 sometimes mentioned as applying to fleeces produced 
 in different parts of South Wales, and also in Carnar- 
 vonshire do not vary more than two per cent. 
 
 Throughout the tv hole Principality, wool is 
 
 manu- 
 
337 
 
 manufactured in the houses of those who grow it, 
 and the consumption, for articles of dress and of furni- 
 tore, must be very considerable; especially in the 
 counties of Pembroke and Carmarthen, The people 
 of both sexes are clothed in woollens, and most 
 commonly wear a large quantity of them. In 
 the North, females are generally seen in felt hats 
 and large blue cloaks, those of the South are fond of 
 exhibiting the various coloured borders of two or 
 three petticoats ; wear upon their shoulders a square 
 piece of red cloth, and ride upon large pillow- 
 like saddles, stuffed with wool. The manufactures 
 also of Merioneth, Montgomery, and Brecknock, re- 
 quire a great supply, and derive it entirely from the 
 native fleeces. 
 
 In the Isle of Man the native sheep are small and 
 hardy, resembling those of Wales; when fat they 
 weigh from five to eight pounds per quarter ; pro- 
 duce a fleece of two pounds and a half ; and are 
 almost confined to the mountains. On the low 
 grounds the race is derived from a mixture of the 
 Scotch, the Irish, and the English breeds. It pro- 
 duces seven pounds of wool, from a carcase weighing 
 twelve or eighteen pounds per quarter. In some 
 secluded situations there is also the remnant of a 
 breed which is now become scarce, being totally ex- 
 tinct, I believe, in England, and nearly so in Scot- 
 land. In this island it is called Laughton, is com- 
 posed of small animals, and its colour is olive or that 
 of Spanish snuff. No returns being given of the stock 
 in this small portion of the British empire, we can- 
 not ascertain the number of sheep, nor the quantity 
 of wool ; yet it was deemed necessary to notice these 
 flocks to render the account of English fleeces 
 complete. 
 
SECTION V 
 
 Concluding Remarks. 
 
 j^^.FTER having read the preceding pages, few per- 
 sons will think that we rated too low the average 
 stock of sheep upon an acre in the short wool districts 
 of England. In general it has been stated at the full 
 quantity which the data of our calculation would ad- 
 mit of, and the result stands thus ; two hundred and 
 two thousand six hundred and thirt\ T packs ofHeeces, 
 are procured from the backs of fourteen millions eight 
 hundred fifty four thousand three hundred sheep, and 
 from twenty eight millions four hundred and twelve 
 thousand acres of land. But as the foregoing state- 
 ments have not always been numerically correct, a ta- 
 ble is subjoined, which shows at one view the produce 
 of the counties arranged according to their respective 
 districts ; the number of acres in each, which are sup- 
 posed to contribute toward the production of wool; 
 the average quantity of stock, according to the best 
 account which could be obtained ; the number of 
 sheep, deduced from these premises ; and the average 
 
 weight 
 
339 
 
 Weight of their fleeces. At the bottom are annexed 
 some other results, which naturally flow from the 
 statements, designed to save trouble to those, 
 whose curiosity might prompt them to such investi- 
 gations. Some of the particulars however require 
 illustration. 
 
 The whole quantity of fleece-wool produced in 
 England, according to the table, is three hundred 
 thirty four thousand four hundred and thirty packs, 
 of which rather more than one third is adapted 
 to the comb ; the remainder is wrought upon the 
 card and fabricated into the different articles of wool- 
 len goods. But to this quantity of carding wool, 
 obtained from fleeces naturally short, must he added 
 that proportion of skin wool, which is not long enough 
 to be employed in the manufacture of worsteds. 
 This is the aggregate of several particulars specified 
 in the table, and amounts to forty two thousand flve 
 hundred and fifty packs. It is obtained from the 
 pelts of those sheep which die in the space of a year, 
 either by the natural progress of disease, or by the 
 band of the butcher. In the View of Agriculture in 
 Middlesex, a work sanctioned by the Board, it is 
 supposed that the whole stock of sheep is compos- 
 ed of nearly fourteen ewes to twenty four others ; 
 that the former are killed at five years of age, the 
 latter at three ; and that the amount of those which 
 die carrion, or by disease, is equal to one twentieth 
 of those which pass under the knife. The table is 
 estimated according to this rule ; and the fleece is cal- 
 culated at half the average one, because the number 
 dead during the first half year, when the wool is 
 short, is supposed to be equal to that in the last, 
 when the pile is more completely grown. The quan- 
 
 F f tity 
 
340 
 
 tity however will not be found to correspond very 
 precisely with the weight actually procured by thofell- 
 mongers, because in shearing fleeces a quantity of the 
 pile is left upon the pelt, but in stripping the skins 
 the wool is not only takeTi off completely, but with 
 it a quantity of scurf, mingled also with a proportion 
 of lime. The skin-wool is not usually found most plen- 
 tiful where the stock of sheep is most heavy ; for 
 these animals when fat constantly succeed each other 
 in a journey to the larger towns of the kingdom, 
 are slaughtered there, and their pelts are com- 
 monly stripped in the neighbourhood. We do 
 not therefore always expect to find the skin-wool of a 
 district, similar to that which is shorn from its sheep. 
 Thus in Lancashire the skin wool is often obtained 
 from the flocks of Lincolnshire, while its native 
 sheep are of a very different description ; and in 
 London may be found specimens of skin wool from 
 most of the southern counties. 
 
 It is not by any means easy to ascertain the quan- 
 of lamb’s wool, because sheep-masters do not always 
 shear the young ones. Persons who adopt the prac- 
 tice one year, perhaps will neglect it the next, on 
 account of the unfavorableness of the season or the 
 state of their flock. Lamb’s wool also is not pro- 
 cured through the whole of those districts, where the 
 practice of shearing the young animals is most 
 generally adopted, for there are persons in each, 
 and sometimes great numbers, who refuse to take a 
 coat from sheep under a year old, since it preserves 
 them from the rigours of the season, which, even 
 with the best covering, they but ill endure. Amidst 
 this uncertainty we can do little more than guess at 
 the number of lambs which are thorn ; the tvool ob- 
 tained 
 
tained from them, I apprehend, does not amount to 
 more than seven thousand eight hundred packs. It 
 is supposed that the number of lambs yeaned every 
 season is equal to that of the breeding ewes, for 
 though multitudes do not produce a young one, yet 
 perhaps as many others bring forth twins; and one 
 fifth of the whole are said to be slaughtered. If their 
 fleeces amount to eight ounces, on an average of the 
 whole kingdom, they afford almost three thousand 
 packs of wool. The pile of a lamb’s fleece is very 
 different from that of a full grown sheep. The wool 
 is sometimes hairy ; most commonly perfect, soft 
 and fine, but the staple is scarcely yet formed, and 
 though sometimes used in the manufacture of wool- 
 len cloth, it is commonly too short and loose to be 
 wrought alone. The pile has not assumed that 
 spring-like form which is so desirable in the full- 
 grown fleece. 
 
 If we collect the several quantities of wool, which 
 are obtained from the larger and the smaller sorts of 
 sheep when living, and from their pelts when dead, 
 and if we add to it, that which is procured from 
 lambs under a year old, we find that the grand 
 total of this substance produced in England and 
 Wales, amounts to more than three hundred and 
 ninety three thousand packs. It is procured from 
 more than twenty six millions of wool-hearing qua- 
 drupeds, and from thirty two millions three hundred 
 and fifty twathousand acres of ground. 
 
 Tbequantity of wool produced in England has often 
 been estimated ; and those who have employed them- 
 selves in attempting to ascertain it, have differed most 
 widely in their calculations. It is not necessary to 
 search into old records, for the general opinion of the 
 present day is, that England and Wales produce about 
 F f 2 shx 
 
342 
 
 six hundred thousand packs, and it is usually received 
 without examination. I have not been able to disco- 
 cover upon what basis this conclusion rests; but it was 
 formerly supposed that Great-Britain produced that 
 number of packs; and it seems probable, that some 
 person, by a very easy mistake, has quoted the num- 
 ber as applicable to England alone, and the error has 
 passed from one to another without being suspected 
 or examined, until it has become an opinion so firmly 
 settled as to form the basis of reasoning even in the 
 House of Commons. Indeed the greatest mistakes, 
 that have been made upon this subject, seem to arise 
 from two sources, the assumption of six hundred thou- 
 sand packs as the produce of England and Wales, and 
 the different quantity of land which is assigned as the 
 extent of the kingdom. Some having thought that it 
 comprehends almost forty seven millions of acres, and 
 others that it contains only thirty four millions. I have 
 already said, that the extent which is adopted in 
 these pages is taken from Cary’s Atlas, and the 
 reasons why I chose not to depart from that authority, 
 except in cases of great and palpable error, have been 
 given. If any mistake has arisen in the preceding 
 statements from an unwarrantable deference to his 
 opinions, the error may be easily corrected by the 
 reader himself. No labour is necessary to show that 
 those must be wrong who state the produce of the 
 kingdom at six hundred thousand packs, and reason 
 upon it as though the whole were fleece-wool. It 
 will be fair to ask such, how many packs there are 
 of the other kinds; or if the pelts and the lambs have 
 produced no wool ? Their own answer to such ques- 
 tions will prove the best refutation of their conjec- 
 tures. Since the average stock of sheep upon an acre 
 
 of 
 
343 
 
 of ground appears from the table to be nineteen thirty- 
 second parts, and the stock, as estimated by farmers 
 in round numbers, is only three fourths, we have 
 reason to think, that the difference in the quantity of 
 wool, is partly owing to the want of discrimination. 
 Had they separated the pile into its different kinds, 
 the accounts respecting the number of sheep would 
 have corresponded much more exactly, than they do 
 at present. But let it ever be recollected, that while 
 the mistakes of others are pointed out, the author- 
 does not suppose that his statements are perfectly 
 correct. On subjects of this kind, we can only form 
 general opinions, and his are most likely to be accu- 
 rate who collects facts with the most patient in- 
 vestigation, and reasons from them with the soundest 
 judgment. 
 
 If the quantity of wool, annually produced in Eng- 
 land and Wales, be so much smaller than has been 
 commonly estimated, it seems desirable to ascertain 
 whether it now increase or diminish; whether we 
 may expect in future years a larger, or a less, supply. 
 From circumstances, which have been mentioned, 
 it appears that the number of lambs yeaned in the 
 kingdom, is about seven millions ; and that the 
 slaughter of wool-bearing animals, of every descrip- 
 tion, amounts to that number, and an addition of a 
 hundred and forty thousand ; so that the stock is de- 
 minished at the rate of about two per cent, every 
 year. I am not sufficiently acquainted with the de- 
 tails of grazing/io assert, from my own knowledge, 
 that the proportion of sheep killed, is exactly as it is 
 stated here ; but have been satisfied with information 
 communicated by those, who are certainly much 
 F f 3 better 
 
3 44 
 
 better able to determine the point. Nor do I feel 
 anxious, lest this diminution of sheep should prove 
 detrimental to the woollen manufacture ; because* 
 though the flocks of England are not so numerous as 
 formerly, vet those of Scotland and Ireland seem to 
 be increasing in a rapid manner ; and in proportion 
 as the waste land of both countries is brought into a 
 state of cultivation, it produces a more useful fleece. 
 Even in England and Wales we have more than three 
 millions of acres capable of being improved, and car- 
 rying a more numerous stock ; we have two millions of 
 sheep whose fleeces are scarcely wool, and which 
 might be brought to contribute their share to sup- 
 port the woollen manufacture, and to increase the 
 'wealth of the country. 
 
 From the general view which we have taken, the 
 English fleece appears susceptible of very great im- 
 provement. There are but few tracts of land, and 
 these comparatively small ones, on which it has 
 attaineda moderate degree of perfection. Long-wool, 
 though not possessed of all the excellent qualities 
 which ought to be communicated to it, is in gene- 
 ral, well adapted to those inferior worsted goods, in 
 the manufacture of which it is used, and also to those 
 coarser kinds of woollen articles, which require a long 
 knap and are calculated to produce an extraordinary 
 degree of warmth. But a very small quantity only 
 ot this pile, is applicable to superior articles; a more 
 attenuated one might be produced, and would be 
 found of great value. It must be observed with 
 regret that, during the last hundred years, the ma- 
 nufacture of worsted goods has greatly declined. 
 If it be desirable to revive it, care must be employed 
 
 to 
 
345 
 
 to render them more thin, flexible, and soft ; to give 
 them a greater similitude to the fabrics of cotton, or 
 of silk ; to qualify them to endure the rivalry of the 
 first of these articles both at home and abroad. But 
 whoever examines the manner in which the manu- 
 facture of cotton and that of worsted are conduct- 
 ed, will not only observe a great difference in favour 
 of one, but will almost despair of the revival of the 
 other. In the worsted manufacture only small ca- 
 pitals are employed ; no extensive works are con- 
 structed for carrying them on ; the machines made 
 use of, are simple and old ; the masters in general 
 have but little dead stock, and of course, a small 
 stake in the country ; the workmen are prejudiced in 
 favour of old modes, jealous of innovation, always 
 obstinate, and till their spirits were broken by dis- 
 tress, they were too commonly vain of their import- 
 ance, captious, and turbulent. There is in this branch 
 of manufacture but little speculation; and genius lies 
 dormant. There are few articles made now which 
 were not fabricated and in fashion the century before 
 last. But in the manufacture of cotton every 
 thing wears just the opposite appearance ; there we 
 observe large capitals, immense establishments, a 
 highly speculative spirit, great confidence, and a 
 combination of all the productions of modern genius. 
 We notice a race of workmen also generally indus- 
 trious, punctual, and contented ; the articles which 
 their looms produce are ever new, and ever varied. 
 The effects which a flourishing manufacture pro- 
 duces, and those which result from a dispirited and 
 dying trade, are obvious to every one, who can com- 
 pare the state of Manchester with that of Norwich ; 
 of Glasgow with Sudbury ; the county of Lancaster 
 
 with 
 
346 
 
 with Suffolk, or that of Renfrew with Northamp- 
 tonshire. 
 
 The short wool of England is still in a wretched 
 state, for although some noble efforts to improve it 
 have excited emulation and activity, }^et, when 
 compared with what remains to be accomplished, 
 but little has been already effected. When looking 
 over the preceding table, we are surprised at the 
 number of sheep in every district, which might be 
 exchanged for a better stock ; and with respect to 
 their coats, no woolstapier, I am pursuaded, who 
 has any general acquaintance with the English 
 fleece, will think me extravagant when I conjecture 
 that of the fifteen millions of short stapled ones, which 
 the kingdom produces, there are not five hundred 
 thousand which even border upon perfection. The 
 southern districts, where most has been done to im- 
 prove both the carcase and the coat of the sheep, 
 contain at present but few flocks, which pretend to 
 superior excellency. The wool of Norfolk, although 
 greatly improved in general, is far inferior, not only 
 to the best of piles, but also to many samples w hich 
 have been produced even by the native sheep. The 
 best cultivated fleece of Sussex has not yet been ob- 
 tained from every flock which grazes upon the 
 Downs, pastures most fit for the culture of wool. 
 Nor has the Ryeland race of sheep, notwithstanding 
 the superiority of its fleece, been allowed to retain 
 possession of its ancient pastures. And though a few 
 spirited individuals have combined with various 
 English breeds the blood of the Spanish race, and by 
 that means obtained a staple hitherto unequalled 
 among English wools, yet those flocks are small, are 
 widely dispersed, have not at present descended to the 
 
 hands 
 
347 
 
 hands of common farmers, and their wool, compared 
 with the whole produce of our soil, bears no greater 
 proportion to it, than the parks of our nobility do to 
 the extended fields occupied by untitled farmers. 
 The whole race of Heath sheep must be banished 
 from the northern counties, where they greatly 
 abound, or must change the nature of their staple, before 
 the wools of England can be pronounced only tnoder* 
 ately good. Where they range the fleece is positively 
 a disgrace to the flocks, its shaggy s|aple is most fitted 
 to the goat, to the ages of barbarism, and to countries 
 where wool is of no estimation. - Such animals are 
 permitted to roam over the wide extended commons, 
 in these mountainous districts, merely because their 
 constitutions are hardy, and their mutton delicate* 
 But are there no sheep to be procured with a consti- 
 tution equally firm, with flesh as well marbled, and 
 juices quite as palatable, whose fleeces are far superior? 
 Did not the old breed of Scotland bear better wool, 
 and was it unsuited to the pasture? Do not the moun- 
 tains of Wales, as much exposed to moisture as those 
 of Cumberland, produce a finer wool, and is not the 
 shorter and fuller fleece of the Penistone moors, and 
 of the Cheviot hills, obtained from sheep, which graze 
 upon the very pastures of the black-faced, shaggy- 
 coated breed ? But if the carcases of these hairy ani- 
 mals do really possess qualities, which in goodness 
 counterpoise the egregious defects of their fleeces, 
 let farmers tolerate them still; yet let them show by 
 judicious experiments, such as ought to convince the 
 , world, but especially those who are most interested 
 in the improvement of flocks, that the excellencies 
 attributed to the mountain breed are real, not ima- 
 ginary, that they are peculiar, not common to any 
 
 other 
 
348 
 
 other race of sheep ; that the execrable coat cannot r 
 be exchanged for a finer pile, without substantial " 
 injury; let them do this. Jest strangers noticing ^ 
 defective fleeces should upbraid the s'-epherds, and ^ 
 deem the produce of their flocks a proof of ignorance * 
 or prejudice. 11 
 
 To give a more correct idea of the quality of Eng- a 
 lish wool, especially to those who have no means of ac- g 
 quiringa complete knowledge of it, I have distributed § 
 the shorter fleeces into four classes; arranging them J ' 
 according to the fineness of the pile, without regard 11 
 to any other circumstance. Those however, who ^ 
 are unacquainted with technical terms, which I shall 11 
 avoid as much as possible, will perhaps find it neees- 
 sary to refer to page 144, where a method of ascer- f 
 
 taining the size of the hair is pointed out, which may 1 
 
 be easily adopted. I have divided the classes a- ' 
 greeably to the measures there given of mv own 1 
 sorts ; the lowest, or No. I. comprises those fleeces, 
 whose pile, when sorted and weighed, will average 
 some number less than seven hundred, No. II. aver- 
 ages eight hundred, No. III. one thousand, and 
 No. IV. twelve hundred. Of the first of these kinds 
 of short wool, England produces more than thirty 
 one thousand packs; of the second ninety three thou- 
 sand six hundred; of the third almost fifty three 
 thousand five hundred; and of the fourth twenty 
 four thousand five hundred. 
 
 These numbers perhaps are not perfectly accu- 
 rate, for I have not sorted, or even seen, the wool of 
 every county; and my opinion of the pile, upon which 
 the whole arrangement depends, may be very diffe- 
 rent from that which is entertained by others. Seve- 
 ral , 
 
3 4§ 
 
 ral of the counties also might have been placed in 
 different classes without any perceptible error, for 
 the quality of their pile is dubious, and falls between 
 the standard measures of two of them. Those districts, 
 to which an asterism is affixed, produce many fleeces, 
 which ought to have been placed in a lower order if the 
 arrangement had been made without reference to the 
 general produce. If correct enough, however, for 
 general purposes it follows that England produces on- 
 ly a very small quantity of fine wool, far too small for 
 the consumption of the country, and that she depends 
 for a supply upon the political good humour of her 
 neighbours: how long they may be disposed to assist 
 her no one can determine. To become her own 
 friend would certainly be wise : but it is not possible 
 to compare the average quality of her own wool with 
 the value of the pile which is procured from foreigners, 
 or even with some detached parcels produced at 
 home, without being convinced of our national neg- 
 ligence and foily. These perhaps may be deemed 
 harsh and improper terms, but it is criminal to use 
 feeble language, in cases were the welfare of our 
 country is concerned. 
 
 Nor can our folly and negligence be palliated by 
 remarking, that though we are too indifferent respect- 
 ing the fleece, great attention is paid to the carcase ; 
 for in this climate woollen clothing, if not necessary 
 to our subsistence, is at least essential to our comfort ; 
 and because a large number of our poor depend 
 upon the manufacture of superfine cloth for their 
 support. The fleece moreover may be cultivated at 
 little or no expence. I never yet heard that a given 
 quantity of coarse wool required less nutriment than 
 a similar weight of the finest pile ; nor that a hairy 
 
 fleece 
 
350 
 
 fleece, of little value, injured the carcase more than 
 one, for which the farmer might obtain the best of 
 prices. If I am mistaken here, graziers must impute 
 the error to ignorance of their particular line of busi- 
 ness ; but until the mistake be clearly pointed out it 
 is impossible to justify the conduct of those, who 
 produce upon dry and thin soils a bristly and a 
 shaggy staple. 
 
 Only two modes of improving fleeces have yet 
 been adopted. One consists in selecting those lambs 
 for slaughter, which have the least valuable coat ; the 
 other in bringing into the flock male sheep of the 
 most approved breeds, in order that their progeny 
 may perpetuate their best pecularities. But flocks 
 might be amended much more rapidly if, in addition 
 to these common methods, a kind of barter in lambs 
 were adopted between two districts situated near to 
 each other, one of them possessing a superior, and 
 the other a less valuable sheep. From the best flocks, a 
 great number of lambs are yearly slaughtered with- 
 out any regard to their good qualities, while, perhaps 
 at only a short distance, a multitude of others are 
 preserved without any attention to the badness of 
 their coats. If these could be exchanged in such a 
 manner, that only the good ones should be preserved, 
 and the inferior kinds alone should be sent to the 
 shambles, the flocks of Britain would become every 
 year more valuable; a few seasons would be suffi- 
 cient to dispossess the least cultivated breeds of their 
 present pastures. It were easy to point out parts of 
 the kingdom where, within the distance of a few 
 miles, the fleee s differ in value full fifty per cent, 
 where the past ees, upon which the worst are pro- 
 duced, are equally well suited to a more valuable 
 
 kind 
 
351 
 
 kind; and where the quantity of the inferior pile, 
 afforded by a single sheep, by no means counter* 
 balances the difference in price. Some persons per- 
 haps may think this idea of transferring the best 
 Jambs of one district to the pastures of another, and 
 the worst of this latter region to serve as a supply for 
 the shambles of the first, more than chimerical* 
 They perhaps may represent in forcible language, 
 the difficulty of inducing butchers to purchase only 
 those lambs for slaughter which have the worst coats; 
 of convincing the wool-growers that it is their inter- 
 est to provide young stock from a distance, rather 
 than to rear it for themselves ; to give for it a greater 
 price then can be obtained for their own lambs; and 
 to judge of the value of these animals as well by their 
 fleece, as their form and their flesh. These ob- 
 jections, however, would vanish from before the ex- 
 ample of wool-growers of property, influence, and 
 spirit; and the measure which we recommend, is 
 nothing more than adopting, with respect to Wool, a 
 principle upon which graziers have long acted in 
 reference to the carcase. Something like this trans- 
 fer of stock must take place, should the supply of fine 
 wool from the Continent suddenly fail us : a circum- 
 stance by no means improbable in the present state 
 of Europe. Every man of observation, who has 
 turned his attention to this subject, must perceive, I 
 think, that in Britain we are disposed to wear su- 
 perfine cloth, even though the price of it were much 
 higher than it is at present. The wealth, the mode of 
 living, the prosperity of the country render the 
 consumer of fine cloth almost indifferent to the sum 
 which it costs him; nor could any scarcity of the raw 
 material, unless attended with some political and 
 G g general 
 
352 
 
 general misfortune, render the majority of our men 
 of affluence contented with coarser coats than they 
 wear at present. Their willingness to purchase the 
 manufactured article at higher prices, should act 
 powerfully upon the wool-grower, and compel him 
 to cultivate a superior pile. It is an unpopular 
 theme, but, after calm and deliberate thought, I con- 
 fess it appears to me desirable that the growth of 
 superfine wool should be encouraged at home that 
 it should be encouraged even by imposts wpon the 
 article of foreign production ; not indeed so heavy 
 as check the importation, but considerable enough 
 to operate favourably upon the British fleece. 
 
 From what has been said of the quality of 
 English wool, the stapler will be at no loss to ascer- 
 tain its value, and the table. No. II. will enable 
 others also to form a correct opinion. From this 
 it appears, that the average quality of short wool, 
 both in the fleece, and when combined with the 
 skin- wool, which is obtained from the pelts of those 
 small animals whose coat is suited only to the 
 fabrication of woollen goods, amounts to eight 
 hundred and eighty five ; but that when combined 
 with the portion of short wool obtained by the 
 slaughter of the long-stapled breed of sheep, it must 
 be expressed by the number, eight hundred seventy 
 one ; or, according to former explanations, the diameter 
 of the hair being multiplied by that number, will 
 equal the space of an inch. This quality of wool 
 cannot be estimated at more than fifteen pounds per 
 pack, which gives us for the total value of short wool 
 produced in England, almost three millions seven 
 hundred thousand pounds. In the staple of Long wool 
 we observe a remarkable similiarity of pile, and 
 
 there- 
 
353 
 
 therefore any person may form an idea of its value by 
 the price at which it sells ; being taken at thirteen 
 pence per pound, the amount is almost one million 
 eight hundred thousand pounds sterling. The lamb’s 
 wool, though of uncertain value, we state at ten 
 pounds per pack. The whole produce therefore of 
 England, consisting of fleece wool, and that obtained 
 from pelts, and from lambs, is' worth more than flve 
 millions and a half of money. It is not necessary, I 
 presume, to point out how far this differs from other 
 estimates, because we can compare it only with those 
 whose basis is conjecture. The data from which we 
 reason having been stated, and every step of the 
 process explained, they are open to correction ; but 
 conclusions thus drawn are generally deemed more 
 worthy of attention, than the bare suppositions even 
 of the most judicious. As an article of sale, wool is 
 very properly compared with the value of money, 
 for this is the measure of its estimation with the 
 grower, and the manufacturer ; but it derives its 
 intrinsic worth from being applied to human comfort, 
 and the elegance of life; its real value therefore 
 varies with the condition, and the capricious fashions 
 of the consumers. Considered as a material for manu- 
 facture, as the means of employing a great number of 
 workmen, and yielding them support ; as occupying 
 large capitals and considerable establishments; as 
 furnishing supplies for home consumption, which, 
 if not obtained from our native soil, must be procur*. 
 ed from abroad, as furnishing one of the most valua- 
 ble and important articles of export, no price can 
 represent it. The enlightened politician alone, whose 
 capacious mind comprehends the condition of differ- 
 ent ranks of people in various countries., can con- 
 G g 2 ceive 
 
354 
 
 ceive its importance ; but we pretend not to the 
 possession of such knowledge, and subjects like these 
 are more immediately connected with the manufac- 
 ture of wool, than its production. 
 
 But little need be said respecting the price of 
 wool ; like that of all other articles, it depends chief- 
 ly upon the demand, and the quantity which can be 
 obtained to supply it. If this demand arose solely 
 from the consumption of woollens among ourseleves, 
 and if the raw material could not be obtained from 
 other countries, the price would depend entirely upon 
 the opinion, which the people entertained of the im- 
 portance of woollen goods to their comfort, more es- 
 pecially if the consumption of the manufactures were 
 equal to the annual produce. But since the demand 
 for woollens is very intimately connected with foreign 
 commerce, since the material also can be obtained 
 f’rpin abroad, it is evident, that the price of English 
 wool, and English goods, must depend very much 
 upon the state of other countries, their political 
 relations, their wealth, their manufactures, and their 
 laws j upon the ease with which their w r ool can be 
 imported here, upon the facility with which they re- 
 ceive opr commodities. As these circumstances are 
 perpetually varying, both the manufacturer and the 
 merchant are obliged to keep a watchful eye upon 
 them, to anticipate, as much as possible, the fluctua- 
 tions of commerce which these changes indicate, 
 and to regulate, with unceasing prudence, both their 
 purchases and their sales. Hence w>e should sup- 
 pose that the demand for wool would constantly 
 vary, and that the price of it would experience cor- 
 respondent fluctuations. Yet it has often been 
 observed, that the depression of the woollen manu- 
 facture 
 
855 
 
 facture has but little effect upon the price of the 
 material. This is owing, I conceive, to so large a pro- 
 portion of woollen articles being consumed at home, 
 and in the colonies ; to the close connection which 
 subsists between this country and foreign ones ; and 
 to our decided maritime superiority, by which the 
 passage to every market is kept open, and rendered 
 secure. The demand for woollen goods at home, in 
 our distant possessions, and in the United States of 
 America, is almost sufficient to take off the whole 
 produce of our looms ; yet that portion of it which'iS 
 sent to European countries gives a spirit to onr com- 
 merce, which it would not otherwise enjoy, and 
 serves many important purposes in the general ba- 
 lance of trade. We cannot indeed suppose, as some do, 
 that foreigners are dependant up6n England for a 
 supply of woollen goods; yet it has often been ob- 
 served, that when obstacles have been interposed to 
 our commerce, the people of other countries hav& 
 assisted in removing impediments, or in tendering 
 them ineffectual ; hence it comes to pass that though 
 the demands of trade be not always regular, yet in 
 the course of months they become sufficiently large 
 to require our whole surplus of woollen articles, r and 
 at every returning season leave only a'small stock of 
 the manufactured, or of the raw material. Wool 
 moreover is an article of annual production ; the 
 quantity of the best kinds which can be obtained, is 
 always limited ; but the consumption is daffy, and 
 the inclinations of people, both at home and abroad, 
 tend to increase it. The immense establishments for 
 conducting the manufacture, and the general use of 
 modern machinery, require a rapid and regular supply 
 of wool ; they are fully sufficient to consume the 
 G g 3 whole 
 
356 
 
 whole produce of the kingdom, and cannot be con- 
 verted to other purposes without much e* pence ; 
 they cannot remain inactive without considerable 
 loss. Hence the deece is generally considered as a 
 safe article pf speculation, and employs at one season 
 of the year, a larger capital than would be embarked 
 in more precarious concerns. The quantity of. mo- 
 ney in the market, therefore, always operates with 
 peculiar influence upon the price of tvool ; if rising if 
 urges its course, and prevents its fall when the ma- 
 nufacture labours under temporary depression. And 
 should difficulties continue longer than was expected, 
 and a surplus of wool be left upon hand at the return 
 of summer, even then it is not a perishable article ; 
 but with proper care may be kept back from market, 
 and rather . improve in its condition than grow worse, 
 gpyfyas th^e ate some of the principal circumstances* 
 jyhich tend to counteract the natural effect of a vari* 
 atiop in the demand for woollen goods ; their indu-r 
 ence has frequently been observed, and their 
 operation though silent, is generally irresistable. 
 
 Many persons have formed their opinion of tho 
 demand for wool, and regulated their notions of its 
 value, by the quantity of cloth milled in the space of 
 U, year, in the West-Riding of Yorkshire, a return 
 of it being made to the sessions at Pontefract in the 
 spring. But for several reasons, this is a very falla- 
 cious mode of judging. These returns give no gene- 
 ral view of the state of trade ; they mention only the 
 number of yards manufactured, and take no notice of 
 the weight of wool ; they do not distinguish between 
 the goods made from the pile of British, and of foreign 
 growth; they relate only to one kind of woollen arti- 
 cles : and refer to the West-Riding of Yorkshire alone. 
 
 The 
 
35 7 
 
 The slightest acquaintance with the woollen manu- 
 facures of England, and the materials used in them, 
 must convince any one how unreasonable it is 
 to draw general deductions from such premises as 
 these. It ’iVill show that persons, who regulate their 
 conduct by opinions formed in this manner, must be 
 perpetually in danger of acting wrong. 
 
 A connection exists between the price of wool, 
 and the value of land. As the rents of faVms, and the 
 expences of management increase, it is evident that 
 all the produce must sell for more money, than it did 
 when the disbursements of the agriculturist were less 
 heavy ; and it is only reasonable to suppose that the 
 fleece will bear its proportionate advance. The in- 
 troduction of foreign wools is always attended with 
 some difficulty ; they are encumbered with heavy ex- 
 pences, and can operate as a check upon the price 
 of British fleeces, only when purchased at a low 
 rate, when the quantity actually brought in is 
 very considerable, and when those who hold it are 
 disposed to sell at inferior prices. The pile of Eng- 
 lish growth therefore always possesses a considerable 
 advantage, and will most probably continue to in- 
 crease in value at the same rate as do the other 
 articles of native produce. Judicious farmers also 
 have observed, that by attention and care they can 
 procure from their sheep either a larger or a smaller 
 quantity of wool ; and that whatever they sacrifice 
 in the fleece, they unvariably obtain from the car- 
 j case. The price of wool, they assure us, must bear 
 i some relation to that of mutton, for bince their pro- 
 fits are made up of the joint produce, arising 
 I both from the carcase and the fleece, they will 
 cultivate the most sedulously that only which leaves 
 ] them 
 
35 $ 
 
 them the largest share of advantage. The culture 
 of sheep, likewise, is affected by the same law, and 
 wheresoever it appears most advantageous to adopt 
 the dairy system of husbandry, or to graze cattle, 
 the produce of wool must be small. 
 
 During the last seventy years, many have thought 
 that the price of wool was regulated entirely by the 
 arbitrary will of the purchasers ; and some have 
 amused themselves by writing- long and bitter com- 
 plaints against the combination of staplers, and the 
 monopoly granted to manufacturers. To show that 
 the grievances of wool-growers have in them 
 something real Smith wrote his Memoirs, a dry and 
 heavy work, but containing much historical informa- 
 tion. The author, however, betrays so much igno- 
 rance of trade, such a want of information respecting 
 the quality, and the use of the. British fleece ; and is 
 so prejudiced in favour of a party, that we cannot 
 join in the extravagant admiration of an agriculturist 
 and say, “ that the work ought to be printed in let- 
 ters of gold.” We wonder too that intelligent and 
 liberal minded men should be so far influenced as to 
 retail his invective, and ask whether any person may 
 not employ his. capital either as a stapler, a manu- 
 facturer, or a merchant? Whether those who have 
 long purchased wool do not vaiiie their connections 
 among the farmers at a high rate J Are not all wool- 
 buyers jealous lest others should prevent them from 
 collecting their usual quantity ? Do not farmers take 
 more pains to sell their fleeces than any other article 
 which land produces? And is not every stapler to 
 whom wool is offered eager to bargain, though 
 almost certain that it is under a promise to ano- 
 ther person? Does not the purchaser often enjoin 
 secrecy with respect to the price? Does not he 
 
 fre- 
 
359 
 
 frequently promise that though the bargain be made 
 at one sum he will give a larger price? Does not he 
 even leave the price to be settled at some future 
 period, and engage that he will give as much 
 money as any wool sells for in the parish where the 
 grower resides? Yea is it an uncommon case that a 
 farmer should expect, and obtain, something extra for 
 the wool which he sold in a former year, even though 
 he has no legal claim upon the stapler who bought it, 
 nor even the shadow of a promise from him to that 
 effect? Arethesesymptoms of combination, orare they 
 proofs of rivalry? What would farmers think of them 
 in reference to any other article than wool ; in refe- 
 rence to their corn, their cattle, their horses, their 
 rents, or to bargains in the public funds? What 
 must every person, who is accustomed to the 
 routine of business, think of wool sold under such 
 circumstances as these? Surely he would never 
 conjecture “ that it does not obtain a fair price !’* 
 But combination does really exist; the growers have 
 among themselves numerous meetings, convened by 
 public advertisement, for the express purpose of 
 raising the price o*f wool? ; information is communi- 
 cated to them from every part of the kingdom, and 
 the result of their deliberations is transmitted to the 
 most distant farms. Sensible men, however, will not 
 complain of such conduct, because it is impossible, 
 by any means whatsoever, to raise the price of wool 
 above its value, when taken upon an average f of 
 years. Depending upon principles wholly uncon- 
 nected .with public meetings, the value of the article 
 must increase so long as the growth, and the import 
 
 of 
 
 • Vid. the writings of Arthur Young and other Agriculturists. 
 
360 
 
 of the kingdom are not equal to the demand ; but 
 the effects which a surplus would produce, must soon 
 be perceived, and no combination can withstand 
 them. Yet it should be recollected that we manu- 
 facture annually a large surplus of goods ; that these 
 must be disposed of according to their value in other 
 countries ; and if this be lower than the price at 
 home, the consequence is known and certain. In 
 the woollen trade it behoves the stapler, the clothier, 
 and the merchant to look beyond the limits of Bri- 
 tain, and to regulate their conduct by enlarged prin- 
 ciples. We are not advocates for a depressed yeo- 
 manry, but rejoice when the produce of land is suffi- 
 ciently high to reward their skill, and to make a 
 reasonable return for the employment of capital ; 
 when it is low enough to allow the poor the comforts, 
 and the decencies of life ; and to recompence the 
 manufacturer and merchant for the hazards of their 
 trade. Upon the balance of these interests the price 
 of wool greatly depends ; it is desirable that it should 
 be gradually augmented, but sudden and large ad- 
 vances are calculated to snap the thread of our 
 connection with foreigners, and to cause the surplus 
 of manufactures to recoil upon ourselves. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
Note to Page 24 6. 
 
 The letter alluded to was afterwards noticed, and rather 
 unceremoniously published in the Annals of Agriculture. Mr Y. 
 cannot say that the sheep of Suffolk are increased, unless it be 
 from a greater number of South-Downs being kept instead of 
 Norfolks. 
 
 Note to Page 32 2 , line 7. 
 
 Mr T. Motley informs me that the lambs this year, when 
 turned into a field of grass lately mowed, exhibited symptoms 
 of a feebler constitution, and that some of them died. The cir- 
 cumstance has since been accounted for by the system of 
 “ breeding in and in.” 
 
 Note to Page 339. 
 
 The number of sheep and lamb skins stamped in Leeds within 
 a year, amounted to 44,263. If such returns were correct, they 
 might afford much information respecting the slaughter* 
 
 f 
 
% 
 
fr/IM X< 
 
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