In our further remarks on the ohocp of nosland, wP shall divide them into two classes, the fleeces of which are distinguished from one another, both by the length of the staple and the mode of manufacturing them ; the one being adapted to the fabrication of woollen goods, and the other to that of worsted. Long woolled sheep are found in many detached parts of England, but much more commonly on the eastern than the western side, and often nearer to the coast than the middle of the king dom. Amongst the larger ranges of long woolled sheep, the most northern are found near the mouth of the Tees ; the next range are found in that district, which compre hends the south-eastern point of Yorkshire, nearly the whole of Lincolnshire, and the Finlands of Huntingdon, Cambridge, and Norfolk. The same kind of sheep, with respect to their wool, are likewise found in the smaller marshes of Essex and of Kent, which surround the inlets of the sea; but, in the latter county, they are most numerous in the marshes of Romney and Guilford. Long-woolled sheep are also found in the counties of Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, on the Cotswold hills, in some small and detached parts of Lancashire, Oxford, Bedford, and Stafford, through the whole of Leicester shire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, and Huntingdon shire, and along the banks of most of the large rivers in the kingdom.
Having thus sketched out the districts in which the long-woolled sheep are found, we shall now proceed to consider these districts separately, and endeavour to estimate the number of sheep which each district keeps, and the quantity of long-wool which it supplies to our manufactures. To begin with the Teeswater :—in the county of Durham, where we first meet with them in proceeding from the north, the stock of these sheep upon the acre varies very much in different parts ; pro bably, on the whole, there are about two sheep upon every three acres. The extent of land on which this breed of sheep are kept, cannot be more than one third of the county ; according to this calculation, the stock of sheep will be 67,200; which, averaging the fleece of each sheep at 9ihs. will give 2520 packs of wool.
In Yorkshire, the long-woolled breed of sheep are chiefly kept in the districts of Cleveland and Holderness. The former district maintains about 14,300, but their fleece cannot be rated higher than 8 lbs ; thus giving a quantity of wool amounting to 470 packs. The Tees water breed are seldom seen to the south of Cleveland.
The whole quantity of wool produced by them is nearly packs. The Lincoln breed was formerly very general over the district of Holderness, but latterly they have given way in ix great measure to the Dishley ; but, although this tract of land is very fertile, and well adapt ed to grazing, yet, as the breeding of cattle is the main object of the grazier's attention, the stock of sheep is singularly light, there being probably not more than one to every four acres. According to this calculation, there
will be 84,000 sheep, which, at 8 lbs. to the fleece, will give 2300 packs ; the whole of which is sent to the ma nufactures of the West Riding.
The natural advantages of Lincolnshire, the next diso trict of long-woolled sheep, for the production of this kind of fleece, are great and numerous ; and it is proba ble that they were first attended to here with spirit and profit, since it is known that the looms of Norfolk were supplied for nearly five centuries from the pastures of this county. The native breed of Lincolnshire, though much reduced in numbers, and lowered in fame, by the introduction of the new Leicester, still retain possession of a pretty considerable extent of the county. In other parts, a mixed breed between the new Leicester and the Lincolnshire are kept ; by this mixture, the wool is ren dered finer and shorter, and its colour is improved ; but it has lost a large proportion of that toughness, which is an indispensible quality in good combing wool. The low lands of this county, as has been already remarked, carry a very heavy stock of sheep. Where no cattle are put on along with them, it is said, that eight sheep have been kept on a single acre. Probably, taking in the whole of the low grounds, and allowing for a stock of cattle, the average number of sheep is nearly three on an acre, which will make the number of sheep amount to 1,240,000; and averaging the weight of the fleece so low as 9 lbs. the produce of wool will be about 46,500 packs. As very few sheep can safely be kept during winter on the marsh lands, which extend from the mouth of the Humber along the coast, the stock on them can not be estimated at more than half a sheep to an acre, which will give 85,700 sheep, and nearly 3000 packs of wool. In the greatest proportion of the other parts of Lincolnshire, short-woolled sheep are kept, which will be considered hereafter. There are, however, a few long woolled sheep also, the stock being about two sheep upon three acres ; the number of sheep is estimated at 505,700, and the quantity of wool /6,900 packs. To the pastures of the eastern and midland districts of this county, the looms of Norwich, Sudbury, Northampton, and Halifax, are indebted for the materials of workman ship.
long-woolled breeds of sheep are principally met with in the western division of the county of Norfolk, called the Marshland. There are also some sheep of this description in the eastern point of the county, and on the banks of the Yare. The first tract may be re garded as the extreme part of the Lincoln district, on which there are about 11 sheep to eight acres, each yielding a fleece of 7 pounds. The number of long stapled fleeces in Norfolk may be estimated at 38,500, and their weight at 1120 packs.