In Cheshire very few sheep are kept : They, in gene ral, are small, producing short and fine wool. The stock is heaviest on the high grounds on the eastern part of the county, and on the forest of Delamere. It is calcu lated, that the whole number in the county does not ex ceed 15,000, which, yielding an average fleece of 4 lbs. give 380 packs of wool. In Cheshire, the skin-wool bears a much larger proportion to the fleeces than in imost other parts of England.
Lancashire also supports few sheep. The return of stock in this county, made by order of government in the year 1803, includes 8u,920 sheep ; but this return is evidently grossly erroneous. It is much more proba ble, that, as there is nearly one sheep to three acres of ground, the whole number may amount to 310,000 ; and as the fleece averages 31 lbs. the quantity of wool pro duced in may be estimated at 4520 packs : which is wrought either in the manufactures of the coun ty, or in those of Yorkshire.
In considering Yorkshire as supporting short-woolled sheep, it may be proper to take the three Ridings sepa rately. In the West Riding a great variety are met ; among others, the Dishley and the Cheviot. In the more fertile parts, the fleece probably weighs 4i lbs and the stuck is at the rate of four sheep on seven acres ; while on the hills, where the mountain breed are kept, the stock cannot be calculated higher than one sheep to eight acres, and the average fleece at 31 lbs. The pro duce of the whole of this Riding, therefore, is nearly 5000 packs of wool, 'obtained from 261,700 sheep. The long•woolled sheep of Holderness, in the East Riding, have been already noticed. On the Wolds, a great num be• of the short-woulled kind are kept ; according to the best accounts, about 33 upon 49. acres ; the fleeces weigh ing nearly 5 lbs. ; the total number of sheep 366,240 ; the packs of wool 6400. In the North Riding, averag ing the stock and fleeces of the eastern and western moorlands and the vale of York, the former may be one sheep to two acres, and the latter may weigh 6 lbs.; affording 4660 packs from 280,000. sheep. Most of the wool from the North Riding is sent into the west of England.
In Westmoreland, the breed of sheep is of the moun tain kind. On the low lands of this county there is about half a sheep to an acre of ground, but on the mountains not half that proportion. It is calculated, that the total
stock may amount to 223,700 sheep, which afford 3260 packs, at 32 lbs. each ; the greatest part of which is wrought by the manufactures of Kendal, and the remain der sent into Yorkshire.
On the mountains of Cumberland, the •erdwick and the mountain breed are kept ; and other varieties in the vale lands. Part of this county is very thinly stocked, on 200,000 acres there not being more than 50,000 sheep ; on the remainder of the land there may be near ly half a sheep per acre. Over the whole county, per haps, there are 378,400 sheep, producing 5900 packs of wool, at the average of 3i lbs. the fleece.
The Teeswater district of Durham, on which the Iong-woolled sheep of that denomination are kept, has been already described. Over the rest of the county short-woolled sheep, are generally kept ; the average fleece may be estimated at 5 lbs. ; the number of these sheep at 159,400 ; and. the whole produce of wool at 3300 packs.
On the mountains of Northumberland the black-faced heath sheep are kept ; but in other parts of this county a better stock prevails, namely, the Cheviot breed. On the mountains the stock is light, not amounting to more than 179 sheep on 277 acres ; in the other districts it is heavier. Probably in the whole county there may be 538,000 sheep ; and as the average fleece is about 51 lbs. the total quantity of wool will be 12,330 packs. The greatest proportion of this wool is sent to Yorkshire ; a part of it to Aberdeen, and other places in Scotland ; and the remainder is manufactured within the county.
Over nearly the whole of Wales the sheep are singu larly small, with horns, white faces, and white legs; but the influence of different kinds of manufactures is visible on the flocks of the principality, especially on the flocks of Montgomery, over which the influence of the market at Welshpool for Welsh flannels extends. And in Gla morganshire, a breed somewhat similar to those on the Cotswold Hills is kept. In North Wales the stock is light, five acres supporting not more than a single sheep, exclusively of cattle. In this division of Wales it may be estimated that 683,000 arc maintained, producing nearly 5300 packs of wool, the fleece being reckoned, on an average, at 2 lbs. The principal marts for it are the fairs of Llanreost and Bangor.