LPEZ

1800.] On Rouen, as Food for Sheep. 403

From the above ſtatement, and from that of the laſt year, it ſhould ſeem, that the ſuperior pretenſions of the Herefordſhire breed of oxen, and of the new Leiceſterſhire breed of ſheep are almoît incontrovertibly eſtabliſhed. I cannot help expreſſing my ſurpriſe at ſeeing, on this occaſion, only two Suſſex oxen. And pray what is become of the true old Giouceſterſhire breed of ſheep, of which we heard ſo much faid laſt winter?

Mr. Creck’s remarkably fat Oxfordſhire heifer, not being in the poſſeſſion of the feeder, was not admiſhble as a candidate for a priz=; but was exhibited, to the much greater profit of the proprietor, in a ſeparate yard in Smithfield.

The prize cattle met with a very diſcouraging fale, owing, principally, to the extreme fulneſs of the market. I am

yours,&c. PRACTICUS:

Tf IMEI«CIO ON ROUEN, OR PRESERVED AFTERGRASS, AS À SUBST TOU TEFOR 1 ORNTES:

To the Editor of the Commercial and Agricultural Magazine. SIR, VW the turnip crops have proved a very precarious ſupply for the ſupport of live ſtock during the winter months, the diſ covery of a ſubſtitute for this valuable root would, I canceive, prove a very important acquiſition to agricultural knowledge.

There are iome farms which although provided with a conſi- derable extent of paſture land, yet on account of the wetneſs of the arable, are but ill adapted to the ſupport of ſheep during the winter months. In this caſe recourſe muſt be had to-a very ex- penſive purchaſe of manure, the farm beizg deprived in part of the amendment of the ſheep huſbandry. In a populous neighbour- hood depredations on turnips are very conſiderable, and nearly one half of the crop is frequently purloined. j

Being myſclf expoſed to ſome of the above inconveniences, and feeling a ftrong reluêtance to give up the ſheep buſbandry, I have had recourſe to preſerved aftergraſs as a ſubſtitute for turnips, Laſt yzar I ſhut up thirty acres of meadow immediately after mowing. This was prelerved till January, when it proved a very ſeaſonable ſupply for my ewes and lambs, particularly as my turnips had ſuffered much from the weather. The experiment ſucceeded ſo well that I have repeated the ſame practice this year, and having provided no turnips, depend on preſerved aftergraſs alone for the ſupport óf above a hundred ewes as they drop their lambs.

I have found this graſs leſs affed@ed by a hard winter than a crop of turnips, nor has the hay received any injury from the pradtice, as I cut a load and a half an acre, though the ſheep were not taken out till the latter end of April.

This is another advantage, as the preparation for barley re- quires the turnips to be cleared before that time.