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152 On the Breed of Sheep.[March, down and Leicester; the latter, if[ mistake not, were Zus? in the result of the experiment--but the Particular Statement is gone forth to the public in one of the volumes of the Bath Agricultural Society, under whose 5anction the experiment was instituted--and Mr. Billingsley, at that time well known for his zeal, integrity, and accuracy, was unanimously con- Sidered to have been the proper person for conducting it. As to the mode, 50 Slightly touched on by your Correspondent, I an Speak a litile of my own knowledge, having been more than once on the spot during the progress, and[I thought it to have been as correct as possible; for the Several articles of 100d, hay, cabbage, turnips,&c, asSigned to the Separate Pens, were weighed with the utmost care, and immediately re« gistered, and Mr. B. was scarcely ever without witnesses of his mode of procedure.--But a similar experiment was after- wards conducted by another Gemjleman of unexceptionable Integrity and ability, and here also the results proved to have been Similar.

Mr. Billingsley stands not in need of encomium from me; his ardent and unremitted exertions in every branch of our rural economy are Sufliciently known. To him it may chießy be attributed, that within the last twenty-five years fifty thou- Sand acres of waste in ihe county of Somerset have been divided, enclozed, and brought into a high state of cultivation. To him it is that the dreary forest of Mendip is become a garden!

Nor can I discover any probable ground for the astonish- ment your Correspondent expresses on occasion of my having quoted an experiment conducicd by the veteran agriculturist Mr. A. Young; Surely an experiment made, and the reszults Stated by any practical farmer whatever, would seem to be in Some Measure entitled to respect, unless any well-grounded Suspicion Should arise as to the veracity or partial bias of the experimenter. But, in the case stated, Mr. Young was pre- Po0sSessed in favour of the Leicester, in opposition to the Me- r1n0, and his concluding expression is“ upan a review of the experiment from the beginning, the superior gain of the Spa- niards is remarkable; they were Superior to all the first autumn, also through the first winter. In the following Summer they were very inferior; bufin the next winter, upon cake, theyTre- gained their former Superiority, and upon the whole make a figure which I must conſess I did not expect." Annals, Yol. 31.2. 224. Now tor myseltf, with suhmission to Mr. Young, I Should not be at all disappointed if Merino Sheep made es- actly Sucn a figure in tne 1egult of Similar experiments con- stantly repeated; but I certainly Should be very much disap- Pointed, it on the main of a given number of experiinents,

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