Excerpt from Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases; To Which Is Added the Mountain Shepherd's Manual

It was not in the larger factories alone that the conversion of the fleece of the sheep into fabrics of various kinds was carried on this formed a constant and a large portion of the domestic employment, and that not only in the cottage, but in the palace. The mother and the sisters of that patriot monarch, Alfred, whose name will be venerated as long as British liberty remains, devoted much of their leisure time to the labours of the spinning wheel. So universal, in fact, was this employment, and, consequently, so numerous the animals from whom the material was obtained, and the fabrics that were devoted to domestic use, that the sheep and its wool were early and unequivocally acknowledged to be the foundation of the national prosperity and wealth. Wool became the substitute for money. Did any domestic contention exist, so many pounds of it were demanded from each vassal - was any foreign enterprise attempted, the wool furnished the sinews of war-or, was a monarch to be released from captivity, the ransom was calculated by the number of sacks of wool. In all the middle periods of British history, the fleece was the expression and the measure of national prosperity or calamity.

If, in process of time, other branches of commerce should be Opened, and particularly the introduction of the silk manufacture begin in some measure to lessen the demand for woollen goods, and the establishment of the cotton trade cause a complete revolution in the consumption and the value of the staple commodity of the kingdom, still the sheep and its fleece are objects of paramount importance. No fewer than of these useful animals graze on our pastures. Exclusive of the value of the carcase, that of the fleece alone cannot be less than seven millions of pounds ster ling, employing nearly individuals, and ultimately yielding manu factures to the amount of at least twenty-one millions of pounds annually.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.