Note 1068 — Chapter XIX · ST. GEORGE AND THE PARILIA

Columella, De re rustica, vii. 3. 11. In this respect the practice of ancient Italian farmers would seem to have differed from that of modern English breeders. In a letter (dated 8th February 1908) my friend Professor W. Somerville of Oxford writes: “It is against all modern custom to arrange matters so that lambs are born five months after April 21, say the end of September.” And, again, in another letter (dated 16th February 1908) he writes to me: “The matter of coupling ewes and rams in the end of April is very perplexing. In this country it is only the Dorset breed of sheep that will ‘take’ the ram at this time of the year. In the case of other breeds the ewe will only take the ram in autumn, say from July to November, so that the lambs are born from January to May. We consider that lambs born late in the season, say May or June, never thrive well.”