146 THE TKEATMEKT OF BORDER 



Shelter. 



Having now brought our ewe fiock up to lambing time, we 

 must say a little in regard to the shelter which they require at 

 that season. Most farmers give this point too little considera- 

 tion, although there is no economy so thriftless in the whole 

 range of agriculture as that which denies proper shelter to the 

 ewes at this period. In the first place, ewes should lie on a good 

 pasture during the day, the late-lambers on a lea field, and the 

 early-lambers on the lambing field which should be in close 

 proximity to the lambing fold. Every evening those ewes wdiich 

 are in the lambing field should be brousfht into the fold for the 

 night, while the rest are allowed to remain out all night. Lamb- 

 ing ewes are all the better for exercise if properly given, but to 

 drive them long distances by means of dogs, without any due 

 consideration of their state, is a serious mistake. The proper 

 plan to adopt is this — When the gate of the pasture is opened, 

 let the shepherd not roughly hound on his dog, but let the ewes 

 quietly wend their way out of the field, allowing them to regulate 

 their own pace on th^ Nvay home. It frequently happens that a 

 ewe is seized with the pains of labour on the road, or just before 

 she leaves the field. In this case it would not only be inadvis- 

 able but cruel and dangerous to drive her hard. There is 

 certainly no occasion for hurry upon the shepherd's part, and 

 the ewes, if left to their own inclination, will naturally prefer to 

 walk slowly. 



But to return to the question of shelter. The thriftless 

 economy that would deny to the ewes shelter from the pitiless 

 blast, or expose them during the lambing season to the unpro- 

 tected rigours of winter, has been proved, both by practice and 

 theory, to be as unprofitable as it is cruel. There being much 

 room for improvement in respect to shelter, it is a matter worthy 

 of much consideration. If the lambing season should be early 

 or the weather severe, the benefit of shelter will be doubly 

 apparent. It is a pleasing circumstance to find that the profit 

 to the breeder and humanity to the sheep are so closely allied. 

 We shall now proceed to describe some of the more common 

 methods of sheltering ewes at night. 



A lambing-fold for sixteen score of half-bred ewes is con- 

 structed as follows : — A small field of half an acre is chosen 

 behind the homestead. At the north side there is a high stone 

 wall, and on the east a thorn hedge, which effectually breaks the 

 force of east winds. Along the north wall are erected a row of 

 twenty houses, " parricks " or pens, the roofing of which is made 

 by fixing timber from the top of the wall to the posts which 

 form the doors and fronts of the pens. One door serves for two 

 pens, there being in the interior a middle division, which does 



