160 THE TREATMENT OF BORDER 



lamb, let him cut holes in the skin for each leg of the lamb to 

 pass through. Then, after placing this skin on the lamb he 

 desires to mother, let him put each of its legs through a hole, 

 and after doing so he will not require to sew or tie it on, as some 

 do. Before the skin is put on it is best to rub over uncovered 

 parts, such as the face, legs, and tail, so that the smell of the 

 lamb may be uniform. After this is done the lamb may be 

 placed with the ewe. If she does not take to it at once she 

 should be haltered, as has been before described, and after her 

 milk has passed through the lamb's body she will adopt it. To 

 illustrate what may be accomplished by the halter system, the 

 following will fully suffice : — 



A shepherd sold a single lamb off a ewe (fat) at eight weeks 

 old. As the ewe had abundance of milk, he was determined, if 

 possible, to make her adopt two pet lambs, which were about 

 seven weeks old, and verv lar^re and fat. Taking the ewe into 

 a lambing-pen he haltered her in a corner, allowing only six 

 inches of rope, then fixing a hurdle so that she could only move 

 a little to each side, he placed the lambs beside her, and enclosed 

 them all in the small pen. In this position the ewe could not 

 stir, and the lambs were unable to escape ; and at length, when 

 they had sucked and she could not get away from them, the ewe 

 gave in and took the lambs, which were sent out to pasture along 

 with her. This saved the shepherd the time and trouble of hand- 

 feeding the lambs. When twins are not equal in strength the 

 strongest lamb takes too large a share of the mother's milk, and 

 in this case the strong lamb should be muzzled. To accomplish 

 the desired end properly it is necessary to construct a nose-bag 

 of linen or unbleached cotton, provided with tapes to secure 

 it to the lamb's head. Holes must also be cut, that the 

 lamb may breathe and yet be unable to suck. This is the best 

 plan which can be adopted to secure enough milk to the weaklier 

 lamb. The nose-bag is removed often enough during the day to 

 allow the lamb sufficient milk for its maintenance. Some 

 endeavour to give the weak lamb an equal chance with the 

 strong one by separating it from its mother part of the day. 

 This is neither a safe or effectual plan ; for the lamb, having to 

 be confined when it should be at liberty, and not getting the 

 attention of its mother, as it otherwise would do if muzzled and 

 allowed to accompany her, is very apt to become estranged. The 

 nmzzle system is all that can be desired, and is worthy of a 

 trial. Do what he will, the shepherd must frequently have a 

 few pet lambs to bring up, but more often there are too few 

 lambs to place with ewes which are well able to bring up twins. 



When ewes die, it is scarcely possible to avoid having pets, as 

 of course it is very improbable that ewes will lamb single lambs 

 just in time to receive those which have become orphans. These 



