306 ON THE ECONOMICAL USE OF TUENIPS 



numerous cases reported to him without having the conviction 

 forced upon the mind that turnips are most dangerous food ta 

 be given in large quantities without a mixture of dry food to- 

 breeding ewes. His conckisions are thus briefly stated, " I think 

 it must be clear to any person who has followed my remarks in 

 giving details of cases that swedes are proved to be unhealthy 

 food for breeding ewes. I might have adduced many other 

 cases from my returns confirmatory of this. In the few in- 

 stances where the ewes have done well when feeding on swedes, 

 the daily supply has been limited, and there has almost invari- 

 ably been an allowance of other food as welL My experience 

 has shown me that swedes are constipating and heating, and 

 liable to disorder the system of the ewes and to produce low 

 fever." Mr John Wilson, Willnage, Dunse (formerly of Eding- 

 ton Mains), in a communication to us on this subject, says : — 

 " A full allowance of dry food along with turnips is even more 

 essential in the case of sheep than of cattle. This is even of 

 more importance in the case of breeding ewes than of eild sheep. 

 Turnips alone and without stint are a most unsafe and unsuit- 

 able food for pregnant ewes, and more esj^ecially during the 

 latter half of their period, when the rapidly-growing foetus draws 

 so severely on the vital forces of the dam. At this stage ewes 

 are greedy eaters, and if allowed to gorge themselves with cold 

 watery turnips there is great risk of their casting their lambs 

 prematurely ; or worse still, of the lambs dying in the wombs 

 and being ejected at the full time in a putrid state. It has 

 happened several times during the past twenty years that a 

 failure of the turnip crop has compelled flockmasters to stint 

 their ewes as regards turnips, and to make up for this by a fuller 

 allowance of nourishing dry food than they had been accustomed 

 to give, with the invariable result that they have done better 

 than in years when turnips were plentiful and lavishly used." 



In explanation of the imfavourable influence of large supplies 

 of turnips to breeding ewes, Mr AVoods says (p. 37, 38) : — 

 " There is, I think, no use denying the fact that the blood 

 derived from innutritions food taken into the stomach of a ewe 

 is very poor in quality compared with that which is formed 

 from sound healthy food. In such a case, the organs which ought 

 to be supported by good and healthy blood are supplied with blood 

 that is little better than water, and, becoming debilitated, their 

 natural functions are impaired and weakened. The lamb in the 

 womb of course derives its support through the blood of its mother. 

 If that blood is weak, impure, and wanting in sustaining power, 

 the lamb must suft'er, lose vitality, and becoming nothing more 

 nor less than an offending body to be eventually expelled from 

 the womb. Hence the sad number of abortions which my 

 returns unfortunately disclose. On the other hand, where ewes 



