236 THE BLACKFACED BEEED OF SHEEP. 



details of management, but merely to give a short outline of the 

 general principles. 



Throuohout the south of Scotland, the method of management 

 varies very little. There, as a rule, it is a ewe stock that alone 

 is kept. Between the northern and southern counties there is, 

 however, a considerable difference. In the first place the High- 

 land farms are mostly under a mixed ewe and wether stock ; 

 then again the practice of wintering makes an important dis- 

 tinction between the two parts of the country. In the south 

 nearly all the sheep are wintered on the farm. To this rule the 

 priucipal exceptiou is the case of the south-western counties, 

 where the practice is to send away the hoggs to winter on 

 the dairy farms in the low-lying districts. The Highland 

 farmer, on the other hand, is compelled to winter away all 

 his hoggs, and sometimes part of the one-year-old sheep as well. 

 The routine of the year's management may briefly be described, 

 — taking first the south. A fit time to begin the season's work 

 is with the sale of the cast ewes in October, which are 

 generally drafted when six years old. Formerly it was the 

 almost universal practice to sell these sheep by the clad score ; 

 but this custom has of late been disappearing, owing to the 

 popularity of auction marts. The price generally realised by 

 this class of stock has been in past years about 263., but during 

 this and last autumn they have reached the extraordinary price 

 of from 35s. to 40s. The purpose to which they are generally 

 put is one for which they are admirably adapted. This is the 

 production of what are known as greyfaced lambs. The ewes, 

 after being bought by the lowland farmer, are crossed for 

 one year with a Leicester or some other long-woolled tup. 

 Where the land is not suitable for bringing the lambs into 

 the fat market, they are kept on, and brought out as hoggs in the 

 following year. One characteristic of these ewes and their pro- 

 geny, which tended greatly to popularise them, is their hardiness. 

 This enables them to winter on rough ground without turnips or 

 artificial feeding. In these days, when cultivation has been 

 paying so badly, the inducement to farmers to give increased 

 attention to this mode of adding to the resources of the farm has 

 been very considerable, and it is therefore not surprising that 

 the blackfaced trade has been materially benefited. The localities 

 to which the ewes usually go are the northern counties of 

 England, and the districts of Scotland where the pastures are not 

 "stormed with snow," and where sheep can pick their way 

 through the winter. 



When the cast ewes have been put away, attention is generally 

 turned to the dipping, though, as with Cheviots, it may be 

 questioned whether it is not better to delay this operation till 

 January or February. The dip that can be most recommended 

 is a mixture that may easily be prepared by any farmer. The 



