SHEEP HUSBAXDRY. ^19 



at maturity and will produce more wool and of a better quality, 

 their young will in all respects be preferable to those produced ear- 

 lier in life. Pi'oper fall and winter management I consider of 

 vast importance. Many sadly neglect their flocks late in the fall 

 and early in winter, evidently thinking it economy to keep their 

 sheep grazing as long as the ground is bare, and even after snow 

 covers the ground, feed the poorest of hay or straw without grain 

 until the wool ceases to grow, and poor old nanny nearly bleats her 

 life away, and then wonder why nearly all the lambs die and the 

 fleeces are so light. xJy theory and practice is, as soon as the 

 ground is frozen hard and the grass has lost its sweetness, they 

 should be taken to their winter quarters and fed upon good hay and 

 grain, and all flocks thus cared for will present a wide contrast to 

 those otherwise treated. No animal upon the farm is more suscep- 

 tible to kind treatment" than the sheep, and none more fond of vari- 

 ety in food, and frequently if left to their natural impulses, will 

 seek variety for medicinal virtues. 



I am aware that the ideas which I have presented will be consid- 

 ered erroneous by some, they are my own, nevertheless, and will be 

 so until I get better ones, and my hope is, that they may stir up 

 some one more competent to give our farmers better ones. 



