THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



479 



would suffice. In this way much of the inferior fodder 

 of this winter may be profitably consumed. 



I will now say a few words upon the artificial ad- 

 ditions and aids which may be made available through 

 the winter in economising food, or in substitution of the 

 usual supply. For this purpose the great resort must be 

 to the corn crops, Wheat will this year produce a large 

 proportion of ofFal : this might form a staple food in 

 many cases. It also leaves a large proportionate quan- 

 tity of tailings at every dressing : this would be very 

 serviceable, either ground into flour, or steeped in grain. 

 Barley has been much injured by the weather: much 

 refuse barley may be brought into requisition. Peas 

 suffered considerably by the wet ; these should be 

 ground, and applied to the fodder. Oats in the sheaf 

 might with great advantage bo cut into chaff, and given 

 to store stock, particularly young stock. Tilaize might 

 be substituted in some degree for bean-meal. The 

 standard artificials, as linseed-cake and rape-cake, will, 

 of course, form a very large portion of this supply ; be- 

 sides these, we have cotton-seed cake, dodder-cake, 

 mustard-cake, and carib beans, all to be made available 

 in a season like this. Of course the farmer's judgment 

 must guide him in the application as well as preparation 

 of any of these, and other helps he may feel inclined to 

 adopt. It is important that all is done at once: on no ac- 

 count should the stock be compelled by sheer hunger to 

 eat or die ; no, their food must be prepared for them, and 

 made so acceptable that they will greedily de>'Our it, or 

 loss of condition must ensue. All this will require both 

 skill, attention, and judgment ; mixtures soon dete- 

 riorate, and become not only bad, but injurious to the 

 stock. Warmth, cleanliness, and wholesome food are 

 everything to stock ; and taking this as the rule, let 

 every part of their management be in accordance with 

 it, and thus threatening as the coming winter now ap- 

 pears to be, a satisfactory '• wintering" of farm stock 

 may reward the stock-master. 



I have confined myself in the above to sug- 

 gestions for making provision for the sustenance of 

 cattle during the ensuing winter. I shall now offer a 

 few suggestions relative to the " wintering" of sheej) 

 in a year like the present, when so little food is to be 

 found for their support. It is a long time since we have 

 had to contend with such a season — no good hay ; straw 

 unusually bad and tainted ; grain sprouted, damp, and 

 thin ; mangolds small, and defective in quality ; turnips 

 small in size, and light in crop ; coleseed leafy, without 

 rib, and of bad quality; the whole grain crop of the 

 country being fully one-third below an average one. 



What, then, is to be done with our flocks ? How are 

 they to be brought satisfactorily through a winter 

 fraught with such difficulties } The flocks arc by no 

 means less, or shorter in amount. We believe a fair 

 average number of sheep have to be provided for, and 

 that out of a crop less, we say, by one-third in bulk than 

 usual, and, owing to the cold, wet summer, possessing 

 very little nutritive value. 



What, then, we ask, is to be done ? 



First, as a general rule, sheep must be well taken care 

 of in the early part of the winter. As the spring puts 

 in, they will bear a little pinching ; but even that is a 

 dangerous course, should a flush of grass come early 

 in the season. However, it is certainly better to put 

 them " on short commons" in the spring, rather than 

 in the winter, if such a course is inevitable from scarcity 

 of keeping. But in such an unfortunate case the food 

 should be good, particularly if they have but little of it. 

 A few ounces of cake each, with a small supply of green 

 food and cut chaff, will keep the sheep in fair condition 

 for a considerable time, in the early months of spring, 

 if the cold is not severe. The milder the season, the 

 less food will they require, providing that little is good 

 and nutritious. 



The chief thing, then, to be done, is to economise 

 food in every possible way, and to see that the flocks 

 have good lairage, and that they are in every way made 

 as comfortable and are kept as quiet as possible. The 

 task of economising green crops is not a formidable one. 

 It is the universal custom to give to sheep all the sliced 

 turnips they will eat, and even permit them to waste a 

 portion. In a season of scarcity like the present, I 

 would suggest that fair and reasonable rations be dealt 

 out to them, but no more ; that cut chaff' from oat- 

 sheaves or barley-sheaves, and a small quantity of hay, 

 be daily given to them ; and that a ration of cake be 

 served out every evening. 



I am not by any means an advocate for stinting sheep 

 in their daily food ; but it will be found that a moderate 

 allowance of turnips, swedes, mangolds, or even cole- 

 seed, with a somewhat liberal ration of cake or corn, 

 will keep them in good thriving condition. I therefore 

 suggest the following course of management : The sheep 

 to be folded upon the crop in stinted folds — i. e., rather 

 confined for room than otherwise ; that every portion of 

 the bulbous crops — i. c, turnips, swedes, or mangolds 

 — be cut up for them, but be served out very sparingly, 

 in troughs ; the allowance not to exceed 51bs. each per 

 day for Iambs, and 7lb8. for older sheej) (less will suf- 

 fice) ; the balance of food to be made up by cake, corn, 

 cut chaff, hay, and straw. The proportions should be 

 something like the following : For lambs, the allowance 

 of cake should commence at -^-Ib, per day, to be in- 

 creased to ^Ib., and to have, in addition, cut chaff, 

 straw, &c. For older sheep, to begin with ^Ib. cake 

 per dav, to be increased to lib., with chaff. If corn— 

 i, e., oats, barley, beans, or peas — is used, the allow- 

 ance of oats for lambs, per day, should be half a pint, 

 to be increased gradually to three-quarters of a pint; 

 of barley, to begin with something less than half a pint, 

 to be also increased to three-quarters of a pint; of 

 beans or peas, to begin with a quarter of a pint, to be 

 gradually increased to half a pint. For older sheep, 

 about one-third more of each kind might be given, in 

 the same gradual way. Straw ad libitum. 



This would, no doubt, be a favourable season for re- 



