l€03- Rernarls on the Managenwit if Sheep. 39^ 



portion of heath, It will be moft properly employed in raifing wed- 

 der (lieep for the Englilh pallurcs \ for tins valuable Ihrub, purifies 

 zxxA refines the carcafe, as it advances in (treniah and bulk, and 

 thereby prepares it for an afier feeding. Where a department 

 of tlie farm is high and cold, and will not pallure ewes to ad- 

 vantage, it ought to be affigned to the breeding of dinmonts ; 

 but where the pallure is accelhble to ewes through the molt of 

 the fcafon, they ought to have tlie preference, as being the moft 

 profitable ftock. Hogs are alfo advantageous, when they can be 

 brought through the winter without the ravages of any annual 

 diftemper; but where they are in a broken, unequal, and confe- 

 quently unfattabl-e ffcate, dinmontliig them becomes neceilary, as 

 this brings them to a nearer uniformity, and generally to a toler- 

 ably good condition. 



The lambs undergo caftiatiorj, when between fix and ic\ex\ 

 weeks old. This operation checks the general fpread of the 

 i*yftem ; gives a dwariilh and elFeminate caffc to the countenance, 

 and puts a flop to the growth of the horn ; therefore, if other 

 circumftances would allow, the delaying it for a fortnight long- 

 er would be highly beneficial. * As hot weather may, how- 

 ever, now be expected, as the feminal chord and its collateral 

 blood-vefiels rapidly increafe in (Irength, and their various con- 

 iiexlons become more cntwifted ; this delay, liow advantageous 

 focvcr In other refpecls, iTiight be attended with confiderable dan- 

 ger; and therefore, after all, 1 am inclined to think, that caftration 

 (hould continue to be performed at the ufudl time. As to the 

 operation itfelf, it ought to be performed with all poflible tender- 

 nefs, and the lambs, immediately after, carefully conducted to 

 their dams, f After caftration, the carcafe rapidly encreafes in 



N n n 4 fatnefs •, 



* It is fomewhat ftrange, that cailratlon fliould have fuch oppolite ef- 

 feds on the bull and the ram, by inereafing the growth of the horn in 

 the former, and diminifliiug it in the latter. Doubtlef?, a proper in- 

 veftigation of the caufe, would lead to a clearer aud jutler knowledge of 

 both animals, than Is yet obtained of either. 



-j- When the lambs are caftrate, a general Inquifition take« place, and 

 there are always feme difcqvered, which have the exterior marks of rams, 

 but in reality are not. One kind, are called Rig/am/si having one llone 

 in the ferotum, and another in the back, a little behi.-.d the kidneys. 

 They are generally well made, and therefore, fome ftoremailers keep 

 them for the ufe of the ewes ; a praftice, that ought to be difcontinued, 

 as It Is fure of Introducing a great number of the fame kind into the 

 llock. Taking away the (lone from the ferotum, difqualifies them from 

 impregnating the females, but does not leflen their ardour for coition, 

 **hich inevitably reduces them once in the fcafon. 



