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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



should have every care aud atteutiou paid them, iiiid be used 

 as quiet and j;eiitle as possible. No stranger, or any dog, 

 ought to precipitately cuter their abode. After yeaniug they 

 should be placed iu the huts, prepared as before stated, for a 

 day or two, that they the more easily be unler the coutrol 

 of the shepherd, aud the ewe iu some degree recover herself, 

 aud the ram gather a little strength. From the huts they 

 should for auother day or two be turned into a well-aheltered 

 fold, prepared for their reception, with a ahed to run to in 

 case of foul weather ; or, if the pen will allow, a psrt may 

 be appropriated for the purpose, as sometimes, if turned out 

 too soon, and the wind be very coM, death from swelliog and 

 mortification will probably take place. When milk is re- 

 quired for sucklinp;, it is much better to keep back a ewe for a 

 day or two, that has an abundance, than it is to administer 

 cow's milk, as they seldom do with it, particularly weak ones ; 

 or a ewe that has brought a dead lamb ma> be reserved for a 

 few days : if a shepherd vsell understands his bujiness, he need 

 never be at a loss when to supply a lamb with a meal of 

 milk. I once had a sheplierd that lambed his ewes tivo 

 years followiug in this way. lie would insist cow's milk did 

 more harm than good : and I do say I never had one so suc- 

 cessful in rearing lambs. When an unnatural presentation 

 takes place, or a ewe in any way requires assistance, great 

 care as well as experience is necessary to be observed; too 

 much haste oftentimes proving fatal both to ewe and 

 lamb. On the other hand, it is not well to delay 

 help too long; the ewe, by so much heaving and strain- 

 ing, gets tired and worn out, and becomes so weak as 

 not to be able to bear up under the severe operation. 

 In all difficult cases, I at once administer a dose of medi- 

 cine—either 3 oz. of .salts or 3 drachms of aloes, with a 

 little ginger. This assi.sts the boweLs, and tends to allay 

 the fever which invariab'y accompanies these cases ; then, 

 in the course of four or five hours, a scruple of opium, as a 

 means of easinj^ the pains, and preventing them from heav- 

 ing or straining ; keeping up the system by giving gruel 

 sweetened with treacle, and a small quantity of port-wine 

 added, or what I think equally as nourishing, a pint or pint 

 and a half of linseed mucilage, given three times a day. 

 They should now have plenty of roots hauled to them about 

 the seeds or grass-fiekls, witli as much good hay as they 

 will eat, but, if it can be avoided, rot again placing them 

 on the turnips, the lambs seldom doing at all well when 

 confined on them. Those having twins should, in addition, 

 have a (csv oats or a little linseed-cake, as I believe it would 

 be the means of creating a gnod quantitj' aud quality of 

 milk, and that the subsequent thriving of the laml)s depends 

 in a great measuic o;i a good start. As the season advanccsi 

 and their natural keep (grass) begins to be their chief food, 

 they are commonly turned adrift, to do the best they can 

 for themselves. They should, however, be kept as few to- 

 gether, and changed as often, as circumstances will admit. 

 The last few years, by another method— that of hurdling off 

 the seeds, giving a fresh tie or fold daily— it is affirmed 

 the sheep do much better, and the keep goes much further. 

 How far this is correct or otherwise, I should not like to 

 take upon me to say, as I have only tried it one season ; 

 but, if my experience on that occasion is worth anything, 

 my opinion would be the reverse of its advocates'. Most 

 of the diseases our sheep are subject to being little under- 

 stood even by much more experienced persons than myself, 

 I must not attempt to describe them. We know that, if in 

 good condition, in nine cases out often, the surest and liest 

 remedy is the knife. I will close my remarks with a few 

 words on the treatment of our Ciiilver tegs, which, if not 



directly, is indirectly connected with the subject before us 

 — that is, as the spring advances, and they begin to change 

 their teeth, the roots should by all means be cut for them, 

 as, if allowed to gnaw them, as is the too common ])raclice, 

 they will scarcely eat enough to keep them in growing con- 

 dition. Tlie expense of cutting wfll not exceed Id. per 

 head per wei'k. This saving in hay will quite compensate 

 for the extra quantity of roots consumed; aiid I am certain 

 that, wiien turned to gris-s they would be from 2s. to 3s., if 

 not 3s. to 4s., per head better for the outlay, and, conse- 

 quently, more likely to grow into good ewes. 



Mr. Thomas said : Mr. Drew had entered so fully into the 

 details of the subject, that little remained to be said. He quite 

 agreed with Mr. Drew, as to the desirability of shearing the 

 ewes jireviously to weaning the lambs, believing the sucking of 

 the lambs a great means of preventing iufliramation of the 

 udder should the ewe take cold from washing or shearing. He 

 was in the habit of having his ewes dipped once and his lambs 

 twice in tlie course of the season ; he thouglit it highly advan- 

 tageous to do so. He liked to be in a position to allow them a 

 fair quantity of roots, with plenty of hay for at least a mouth 

 before laraMng, but did not approve of confining them on tur- 

 nips after lambing, as he had always found them to do better 

 placed oa pasture, aud supplying them there with swedes aud 

 mangold wurzel. 



Mr. Butt in a great measure agreed with what had fallen 

 from Mr. Drew; but as regards hurdling off the seeds iu sum- 

 mer, he had tried it several seasons, aud certainly thought it a 

 more ecouomical plan than allowing them to roam at large, 

 the keep going further ; the lambs also, front being allowed to 

 precede the ewes did well ; he must, however, admit, that as 

 the keep became old, they did not feed it down quite so close 

 as he could wish. 



Mr. Blackwell was of cpiuiou that a liberal supply of 

 turnips did not hurt at any time, provided they had plenty of 

 hay along with them ; he had also known ewes and lambs do 

 well on youug turnips iu dry weather; he thought turnips 

 (if young) much better for producing milk than swedes. 



Colonel KiNGSCOTE felt greatly interested iu the dis- 

 cussion going on. He wished to know if it was advisable for 

 lambs after being taken from their mothers to have access to 

 water or not ? as he had often observed the drinking place 

 where lambs were running fenced off, and he could not 

 help thinking that iu very dry warm weather water was 

 necessary. 



Mr. Drew in reply to Colonel Kingscote'a enquiry said : 

 It was the opinion of many that water had a tendency to make 

 them scour : for himself, he thought that if they always had 

 had access to water no injury would aiiae from the practice; 

 but if for a time kept from it, it theu became imperative to 

 continue to do so. Until the last four years he was not in the 

 habit of allowing them water; the last year, however, of not 

 allowing it, the shepherd removing the hurdles one day in very 

 warm weather for some cattle to drink, neglected to replace 

 them ; consequently the lambs got to the pool and drank con- 

 siderably; they afterwards commenced ecouriug, which we could 

 not atop, and 27 of them died in about six weeks. Since that 

 time I have never kept them from water, and have not sus- 

 tained any loss. 



Mr. G. Babber thought it very desirable to remove the 

 ewes from the lambing fold as soon after yeaning as could 

 with safety be done, placing them about in small lots iu warm 

 well-sheltered spots to gather strength. He was of opinion 

 the ewes and lambs would do on turnips for a short time, care 

 being taken to provide shelter; and in case of rain straw should 

 be shakeu about for the lambs to lie on. Curdling of the milk 



