THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



365 



hot manure aud treading coiiatantly upon wet straw ; and it 

 was further objected that the manure made by sbeep would 

 be ranch inferior to that maJe by bullocks, and our crops 

 would consequently suffer. These formidable and multiplied 

 objections staggered us. Still, we remembered that sheep 

 were annual sources of profit to us, whilst bullocks were an- 

 nual sources of loss. When our whole winter food was con- 

 sumed by bullocks, as we do not breed, we were driven to 

 buy our sheep for the summer grass at the spring fairs, and 

 generally had to pay a stiff price for them ; but notwithstand- 

 ing ail this, they still paid, but not so well as if they had been 

 purchased in the autumn. The question then presented itself 

 with great force, If there is a good profit on sheep for keeping 

 them from the autumn till the spring, whilst there is none 

 upon bullocks, why not try and consume our food, and make 

 our manure with sheep, and thereby secure this good profit? 

 These reasonings at length, combined with that destructive 

 lung disease, triumphed, and the trial was made. I have now 

 tried sheep in yards for five years. During the three first 

 years I had only a few. Last year, the lung disease appearing 

 in a lot of Scots I had, excited my fears lest it should spread 

 and decimate another lot which I iiad just received from 

 Scotland I therefore determined at once to send the latter 

 lot away, and sell them again, -keeping only those in which 

 the disease had appeared. This drove me to the necessity of 

 purchasing nearly 400 lambs for the purpose of consuming 

 my hay aud mangolds, and of manufacturing my straw into 

 manure. I made very close observations, kept a diary of all 

 necessary particulars, valued them into the yards, and valued 

 them out to grass, with the dates of going in and out ; I also 

 calculated to a fraction their cost for artificial food, noticed 

 very narrowly what quantity of straw they made into manure, 

 and also the quality of the manure, as far as appearances 

 enabled me to judge; noted every loss and its assigned 

 cause, full particulars of which I will hereafter present to the 

 meeting, with other facts which the experiments disclosed. 

 But bei'ore I give these, I wish to make a few remarks upon 

 the general management adopted, and the information it 

 afforded. From close and careful observation last winter and 

 again this — for I have now between 600 and 700 sheep in 

 yards — I find six lambs will tread down as much straw, and 

 make it into good manure, as a £12 or £14 bullock. Some of 

 my men say five will, but I hesitate to assert this, but speak 

 confidently when I say six will. I put the sheep just into my 

 ordinary fold-yards, and always calculate sis sheep to one 

 bullock ; so that where I shonld have ten bullocks I put sixty 

 sheep. During the whole of last winter I don't suppose I had 

 more than a dozen lame sheep whilst they were in the yards ; 

 this winter I have had more, as many of them came lame into 

 the yards — arising, I suppose, from the wetness of the last 

 summer. I may, however, say, there have been far less 

 cases in the yards than there were previously to their coming 

 in, I find it is very essential to keep a thin layer of dry 

 straw over the yard. In wet days we litter them twice a-day, 

 and on fine days once, but we only use a small quantity at a 

 time ; this just keeps the heat of the manure from rising to 

 injure their feet, and prevents them also treading on wet 

 straw during the day. When they first come into the yard, 

 and indeed until the end of February, when the days begin 

 to lengthen, we give them a larger quantity of dry food ; they 

 pick the bedding straw over, and where practicable have a 

 stack or good heap in the yard to run to; we also cut them 

 Chaff, hay, and steaw together, and feed them several times 



a-day with it. We give them a few mangolds twice or thrice 

 a-day, but not in quantities sufficiently large to make them scout; 

 but as the days lengthen we increase the quantity of man- 

 golds, and reduce the supply of dry food. I find au acre of 

 mangolds of an average crop will carry 25 sheep, t. e. 25 lambs, 

 during the weeks they will require to be in the yard, say from 

 the beginning of December to the beginning or middle of Aprilj 

 old sheep would consume more, aud 20 per acre would be a 

 fair calculation. I will now present some details in con- 

 nection with my last year's experiments. The 377 lambs 

 wintered in the yards last year were bought during the 

 months of August and September, and were kept entirely at 

 grass-keeping, without artificial food, until December, when 

 they were consigned to their winter quarters. Lot 1:94 lambs 

 were bought August 22, at an average cost of SOs. 2d. per 

 head, and were valued into the yards on the lOlh of December 

 at 35s. per head. In addition to the natural food already so 

 frequently alluded to, viz., mangoldSj hay aud stra^', they eat 

 4 pint of oats and g lb. of cotton cake per day, at a weekly 

 cost of l|d. per head. Six of these died or had to be killed 

 at intervals during the winter, from different causes, parti- 

 culars of which I have before me, but which I need not stay 

 to enumerate. The remaining 88 were put to grass on the 

 14th of April, valued at 50s. per head, having been in fifteen 

 weeks. Lot 2: 96 lambs were purchased on the 13th Sep- 

 tember, aud cost 303. 6d. per head. These were put into the 

 yards on the 3rd December, valued at 34s. per head, and were 

 kept precisely the same as lot 1. Four of these died, or had 

 to be killed before they left the yards ; the remaining 92 were 

 put to grass on the 14th April, valued also at SOs. per head, 

 having been in sixteen weeks. Lot 3 and lot 4 (34 and 103 

 respectively) were bought at different times during the month 

 of August, at prices ranging from 25s, 6d. to 28if. Lot 3 

 (84) were put into the yards on the 3rd of December, valued at 

 328. 6d. per head, and lived the same as lots 1 and 2. Only 

 one of these died during the winter, and the remaining 83 

 were put to grass on the 14th of April, valued at 48s. per 

 head, having been in sixteen weeks. Lot 4 (103) were put 

 into yards on the 3rd December, valued at 308. each. Thsse, 

 too, were fed the same. Two had to be killed during the 

 winter, and the 101 remaining were put to grass on the 21 st of 

 April, valued at 483. each, haviug been seventeen weeks in the 

 yards. The results when tabulated will stand thus : — 



Lot 1. 



£ 8. d. £ 8. d. 



94 at 35s., December loth 164 10 



Artificial food, at l^d. per week.on 94 8 16 3—173 6 3 



at 503., April 14th 220 



6 casualties , 



3 15 0—223 15 



50 8 9 



Leaving for 15 weeks' keeping and 

 attendance 



Lot 2. ■■ 



96 at 34s., December 3rd 163 4 



Artificial food, at l^d. per week, on 96 9 12 0—172 16 



92 at 508., April 14th 230 



4 casualties 3 7 9-233 7 9 



Leaving for 16 weeks' keeping, &c. 60 11 9 

 Lot 3. 



84 at 323. 6d., December 3rd 136 10 



Artificial food,atlid. per week, on 84 8 8 0—144 18 



83 at 483., April 14th 199 4 



Icasualty 7 0-199 11 



Leaving for 16 weeks' keeping, &c, . 



54 13 Q 



