FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 91 



quarters, with plenty of good, dry litter, being careful tliat there are 

 no small nooks or places where the little lambs, in their first aimless 

 wanderings, can get away from their mothers and become chilled. 

 They seem possessed with a desire to crawl into some hole or crevice,, 

 and the colder they become the farther they will wedge themselves in, 

 and there they die, not seeming to know enough to back out. 



Just here let me say that should the little lambs from any cause be- 

 come chilled, which will sometimes hai3pen, even with the most care- 

 ful shepherd, nothing in our experience will compare with the hot 

 water treatment. We found and practiced this method for ourselves 

 long before we ever saw anything written on the subject or knew of 

 anyone else using it. Were I to tell you all the results we l:\iave had 

 from this treatment, I fear you would take the statements with a grains 

 of caution. But believe or not, as you please, we have seen lambs sup- 

 posed to be dead restored by this treatment within thirtj^ minutes so 

 that they were returned to their mothers and ever after looked out 

 for themselves. 



We put the lamb in a pail and, holding its helpless head above the 

 brim, we pour on as hot water as we can nicely hold our hands in, and 

 as the water chills, pour off and repeat until the lamb is thoroughly 

 heated up and the blood is sent bounding to every extremity. Now 

 carefully rub dry, and if nothing ails the lamb but chill, he is ready 

 for his dinner with a good lease of life. 



It often occurs that the mother's milk does not come at once, and 

 while the young lamb goes through the motions, yet he really gets no 

 dinner at all, and of course, being weak, soon chills and dies. Or 

 if, indeed, there be milk, sometimes a hard substance may have- 

 formed in the end of the teat, and the- little lamb is unable to start the 

 flow. The shepherd should always see that the teats are free and the 

 milk abundant; or he should resort at once to his bottle of fresh cow's- 

 milk, which should be always on tap at lambing lime. Here a word 

 of caution. When feeding cow's milk, feed but little at a time and 

 often, and let it be from a fresh cow if possible. 



It sometimes occurs, especially with young ewes, that thej do not 

 own their lambs, or perhaps, having twins or triplets, may own one 

 and reject another. We have found a simple remedy for this that 

 works so completely that we have no hesitation in making the assertion 

 that we can make any ewe own any lamb we wish. We make a small 

 pen of narrow boards, about three feet high, three feet and two inches 

 wide, and five feet long, being careful that the boards are close enough 

 together so that a small lamb cannot get through. On each side, twenty 

 inches from the end at the top and eighteen inches at the bottom, we 

 nail a narrow strip down across the boards on the inside, with the 

 edge against the boards. Now, on each side of these pieces, at top, 

 and bottom, we put strips across, between which to make the stanchion, 

 and make a common stanchion as you would for a cow, only lighter 

 and smaller. Now nail boards across the entire bottom of the rac'k 

 under the manger end, forming a tight-bottomed manger in which to. 

 feed hay, grain, roots, etc. 



Now, suppose we have a ewe that owns one lamb and rejects another. 

 The latter will usually be the weaker one, that most needs its mother's: 

 care. We place the sheep in this rack, making fast in the stanchion. 



