on Heavy and Light Land. 247 



palatable and nutritious by a small addition of artificial food. Nor 

 would such a system be so extravagant as at first it might appear. 

 Let us assume, by way of example, that our crop of turnips equals 

 15 tons per acre, and that, instead of 20 lbs. per head, we give 

 10 lbs. (amply sufficient), with 1 lb. of straw-chaff, and \ lb. a day 

 each of artificial food, and it follows that 100 sheep will consume 

 an acre in 33 days, and 7 cwt. of extra food will be spent on each 

 acre, besides 1^ ton of straw ; so as considerably to increase our 

 produce of corn, besides the chief object of keeping a heavier 

 stock of breeding sheep in a healthy state. 



That ewes will do well upon a very moderate supply of roots and 

 well-harvested straw, even without any extra help, may be gathered 

 from both experience and analogy. In-calf cows can be kept in 

 good condition, when dry, upon 25 to 30 lbs. of roots with straw- 

 chaff. A cow is ten times as heavy as a sheep, and consequently, 

 were the digestive apparatus precisely similar, about 3 lbs. ol roots 

 would suffice ; but Mr. Lawes has recently shown, in his valuable 

 lecture before the Dublin Society, that in consequence of a differ- 

 ence subsisting in the proportion of intestines and stomachs, cattle 

 can consume a coarser and more bulky food than sheep, whilst 

 sheep again may be fed with a less nutritious food than pigs. He 

 shows that for 100 lbs. weight, the ox has 11^ lbs. stomach and 

 only 2 J lbs. of intestines ; the sheep 7^ lbs. of stomach and 3^ lbs. 

 intestines ; whilst the pig has only lA lb. stomach to 6'2 lbs. of 

 intestines. Thus the ox is enabled to take a larger proportion 

 of woody fibre in his food than sheep, and sheep than pigs. The 

 latter again ^^ feeds principally upon starch or allied materials, 

 known to be acted upon by the secretions of the intestines. The 

 sheep, again, requires more starchy food than the ox, as is evi- 

 denced by its having a larger proportion of intestine ; therefore, 

 in dealing with oxen and sheep, we must modify our proportions 

 of food. If we double the roots and halve the straw, we shall have 

 a mixture that the digestive system can act upon. I should, there- 

 fore, propose 6 to 8 lbs. of roots and 1 to lA^ lbs. of straw per 

 diem ; and if these materials could be united as pulp and chaff, I 

 believe they would be readily eaten and supply the animal with 

 a good wholesome food. 



We are now, however, discussing the management of sheep 

 on light land, when it must be remembered that the sheep will 

 be folded on the land. The fields being generally large, and 

 often removed from the farm buildings, the system of pulp- 

 ing would often be attended with inconvenience and expense, 

 and therefore impracticable. Here, then, we may assume that 

 the old system of folding and gnawing is to be followed. We 

 may still advantageously limit the consumption of roots, though 

 hardly to the same extent. I have known the following plan 



