410 Abstract Report of Afjncultural Discussions. 



In tlic selection of rams there is much room for jutlgment and 

 discretion, although they commonly run in the flock indiscriminately 

 to the nrnuber of 6 or 7. Discrimination should be used in selecting 

 rams, that we may obArdatc slujht defects in particular ewes ; but if any 

 one be decidedly faulty, she should be at once discarded ; neither 

 should the shei)herd be listened to for a moment, if, after she has got 

 rather fresh, he wants to put her back intg the flock. 



With respect to the buying or hiring of rams, my experience 

 prompts me to make this suggestion. Let a farmer go to a show to 

 select a breeder, but not a rain. Prize-getting and stock-getting (I say 

 it without wishing to find fault with this or any other Society), appear 

 unhappily to bo not easily reconcilable. Once, at a show, I ventiu'cd 

 to ask the late Mr. Webb : " Did you ever know the best sheep get tho 

 jirize, because I never did?" and he rc})lied, with his quiet smile, 

 " The Judges, no doubt, know better than we do." 



Farmers are too often stingy about securing good rams, to their o\vn 

 injiuy. Cases have occurred in my own district in which I have been 

 enabled to be of some little service to some of my neighboiu's who 

 were fresh comers, and from want of skill in selection were owners 

 of very indittercnt flocks. I ventured to say to them, "Will you 

 allow me to take your flocks in hand, with the understanding that I 

 shall be paid for any outlay I make only according to the rcsidts ob- 

 tained y" In one case, when my offer was accepted, I at once drafted 

 the ewes of a flock of 370, and sent some rams of my own. The 

 residt I obtained was an increase in tlic prcjcceds above the former 

 season of 300/., with an outlay of 80/. for cake, or a clear gain 

 of 220/. 



I will now add a few hints on the autumn management of ewes. 

 Ilape is one of om- most available crops, but if given in a wet season, 

 without the addition of dry food, its use is apt to bring on inflamma- 

 tion of the uterus; the liver is, in the first instance, atfccted, general 

 debility follows, and the liver complaint soon extends its influence to 

 the region of the stomach, and is conveyed to the uterus. In such 

 cases opium is the best remedy, or a preparation called " the Shep- 

 herd's Friend," but the use of common salts is to be avoided, as 

 they irritate the bowels. The danger from fever after partiu-ition 

 is much increased by confinement; so much so, that a question 

 arises whether this fever is not contagious. I had 16 ewes taken 

 ill one morning in a barn, of which six died before noon. I then 

 ordered them to be removed into an open yard, and the veterinary 

 surgeon, when he came, said that but for this I should probably 

 have lost them all. 



Hoggets should be well kept in winter, 1 pint of oats being a useful 

 addition to their common fare. In the late trying season I have kept 

 them successfully %^-ithout any roots on cut wheat-straw, slightly salted, 

 and wheat-meal, at a cost of 6d. per week. 



In conclusion, let me observe that the flockmaster must make his 

 choice between avooI and mutton. One or other must be to some extent 

 sacrificed, for generally the sheep which have most wool have tho 

 least flesh, and vice versa. 



