312 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



winter, by reason of its medicinal qualities as an antidote for colds and catarrhal troubles, and 

 besides, the sheep soon acquire a taste for it, and derive from it much the same benefit they 

 would from nibbling boughs, containing similar properties, in the forests. If grain is to be 

 fed during winter, as it undoubtedly should be in the New England States, corn should be 

 very sparingly used, while oats and peas can be safely and profitably fed in considerable 

 quantities. Shorts may be fed to advantage. Cotton seed meal has been used to advantage 

 by many of our best flock-masters. The breeding ewes should be taken from the flock two 

 or three weeks before lambing, and fed upon roots, mixed with oatmeal or shorts. 



The circumstances and purposes of each breeder must determine whether the lambs shall 

 come early or late. If a farmer has no suitable convenience for early lambing, it is far better 

 to let the lambs be dropped after the sheep are turned out to pasture in May. &quot;With warm 

 lambing pens and good care, the lambs may come, even in New England, as eai ly as Feb 

 ruary; and thus the lambs are ready for the grass when it starts in the spring. It is better 

 when the spring comes, that the sheep should be turned into the pasture a few hours only, 

 each day, lest a too sudden change induce the scours, which is such a scourge to sheep. The 

 sheep should be thoroughly &quot;tagged,&quot; by which term is meant the cutting away of the wool 

 under the tail down to, and around, the udder, so that the lambs may not be impeded in 

 sucking, and to prevent the accumulation of filth, which would otherwise seriously impede 

 the movements of the animal. 



In the summer the sheep should be changed from one pasture to another, as often as 

 possible. If the farmer has but one pasture, let him run a fence through the middle, and 

 thus become the owner of two pastures, so that his flock may have the necessary change. 



With a few simple precautions in the matter of food, and such details as would naturally 

 suggest themselves to a man of ordinary prudence, there is no reason why our thoroughbred 

 flocks should not be as healthy as any others. It is true that ambitious exhibitors have often 

 sacrificed their best animals to a forcing system which may be productive of good results in 

 the show-pen, but can never fail to do great injury to scientific breeding. The fact that so 

 many high-bred rams suddenly drop dead from no apparent cause, could in most instances be 

 explained by an examination of the liver, which would be found to be diseased, simply from 

 over- feeding and want of exercise.&quot; 



Racks for Feeding, Fences, etc. Where hay is fed to sheep upon the ground, 

 much of that which is valuable is lost by being trodden into the earth; therefore it is essen 

 tial to economy as well as the welfare of the flock, that suitable racks or mangers be provided 

 for feeding purposes. The transition from winter or dry feed, to pasturage, is a critical 

 period and liable to be attended with evil consequences, unless it be made so gradual as to 

 avoid any shock to the animal system. If the grain supply be gradually diminished in 

 quantity so as to be kept up until the grass becomes long enough to furnish sufficient sus 

 tenance, the evil consequences of the change will be obviated. 



In tagging, as well as shearing sheep, great care should be taken not to cut the skin, as 

 any wound would be liable to draw flies which will at once deposit their eggs in it. Should 

 such an accident occur, it should at once be covered with a mixture of tar, lard, and turpen 

 tine, as recommended for use in docking or castrating lambs. Sheep husbandry is attended 

 with much less expense in the South and Southwest, than at the North, where much of the 

 food for the flocks must of necessity be stored for winter use when the ground is covered 

 with snow. 



Good fences are requisite where sheep are to be confined to a pasture, and as they are 

 notorious jumpers, a pasture may as well have no fence at all as a poor one, since the entire 

 flock will be liable to follow one bad example of this kind. Good fences will save the farmer 

 much annoyance and expense, besides the satisfaction of always knowing where to find his 

 flock. They should be constantly watched, for straying sheep will be liable to soon become 



