SHEEP. 825 



At one month old the lamb has eight temporary front teeth, and three temporary molars 

 on each side of the jaw; at three months a permanent molar is added to each of these three. 

 At nine months the second permanent molar appears; at fourteen months the first two per 

 manent incisors (nippers or cutting teeth) appear in the front of the lower jaw; at eighteen 

 months the sixth and last molar tooth appears. A second cutting tooth appears on each side 

 of the first pair; at twenty-one months two more cutting teeth appear ; at twenty-seven months 

 the temporary molars are replaced by permanent ones ; at thirty months two more cutting 

 teeth are added, and at thirty-six months two more cutting teeth and the last pair appear. 

 There are then eight incisors and twenty-four molars or grinders, or thirty-two in all, and the 

 sheep full-mouthed and mature. 



The law of England has decided that a lamb becomes a sheep when the first pair of 

 cutting teeth appears, which is at the age of fourteen months. 



Professor James Law expresses his opinion on determining the age of sheep, as follows: 



&quot;The books on sheep have seriously misled flock-masters on this subject. Almost any 

 sheep owner will tell you that after a year the sheep gets a pair of broad teeth yearly, and if 

 you show that his own three-year-olds have four pairs of broad teeth, he can only claim that 

 they are exceptions, and protest that they do not exceed three years of age. Now these 

 cases are no exception, for all well-bred sheep have a full mouth of front teeth at three years 

 old. Some old unimproved flocks may still be found in which the mouth is not full until 

 near four years old, but fortunately these are now the exceptions, and should not be made 

 the standard, as they so constantly are. 



In Cotswolds, Leicesters, Lincolns, South Downs, Oxford Downs, Hampshire Downs, and 

 even in the advanced Merinos, and in the grades of all these, dentition is completed from 

 half a year to a year earlier. The milk or lamb teeth are easily distinguished from the per 

 manent or broad teeth, by their smaller size, and by the thickness of the jaw-bone around 

 their fangs where the permanent teeth are still enclosed. As the lamb approaches a year 

 old, the broad exposed part of the tooth becomes worn away, and narrow fangs projecting 

 above the gums stand apart from each other, leaving wide intervals. This is even more 

 marked after the first pair of permanent teeth have come up. overlapping each other at their 

 edges, and from this time onward the number of small milk teeth, and of broad permanent 

 teeth, can usually be made out with ease. 



Another distinguishing feature is the yellow or dark coloration of the fangs of the milk 

 teeth, while the exposed portions of the permanent teeth are white, clear, and pearly. The 

 successive pairs of permanent teeth make their appearance through the gums in advanced 

 breeds at about the following dates: The first pair at one year; the second pair at one year 

 and a half; the third pair at two years and three months; the fourth and last pair at 

 three years. It will be observed that between the appearance of the first two pairs there is 

 an interval of six months, while after this each pair comes up nine months after its prede 

 cessors. For backward grades, and the unimproved breeds, the eruption is about six months 

 later for each pair of teeth, but even with them the mouth is full at three years and six 

 months.&quot; 



As a general rule, if well fed and kept in a thriving condition, sheep will shed their 

 teeth faster, and vice versa. 



Sheep as Fertilizers. With respect to the agency of sheep in improving the fer 

 tility of the soil, we quote the following from the pen of Hon. John L. Hayes, of whom 

 we have made previous reference in this work, and as one of the best authorities on sheep 

 husbandry in the country: 



&quot;Sheep are the only animals which do not exhaust the land upon which they feed, but 

 permanently improve it. Horned cattle, especially cows in milk, by continued grazing, 

 ultimately exhaust the pastures of their phosphates. In England, the pastures of the county 

 VOL. II. 19 



