THREE COMMON WAYS QF CASTRATION 627 



during winter for every two hundred ewes, or 24 Ibs. each 

 per day. Shelter can be readily provided when necessary, 

 by thatched or wattled hurdles set up to form a cross 

 thus +. The ewes are run for a week or ten days on early 

 pasture (" seeds ") ; next for three weeks on rye, which ought 

 to be finished before the end of April ; then on clover, 

 vetches, mustard, or some other forage crop ; mangels 

 follow ; and later on, to give a change of food, cabbages are 

 thrown to them while at pasture in the field. 



The practice of training Lambs to eat cake early is most 

 important in feeding to produce fat lamb. Lambs are taught 

 to eat cake and corn before being weaned, by enclosing their 

 troughs within hurdles through which they alone of the 

 flock can pass. 



Store male lambs are castrated at two or three weeks 

 old ; but not during frost, which would induce stiffness ; 

 nor in a hot sun, which might cause excessive bleeding 

 if the testicles be removed by pulling. Lambs on rare 

 occasions faint after castration, but soon recover conscious- 

 ness. Marking 1 , by taking nips from the ears (see p. 608), 

 if not done previous to this time, is also now performed ; 

 while the tail also is docked, to keep the sheep clean, 

 should the solid excreta at any time become abnormally 

 soft, as is frequently the case when lambs are put on 

 luxuriantly grown food produced on naturally rich or 

 highly-manured land, or when lean sheep of any age begin 

 to improve rapidly. 



There are three common ways of Castration: First, 

 Either the scrotum or purse is slit or the top is cut off by a 

 knife, and the testicles are drawn away by the teeth of the 

 operator : Second, They are removed by iron clams and the 

 actual cautery after the scrotum has been cut into ; if a lamb is 

 stiff next day, it should be bathed with hot water in the region 

 of the wounded part : Third, By hazel-wood clams dipped in 

 powdered sulphate of copper, after being spread inside with 

 lard, placed so that the neck of the cord supporting each 

 testicle is gripped by a clam which is thus fixed on for half an 

 hour. The pressure stops the circulation of the blood in 

 the testicles, and prevents bleeding after they have been cut 

 away. The top of the scrotum is removed, as the operator 

 has then greater freedom in adjusting the clams than when 



