SHEEP. 81 



it herself. She has been jumping, or got frightened 

 by a dog ; has been driven, somehow, from her 

 wonted equanimity. Let her be moved at once far 

 away, and washed well with a solution of chloride of 

 lime. There is nothing so contagious as this slip- 

 ping, or slinking, of lamb or calf. It seems to come 

 of their scenting one another. Anyhow, leave that 

 one among them, and half the flock will come to 

 grief. .Remove her, and you may prevent the occur- 

 rence of any further instance. Feeding ewes heavy 

 with young on wet, clinging, fallows greatly con- 

 duces to this misfortune. A breeding flock, during 

 gestation, should be kept on a dry pasture. Be most 

 careful) too, that your feeding of them is regular and 

 even, especially towards the last. Any sudden change 

 of food produces a flush of blood, which is too much 

 for the hidden burden of life within ; so that it parts 

 away often, moorings and all, upon the very verge of 

 regular birth. Something of this kind, apparently 

 epidemic, occurred among the mares in this country 

 last year. Where the owner was at hand, with knife 

 and tape ready to tie the umbilical string, the foal 

 was saved ; but dozens bled to death upon the ground 

 with the string unsevered. 



When you wean your lambs, about July, probably, 

 clover in blossom is of all food the most forcing ; 

 sainfoin rowen is excellent ; but if neither of these be 

 handy, there should be held in reserve a sweet bite 

 of fresh grass. 



When you take your morning or evening saunter 

 over the fields, should you notice a sheep strayed 

 away, and lying down apart from the flock, you may 



