I02 A FARMER'S YEAR 



And another : 



As far as the sun shines in on Candlemas Day, 

 So far the snow will blow in afore May. 



Two more, and good-bye to Candlemas ; 



Where the wind is on Candlemas Day, 

 There it will stick till the end of May. 



Si sol splendescat Maria purificante, 



Miijor erit glacies post festum qiiani fuit ante. 



Of all of which proverbs we shall learn the truth or falsity if we 

 live long enough to prove them. 



To-day the weather is squally, with cold rain and fine intervals. 

 AV^e began to thrash this morning, but were obliged to give up 

 about eleven o'clock. It is very curious to observe how absolutely 

 indifferent the lambs seem to cold. One would think that the 

 icy blasts of wind blowing on their wet skins would freeze them 

 through, but they appear to mind these very little. Sheep are 

 naturally cold-loving animals. Occasionally they shiver when 

 penned up wet in a high wind, but it is heat that really makes 

 them miserable, and flies, which are worse to them even than the 

 heat. Were they left untended in many parts of the country, 

 however plentiful and good their food, I believe that sheep would 

 soon die out, if only from this plague, against which they seem 

 quite unable to protect themselves. I suppose that in places 

 where their race thrives naturally, as on the mountains of Scotland 

 and Wales, the flies are much fewer, perhaps owing to the con- 

 stant movement of winds at those altitudes. 



It may be asked how sheep manage in the East, where flies 

 are many, and I can only answer that I do not know, for although 

 I think that I have seen them in Egypt and Cyprus, I neglected 

 to make inquiries. Nor did I ever keep any sheep when 

 farming in South Africa, so am ignorant of their treatment in 

 that country ; but I am sure that if they are as susceptible to 

 the fly pest there as here, great numbers must die unless they are 

 \ery strictly looked after. Last year, notwithstanding constant 



