462 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXXIX. 



and the mountainous parts of Wales and the Highlands of Scotland ; while 

 the lono-vvoolled breeds are pastured in the enclosures of the lowland dis- 

 tricts of England, and its northern borders, and the rich soils of Ire- 

 land ; where they remain, along with their dams, until they have reached 

 the age of three or four months ; after which they are weaned. 



The time of weaning — or " speaning-," as it is in some places called — is 

 dependent upon that in which the lambs have been dropped ; for if that has 

 happened early in the season, and the weather remains cold, they are gene- 

 rally allowed to remain under the fostering care of the mother until it be- 

 comes warmer: it is, however, usually performed in the early part of July, 

 and should never be deferred beyond the latter end of that month, unless 

 the lambing should have occurred late in the spring. No other care is 

 necessary in the process than that of separating the lambs, and driving 

 them so far from the ewes that their mutual bleatings may not be heard 

 by each other ; but careful shepherds will select the weakly lambs from 

 those which are stronger, and place them, if possible, in a different pasture. 

 In breeding farms, also, particular attention should be paid to the selection 

 of the ewe lambs, and those which appear in any shape ill-formed, or con- 

 stitutionally defective, should be rejected out of the lot and sold, for, if 

 bred from, they will assuredly injure the reputation of the flock;* and 

 indeed the weaker lambs of every description should be separated from 

 those which are strong. 



When separated from the ewes, the lambs ought to be all severally ex- 

 amined, lest any of them should have received injury, in which case they 

 are put apart for cure ; and they are marked according to the pleasure of the 

 owner, either with ruddle or tar upon the fleece, or by a brand upon the 

 cheek and notches in the ears. The wedders and ewes should, however, be 

 differently distinguished, by being marked upon the off or the near side. 

 The ewes should be afterwards either milked three or four times, at longer 

 intervals during each, in order to dry them up by degrees, with as little 

 inconvenience to them as possible ; or else confined for three or four nights 

 in a fold, and permitted to range over a poor pasture in the daytime. This 

 moderate keep assists in preventing injury from an accumulation of milk ; 

 but their udders should be carefully watched, and any that appear full of 

 milk, partially drawn. This, indeed, is by many persons neglected merely 

 to save trouble, though the omission of it occasions considerable pain to 

 the animal, and is not unfrequently attended with serious consequences. 



The milking of eives for the purpose of making cheese has now. except 

 in some very remote districts, been generally abandoned, both as being 

 attended witli little profit in itself, and as being injurious to the animal. 

 The mode, when practised, is, to drive them, one by one, into a narrow 

 pen, where they are milked from behind, and, as they only give from a 

 pint to a quart each, it is said that a clever damsel, when accustomed to 

 the work, will easily operate upon a score an hour. 



The lambs, ivhen removed, are put either upon the best pasture, or, if 

 the farm contains any portion of arable ground, upon the aftermath of 



* On this subject, that great flock-master, Mr. Sellar, justly observes — " That the 

 difference in expense of keep, loss by death, and of ultimate profit, in favour of well- 

 bred and against ill-bred stock, is so great and striking on a sheep-farm, that the apathy 

 of many stock-masters to the subject is incredible." See his Report in the Farmer's 

 Series of Strathnaver, Morvich, and Culmaily farms, in which will be fouad a very iate- 

 resting account of the selection and weaning of the lambs. 



