FOR SHOW RING AND MARKET. 63 



On Purchasing the Flock. 



When purchasing a flock the young beginner should ex- 

 ercise the greatest care and be very, very cautious, or he 

 may purchase disease with it. He should be on the lookout 

 for scab, foot- rot and liver-rot. " Although the last men- 

 tioned complaint is not common in this country a case is 

 sometimes met with. Where a sheep suffers from a dis- 

 eased liver the membrane of the eye assumes a yellowish 

 tinge and the animal swells up under the jaws. The flesh 

 or fat rather, of some sheep is naturally yellow yellow 

 as butter. I have met many such cases as these when work- 

 ing as a slaughterman. Yellow mutton of course is an 

 extremely hard thing for the butcher to dispose of at any- 

 thing like a profitable figure. The greatest security the 

 novice has against purchasing sheep that are diseased is to 

 buy from breeders of repute, breeders who have 'made them- 

 selves famous by their skill as breeders and feeders, and 

 their honesty and integrity. The novice should not buy 

 culls at any price; they are not cheap at any figure. Good 

 old matronly ewes should not be classed as culls, unless they 

 are toothless. These are usually found to be good milkers 

 and mothers, and of course profitable lamb raisers. It 

 should be remembered that good shepherds do not usually 

 keep ewes until old unless they have some special qualities 

 to recommend them. It is often better for the novice to 

 start with such as these than to start with younger ewes. 

 Good old ewes will take care of their lambs themselves, 

 while young ewes sometimes cause no end of trouble, even 

 to the experienced shepherd, by refusing to acknowledge 

 their lambs. Of course where the intending purchaser 



