FOR SHOW RING AND MARKET. 119 



Maggots. 



Considerable loss is sometimes caused in the flock by 

 maggots. As is known among sheepmen generally, when 

 the egg of the blow-fly is once laid in suitable places, such 

 as in the filthy tag-locks of ill-cared for sheep, newly cas- 

 trated and newly docked lambs, during the early summer 

 months, it does not take long before the unfortunate animal 

 is being literally eaten alive by this terrible pest. Happily 

 American shepherds know but little regarding* this trouble 

 as compared to the troubles of shepherds in England. There, 

 during several months of the year, they have to use the ut- 

 most vigilance or their, flocks would suffer terribly from the 

 ravages of this insidious foe. I have always considered 

 that sheep in the Old Country carry considerably more 

 greasy or yolky fleeces than, or ordinarily do, sheep in this 

 country; and coupled with this, the humidity of the climate 

 and prevalent rains, conditions are more favorable to the 

 interest of the blow-fly there than are the conditions of this 

 country. 



It is not always in wounds or tag-locks that the blow-fly 

 deposits its eggs, as sometimes they are found, especially 

 during hot, stormy weather, deposited on the rump and back 

 of the shoulder, where they quickly hatch, and commence 

 to eat the poor, unfortunate brute. 



Lambs usually suffer more from the attacks of the blow-fly 

 than do mature sheep; their fleeces seem to offer more favor- 

 able conditions for the deposit of its eggs. 



When a sheep is troubled with maggots it becomes very 

 restless and wiggles its tail very much, as does a lamb when 

 partaking of nourishment from its dam. Immediately upon 



