THE FARMERS' CABINET, 



Devoted to Agriculture, Horticulture, andRural and Domestic Economy. 



Vol. IV.— No. 5.] 



Decem1i>er 15, 1839. 



[WUole No. 59. 



PUBLISHED BY 

 PROUTY, HBBY & PROtJTY, 



AT THE 



Agricultural AVare-House and Seed Store, 



NO. 87 NORTH SECOND STREET, 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Price one dollar per year. — For conditions see last page. 



r[J"Any gentleman remitting Fine Dollars v/i\\ been- 

 titlL'd to the Farmers' Cabinet for seven years, com- 

 mencing with the first or any subsequent volume.— 

 Tlie volumes now published can be sent by mail, in pa- 

 per wrappers ; Postage, under 100 miles twelve cents — 

 to any part of the United States over 100 miles from 

 the place of publication, eighteen cents per volume. 



Wintering SJieep. 



The season has arrived when sheep require 

 a little of cur time and attention. If these 

 are now bestowed with subsequent ordinary 

 care, sheep will pass through the winter with 

 a trifling loss and much to our advantage. — 

 For want of attention at this season of the 

 year, I have seen large flocks almost entirely 

 destroyed, while their owners blamed their 

 bad luck, but not their bad management. — 

 Sheep, to do well through the winter, must be 

 lin good condition when they begin it. If they 

 'are so, they pass through it without difficulty; 

 but if they are poor at this season, good pro- 

 vender and a regular supply of it will not in- 

 sure them well through. To see then that 

 our sheep have been well taken cave of 

 during the summer and fall, is an import- 

 ant step with the farmer, and which would 

 be a great saving both in sheep and fodder. — 

 It is wrong to permit them to ramble over 

 the fields later than about the first of De- 

 cember, because at that time there is little 

 nutrunent in the scanty herbage on which 

 they feed, and the grass itself had bet- 

 ter remain on the stem to protect it during 

 the frosts and v^'inds of winter, and prepare it 

 for an early and vigorous growth in the spring; 

 jbesides, as the supply to the animal is small 



Cab.— Vol. IV,— No. 5. 137 



and innutritions, there is great danger that 

 there will be a falling oft' in its flesh, which 

 it can illy spare, and which to its subsequent 

 existence it is so necessary it should retain. 



I have frequently thought that an open De- 

 cember, which is so often wished for by the 

 farmer to save his winter's supply of hay, ia 

 more prejudicial to his sheep, when they ram- 

 ble over the fields, and to his own interest, 

 than he is generally aware of It would cer- 

 tainly comport more with real economy, if he 

 were to bring up his sheep by the 10th of De- 

 cember into winter quarters, even if the wea- 

 ther should remain warm and the ground un- 

 covered. If they lose flesh at this time, they 

 cannot regain it until spring, and the mortality 

 which it sometimes costs flocks of sheep, is 

 imputable to this cause. 



Sheep in winter should have sheds : the 

 preservation of their health requires this in- 

 dulgence, and nature prompts to it. Let me 

 ask, if they have the choice, do they remain 

 in the open air in a storm 1 No — they as in- 

 stinctively run to their covering as a man 

 does to his house, and if they do not require 

 it quite as much, they appear as grateful for 

 tiie shelter. For a flock of poor sheep a pro- 

 tection from the weather is all important. — 

 Those in good condition do not so much want 

 it, as they have a better coat both of flesh and 

 wool ; but for them it is likewise usefiil, and 

 a good farmer will not omit to give all the 

 requisite shelter. 



As soon as sheep are brought into the yard, 

 the different kinds of lambs, ewes and weth- 

 ers, should be carefully separated and kept 

 during the winter apart. It is important 

 that those in one yard should be nearly of 

 a size as practicable : for by being so, there 

 are no strong ones among them to drive the 

 weaker from their provender. All will feed 



