SHEEP— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



zog 



pocket, which would otherwise be irre- 

 coverably lost. 



The history of the rot is plain enough 

 here. It prevails, or rather it is found 

 only in boggy, poachy ground. On up- 

 land pasture, with a light sandy soil, it is 

 never seen : and in good sound pasture, 

 in a lower situation, it is only seen when, 

 from an unusually wet season, that pas- 

 ture has become boggy and poachy. It 

 is also proved to demonstration, that land 

 that has been notoriously rotting ground, 

 has been rendered perfectly sound and 

 healthy by being well underdrained, that 

 is, by being made dry. There are hun- 

 dreds of thousands of acres, on which a 

 sheep, forty years ago, could not pasture 

 for a day without becoming rotten, that 

 are now perfectly healthy. 



We can also tell the kind of wet ground 

 which will give the rot. Wherever the 

 water will soon run off, there is no dan- 

 ger; but where it lies upon the surface of 

 the ground, and slowly evaporates, the 

 rot is certain. One part of a common 

 shall be enclosed ; or if it has not been 

 drained, at least the hollows in which the 

 water used to stand are filled up, and the 

 surface is levelled : no rot is caught there. 

 On the other side of the hedge there are 

 these marshy places, these little stagnant 

 ponds, where evaporation is always going 

 forward, and the ground is never dry — a 

 sheep cannot put his foot there without 

 being rotted. These are plain, palpable 

 facts, and they are sufficient for the farm- 

 er's purpose, without his puzzling his 

 brains about the manner in which wet 

 ground produces diseased liver. 



He may be assured that it has nothing 

 to do with the animal's feeding on stimu- 

 lating or poisonous herbs. It has noth- 

 ing whatever to do with the food. It 

 depends on the wetness or dryness of the 

 pasture. 



How is it, then, that when so great a 

 part of the country is underdrained, the 

 rot should continue to be almost as prev- 

 alent as ever? Why is it not so prevalent 

 where the ground has been properly 

 underdrained? There are fields in every 

 well-managed farm in which the rot is 

 never known ; there are others in which 

 it still continues to depopulate the flock. 



The draining may not be equally ef- 

 fectual in both. It might have been 

 carelessly, superficially performed in the 



14 



one case ; or the soil of the two pastures 

 may be very different. The one may be 

 light and porous, and a little draining 

 may effect the purpose : the soil of the 

 other may be heavy and tenacious, and 

 drains not more than a yard asunder would 

 scarcely keep it dry. What is more to 

 the purpose, but less thought of, there 

 may be little nooks and corners in the 

 field that have not been underdrained. 

 A few minutes' trampling upon them will 

 be fatal to the sheep, and one or two of 

 them upon the whole farm will render all 

 the labor bestowed on every other part 

 absolutely nugatory. 



It is surprising how soon the animal is 

 infected. The merely going once to 

 drink from a notably dangerous pond has 

 been sufficient. The passing over one 

 suspicious common in the way to or from 

 the fair, and the lingering only for a few 

 minutes in a deep and poachy lane,. 

 Then it can easily be conceived what 

 mischief one or two of these neglected 

 corners, in which there may be little 

 swamps perhaps only a yard or two 

 across, may do in a farm in other respects 

 well managed, and perfectly free from in- 

 fection. 



The disease of the liver, terminating in 

 or constituting the rot, is, then, depend- 

 ent on moisture, and that retained for a 

 certain time on the surface of the ground, 

 so that the process of evaporation may 

 have commenced; it is also probable that 

 the decomposition of vegetable matter 

 growing on the surface has much to do 

 in producing the complaint. 



If sheep-breeders would get more into- 

 the habit of having oxen to turn upon 

 the aftermath of their low and dangerous 

 pastures, instead of venturing so frequent- 

 ly to send their sheep there, because they 

 cannot afford to lose that portion of the 

 crop, they would not suffer the grievous, 

 losses which sometimes almost break, 

 them down. 



The preventive, then, seems plain 

 enough. On good sound ground the 

 sheep need not fear the rot; and other 

 stock should be kept on the farm to pas- 

 ture on the suspicious or dangerous places. 

 The draining should be effective where it 

 is attempted, and no nook or corner 

 should escape. 



Can anything be done by way of cure? 

 Probably there may, and a great deal 



