SHEEP— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



219 



flocks he saw at the first glance that they 

 were thoroughly infected with scab. The 

 usual efforts were made to apply spirits of 

 turpentine and tobacco to the diseased 

 parts as they could be reached while the 

 wool was unshorn, and with the usual un- 

 satisfactory result. Much wool was lost, and 

 great injury to health was suffered, until 

 the spring came and the sheep could be 

 sheared. As soon as the shearing was 

 done Major Cossitt adopted the following 

 course of treatment : 



A large quantity of the stalks of tobac- 

 co plants, from which the leaves had been 

 stripped and sold, as the only merchanta- 

 ble part, and the stalks thrown away as of 

 no value, were procured from his neigh- 

 bors who largely cultivated tobacco. 

 These stalks were cut into convenient 

 lengths and placed in a large kettle, and 

 boiled until the water was black with their 

 juice. ' A platform was made large 

 enough to place upon it a sheep, having a 

 bottom made tight, and over that, and 

 about two inches from it, another floor 

 made of slats so near each other that the 

 sheep could not put their feet between. 

 This platform was placed on benches of 

 convenient height, and was a little in- 

 clined toward a large tub (half hogs- 

 head), and so placed that all the fluid 

 that drained from the sheep ran into the 

 tub. This was to save waste. The tub 

 having in it a sufficient quantity of to- 

 bacco-juice to fully immerse a sheep, 

 a little spirits of turpentine — say one 

 gill — was added, and a sheep dipped 

 in all over up to his eyes, and held there 

 until every part of his skin is thoroughly 

 wet. The animal was then laid on the 

 platform and all sore places thoroughly 

 rubbed by the hands of the men em- 

 ployed, so that the very bottom of the 

 sores was reached, and in some cases some 

 blood followed. The sheep was then lib- 

 erated, and quite likely showed marked 

 signs of being in the condition that am- 

 bitious boys sometimes find themselves 

 when, anxious to be men, they first form 

 the acquaintance of this poisonous plant. 

 I have heard of sheep actually dying un- 

 der treatment, and I have seen them very 

 sick when kept too long in the tub. 



The water in the tub was kept as hot 

 as it could be and not burn the sheep, by 

 from time to time adding new from the 

 kettle over the fire; and about every 



sixth sheep that was dipped, a new sup- 

 ply of spirits of turpentine of about a 

 gill was added. The turpentine floats on 

 top of the water, and for this reason must 

 be supplied in small quantities and often. 

 Mr. Cossitt put every one of his large 

 flock through this laborious course of 

 treatment, whether there were found or 

 not any sores on each, and at the 

 end of the week he repeated the treat- 

 ment, and after another week the whole 

 thing was the third time gone over, and 

 the fourth time at the end of a fortnight 

 from the third. Thus, in four weeks from 

 shearing, every sheep had been four times 

 dipped and scraped where necessary. No 

 signs of scab were ever again seen in this 

 flock ; though, to make all safe, the sheep 

 were all (young lambs as well as shorn 

 sheep) dipped once the year after, and 

 again once the third year immediately 

 after shearing. It may be that the first 

 year's four dippings were sufficient, but if 

 this was so the benefits derived by de- 

 stroying all ticks, and the promotion of a 

 healthy condition of the, skin generally, 

 justified the cost of the operation here r 

 where tobacco-stems can be had for 

 nothing. Many wool-growers think this 

 annual dipping in tobacco-juice pays in 

 the increased quantity and' improved con- 

 dition of the wool of the next fleece. 



Another Remedy. — Rub soft soap on 

 the back pretty thickly, after shearing in 

 the spring, and let them take the rain ; for 

 a month or two the soap will be partially 

 melted, and will run down over the whole 

 body when it rains; this will effectually 

 kill the insect and cure the scab. 



SHEEP, Lice Ticks and Flies.— Sheep, 

 and especially if they are neglected and 

 poor, are often sadly annoyed by these 

 vermin. They frequently precede the 

 scab ; the dreadful itching which they oc- 

 casionally cause, prepares for or produces 

 the scab, or they multiply most rapidly 

 when the skin is fouled by the scab. The 

 sheep-louse is too well known to every 

 shepherd; it is of a brownish or reddish 

 color, with a flat body, and three legs on 

 either side; the tick has a large round body, 

 and small chest and head, which he buries 

 deep into the skin, and by means of 

 which he holds so fast as to be with diffi- 

 culty torn off. The lice are propagated 

 by means of eggs or nits ; the origin of 

 the tick is not so well understood. 



