THE SHEEP. 187 



of them. Amid the intermingling of the offspring of the diftere'3^- ewes he 

 \\\\\ find the advantage of liaving marked the respective twins, and thus, 

 aIthoui);li not always without regularly drawing them off, he will be en- 

 abled properly to separate tlie respective families: he will relieve the 

 weakly ewe from a burden which she cannot support; and, on the other 

 liand, he will reconcile the deserted little one to its unnatural parent, or 

 find a better mother for it. The ewes with their single lambs will not, after 

 a few days, require any extraordinary degree of trouble, but those with 

 twins must be carefully watched, at least until the lambs begin in good 

 cjvrnest to graze. Many a lamb has been stinted in its growth, and 

 irreparably injured, by the insufficient supply of milk which the ewe 

 with twins can afford. 



Twins. — This is the proper place to speak of the desirableness of hav- 

 ing many twins. Most breeders are partial to them, on account of the 

 apparent rapid increase of the flock, or the additional quantity of lambs 

 that can be prepared for the market. The question depends entirely on 

 the quantity of land which the fiirmer holds, and the nature of the soil. 

 If he has pasture enough, and good enough, twins are highly desirable; 

 for at only the usual expense before the yeaning time, the number of 

 liis lambs is doubled, and, the pasture being good and the lambs well 

 fed, there will be very little difference in health, condition, or value, be- 

 tween the twins and the single lamb. 



The ewe seldom has twins at her first yeaning; and it is fortunate 

 that she has not; for it is seldom that she has any great supply of milk 

 then, and, consequently, the mother and her offspring would equally 

 suffer. The twins are generally obtained from ewes that are three, 

 four, or five years old. The disposition to twinning is undoubtedly 

 hereditary. There are certain rams that have the credit of being twin- 

 getters, and that faculty usually descends to their offspring; but this is 

 oftener the case with regard to the ewe, agreeably to the old couplet : 



"Ewes, yearly by twinning, rich masters do make: 

 The lambs of such twinners for breeders go take." 



The female of every species of animal has far more to do with this un- 

 usual multiplication of the offspring than has the male; and the farmer 

 who wishes rapidly to increase his stock through the medium of twins, 

 may go some way tow^ard the accomplishment of Ijis object by placing 

 his ewes on somewhat better pasture, or allowing them a few turnips 

 when November approaches. 



The Manageilieiil of the Lamhs, — We return once more to the lambs, 

 now a few days old. The old ewes will prove assiduous and faithful 

 nurses, but the young ones will occasionally Avander from their lambs, 

 and prove inattentive to or have not recognized their bleatings. Such 

 mothers must be separated from the flock, and folded and confined with 

 their young ones, until they appear to be disposed faithfully to do their 

 duty. Some lambs refuse the attention of the mother, and lie weak or 

 sullen, and droop away and die. Some of the mother's milk should be 

 frequently introduced into the mouth ; and, if that has not the desired 

 effect, a foster-mother must, if possible, be found ; or the little churl must 

 be brought up by the hand. There will, generally speaking, be very 



