ii2 SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



weeds there which injured them. I think this conclusion is 

 scarcely borne out by the practice of others, and that the dry 

 footing, and exercise obtained in such back-runs are good for 

 ewes. It is not, as a rule, necessary to " cake" ewes before 

 lambing, but as soon as yeaning takes place, or shortly after- 

 wards, we can scarcely treat them too liberally. 



WINTER MANAGEMENT OF EWES. 



Lambing-time no doubt brings the heaviest mortality, but 

 the evil is contracted earlier. Months before, when the trials 

 of lambing are scarcely thought of, and even before the ram is 

 turned out, the seeds of mortality are sown. Why is the 

 death-rate so abnormally high among ewes ? Why do we 

 )ose a score of ewes to every cow that succumbs to the trials 

 of calving ? This is not only a matter of comparative numbers. 

 It is true that we keep many more sheep than cows, but the 

 hard fact remains that 3 per cent, of our ewes die, and a loss 

 of 5 per cent, is regarded by many sheep farmers with calm- 

 ness, if not complacency. 



Such a loss among cow stock would be considered ruinous, 

 and would be looked upon as a symptom of grave mismanage- 

 ment. On the other hand, there are flocks in which the 

 mortality is reduced within much narrower limits. How far 

 we can always trust the rosy accounts which we hear after 

 yeaning has passed, may be a matter open to doubt. Sheep 

 farmers are not entirely free from a laudable wish to put their 

 best foot foremost, and we may well discount some of these 

 glowing reports of no " losses." 



The word "loss" has a somewhat elastic meaning, as no 

 sheep is absolutely lost if a part of its value has been recover- 

 able. We, however, know flocks in which either from con- 

 stitutional vigour, the nature of the soil, or management, very 

 little loss is experienced, and we are inclined to think that this 

 immunity arises from the observance of certain simple rules. 

 Making every allowance, it is no doubt true that the amount 



