SHEEP. 213 



"Our rough, rocky, hilly pastures, on the contrary, afford 

 the most natural and agreeable summer feeding places for most 

 kinds of sheep, and here their naturally active and playful 

 habits lead them to skip about from rock to rock, upon every 

 knoll, through every hollow, prying into every nook and corner, 

 scattering fertility wherever they go, while the natural inclina- 

 tion to keep their feet clean, bright and well-scoured, leads 

 them to shun, as permanent stopping-places, all wet, swampy, or 

 marshy spots, and to seek for repose only in the highest and dry- 

 est parts of the pasture ; hence they almost invariably congregate 

 during the heat of the day and at night on the least fertile por- 

 tions, naturally, of the lot, where the subsoil is most porous, 

 and the ground hardest on the surface, whence their droppings 

 wash down in all directions, bringing in new grasses, and giving 

 an appearance of fertility even to what were previously almost 

 barren, sandy or gravelly knolls. 



" Pastures of this description, therefore, may be very greatly 

 improved by being stocked in part or wholly with sheep, and 

 the more the pastures have been previously exhausted, or 

 ' run out ' with other stock, the more immediate and the more 

 apparent the improvement. 



" My advice to farmers who keep sheep on soft, moist lands, 

 or on rich, smooth pastures free from stones, would be to 

 examine their feet frequently and pare the outer edge of the 

 hoof carefully, and so often as to keep it nearly even with the 

 bottom of middle, by taking off only a little at a time. 

 Similar advice will apply to those who keep their sheep 

 enclosed, and constantly bedded during the winter ; while with 

 a wide range and stony pastures in summer they will take care 

 of their own feet, and very rarely be troubled with foot-rot or 

 any other disease of the foot." 



We find these practical and intelligent men agree that sheep 

 are better for a pasture than any other kind of stock. But Mr. 

 Fox, of New Ipswich, and Mr. Wyman, of Fitchburg, advise 

 keeping sheep and cattle together in the pasture. One reason 

 is they can keep more stock in this way, as the "sheep will eat 

 grasses, plants and bushes which the cattle refuse. Another 

 reason is, the sheep will have a wider range of pasture, and 

 thus gratify its strong love for a great variety of food, and per- 

 haps another and more important reason, is, that the sheep by 



