EXHIBITION SHEEP. 183 



Upon the artificial foods it is not necessary to dilate, except 

 in so far as to say that "sheep of this description should be 

 allowed a plentiful supply of the best that money can 

 purchase. A constant variety in natural foods, and a liberal 

 quantity of the best linseed cake and old beans fairly indicate 

 the food, but who can describe the many minor points as to 

 early and late feeding, frequency of meals, and methods of 

 tempting the unwilling appetite, and coaxing the animals to 

 grow ? These belong to the art of shepherding, and are of 

 vital consequence. A master might as well try to take prizes 

 without sheep as without a shepherd, and it would not be 

 possible to commit all the store of knowledge possessed by 

 a competent shepherd to paper. Neither possible nor yet 

 desirable ; and if it could be done, the written directions 

 would not ensure the same success in other hands. First- 

 rate shepherds are not so uncommon as they are difficult to 

 find, because they are not given to changing their situations 

 often. A pleasant feature of sheep-farming is that mutual 

 regard of master and shepherd, both men appreciating each 

 other's value. Training is carried on with some little affec- 

 tation of secrecy, and much undertoned and almost whispered 

 consultation. The attention is constant and the daily care 

 extraordinary. The trimming of show sheep is a matter of 

 importance. There are those who object to trimming, but 

 it is impossible to show sheep in the natural unkempt and 

 rough state. It is really cruel to ask a breeder to exhibit 

 his sheep in a great show, before ladies and gentlemen, with- 

 out dressing them. What would a horse-breeder say to a 

 regulation insisting that his hunter or his thoroughbred 

 should appear ungroomed and rough, with long tail and 

 uncombed mane ? A sheep-breeder has similar feelings, and 

 similar failings. Besides, the public like to see animals well 

 turned out of hand, and even the pigs appear with their hair 

 curled and oiled, and their skins blooming as if they had been 

 immersed in a bath composed with toilet vinegar. Trimming 

 may be overdone, or unfairly done, but to the legitimate use 



