SHEEP HUSBA-NDRY. 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY . . . EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND FOOD. 



Those who have complimented this Journal 

 ■with a careful perusal, need hardly now be told 

 that we consider Sheep Husbandry, under ex- 

 istine circumstances, as among' the most impor- 

 tant subjecti diat can en^asre the attendon of the 

 inquiring agriculturist ; and they will of coarse 

 have concluded that in due time, we desig-n to 

 present it in all the aspects in which it has been 

 discussed by the most experienced men and the 

 most enlightened writers. To do this, will re- 

 quire research, consideration and space, propor- 

 tioned to its magnitude as a branch of national in- 

 dustry. We have already at command, the infor- 

 mation to be derived from English and Ameri- 

 can books, and from translations of French au- 

 thors who have gone yet more thoroughly into 

 the natural history and constitution of wool and 

 wool-bearing animals ; but we have reason to 

 believe that in this case as in a great many oth- 

 ers, much scientific and practical knowledge, is 

 \vrapped up and concealed from English read- 

 ers, in the German language. "We know that 

 profound works in that tongue have been vrrit- 

 ten, on wool, and on the various races of sheep, 

 and have accordingly taken measures to procure 

 those works and to have them thoroughly sifted, 

 even for any grains of information they may 

 contain. 



In the mean time, to answer, for the nonce, 

 inquiries on some particular points, prompted 

 more particularly by the disposition which we 

 know exists, to push this branch of business in 

 the south, we offer the following extracts and 

 translations : 



Ok the foist of influesce of climate. — 

 ^Vetake the follovs-ingfrom the volume on Sheep, 

 in the series of volumes put forth by that most effi- 

 cient and patriotic association, the Society in 

 England, for the Diffusion of Useful K.now- 



LZDGE. 



"The excellency of the Merinos consists in the 

 unexampled fineness and felting property of 

 their ^vool. and tlie luxuriance of the yolk, which 

 enables them to support extremes of cold and 

 wet, quite as vrell as any other breed : the easi- 

 ness with which they adapt themselves to ever]/ 

 change of climate, and thrive and retain, with 

 common care, all their fineness of wool under a 

 burning tropical svn. and in the frozen regions 

 of the north : an appetite which renders them 

 apparently satisfied with the coarsest food : a 

 quietness and patience, into whatever pasture 

 they are turned, and a gentleness and tractable- 

 ness not excelled in any other breed." 



Those who have had the good fortune to see 

 Mr. Jewett's prize ram Fortune, and his pro- 

 geny, need go no farther to see an exemplifica- 

 tion of the best qualities of the Merino, as they 

 (617) 



have been fully maintained '•' in the frozen re- 

 gions of the north." The more doubtful matter 

 is about the " burning sun.'' of Texas, for in- 

 stance. Above is an authority which has always 

 commanded the public confidence. 



'■ In general," says Thaer, in that part of his 

 \vork which ^ve have not yet reached in the 

 course of re-publication. " we may lay do%vn as 

 a rule for our country. [Germany.] that homed 

 cattle are most profitable on low pasture, and 

 >vhen maintained by stall feeding. Sheep, on the 

 contrary, on all dri/ and elevated pasture 

 grounds, natural or artificial. 



•• The Merino breed is distinguished from oth- 

 ers by slower development, shedding its teeth 

 later, not so soon coming to maturity, and be ins 

 longer in attaining its full gro%vth ; its progress 

 may, ho^\-ever, be accelerated by more nourish- 

 ing food. On the other hand, sheep of this race 

 live to a greater age, and become stronser than 

 others. Merino e'wes have been known to re- 

 tain their teeth to their fifteenth year, and to 

 produce healthy lambs at that age. 



"Sheep generally bear, or eo with lambs, for 

 twenty -one weeks and a fev.- days. Ex^'es gen- 

 erally get into heat for the first ume after lamb- 

 ing, in six months : and the most authentic wri- 

 ters maintain that the healthiest lambs are the 

 produce of the connection which takes place on 

 the first indication of rutting. Others maintain 

 it to be better to defer tiU the second time of 

 coming into heat, that is to say, three weeks la- 

 ter, in order to give the ewe time to recover her 

 strength after suckling. 



"Merinos," says the same author. " are decidedly 

 more subject to rot than ordinary German sheep. 

 It is therefore indispensable in the maintenance 

 of a flock of high bred sheep, to have all the 

 damp places on their pastures drained by dig- 

 ging trenches, and drainage-furrows. 



'• Good mutton should not be spongy or very 

 porous : but soft, of delicate fibre, and succulent. 



•' It has been found that wool when thoroughly 

 washed after shearing, loses in weight about 54 

 per cent, provided it has not been previouslj- 

 washed on the back. In the latter process, the 

 wool probably loses about 25 per cent, of its 

 weight in the un\vashed state. 



" A moderate quantity of fat mixed with the 

 fibre, is much esteemed, but the excess of that 

 substance, which shows itself on the outside, 

 sometimes in layers, five or six inches tiiick. is 

 fit only for the poorer class of people, who use 

 this fat to eat with the leguminous vegetables 

 on which they live." 



IXFLUEXCE OF KTrRITION' OX WOOL. 



[Translated from the Jouma] D'Aaricuirore Pratiqiie 

 , et de Jardina^e. for the Farmers' Librery.] 



The feeding of sheep has a most marked in- 



I fluence on the quantity and quality of the wool. 



1 The circumstances to be observed on this sub- 



I ject are the following : 



I 1. To obtain wool of a good quality, and in 



(-^equate quantity, sheep most be well fed. — 



