220 



F A R M E R S ' REGIS T E R 



[No, 4. 



they do not actual!)' perish from suchmisma 

 merit. 



As the time of yeaning approaches, the atten- 

 tion ami assiduity of the shepherd ought propor- 

 tionally to increase, as i> sometimes been i • 

 cessary to assist nature in cases of d 

 turition; and also, if in the e away 



emus and similar bird i of j rey, w ; !. ch 

 othenvis • a '• i ,vly dropped lamb 



pick out their eye.-, notwithsl 

 of the dam. 



As soon, therefore, as the ewes are ex] ?cted to 

 begin to yean, they ought to be separated from the 

 rest of the Hock, and placed in a moi 

 paddock-, or in a spacious standing littered fold, 0:1 

 one side of which should be a warm 1 

 provided with a chimney, and with a sto\ 

 warming milk, and th a bed on which the 



shepherd may lie down. Here he is to sleep during 

 the lambing season, that he may be re: 

 watch, assist, and tend any ewes which he ob- 

 serves to he very near lambing, and, if nece 

 to give aid to the young animal. Some fi 

 have such huts on lour wheels, to draw about with 

 the flock wherever they may be, and on extensive 

 downs that, is an excellent plan; but on farm 

 moderate size, it is afar preferable method to 

 one or two well-sheltered inclosures, to which the 

 flock may be taken withoul any ui tant d 

 for, although the fold may be useful in very ex- 

 posed situations and inclen 

 practice of folding ewes at lambing time 

 nerally objection; . I . 



It has already been intin ips are 



of great sen ice in gi\ ing a Hush of milk to ewes. 

 unless they have been I partu- 



rition, in which case it is considered rather 

 dical than other.. . many drop their 



lambs at a very e: 11 the year, grea 



necessary in supplying them with 1 

 roots, so as to insure a sufficient quantity. If the 

 land be wet and liable to be poached, th 

 mode is to draw the turnips, and cart them to a dry 

 pasture, where the sheep may be hailed with them 

 once or twice in the day; proper attention being 

 bestowed that they eat the whole, without com- 

 mitting any waste; which, il duly observed, will 

 afford a certain criterion of the quantity necessary 

 for each bait, while the stuck of roots will be con- 

 sumed in the most benefical and economical man- 

 ner. On dry hinds, indeed, a different practice 

 may, with advantage, be adopted, by eating the 

 crop on the land, hurdling off a certain quantity 

 for the flock; and, as they consume these, by ex- 

 tending the hurdles further. By this method, no 

 considerable degree of trouble is occasioned; and, 

 it is preferable 10 that of allowing the sheep to run 

 over the whole field, by which the roots are never 

 eaten off so clean as whenMhe flock is confined to 

 a small quantity at owe time. 



During very wet or stormy weather, or in deep 

 snows, it. will be necessary to baitthe ewes on haj . 

 With some farmers it is usual to drive, them to 

 hay-stacks, where they meet, both with shelter and 

 with food; a measure which is by no means con- 

 sistent with the economy that ought to exist in 

 every department of farming business, in the man- 

 ner in which it is commonly practised, but which 

 •might be rendered in all respects expedient, by 

 merely fencing the stack round with hurdles, and 

 distributing the hay from it daily. When placed 



in the centre of a standing fold, a square stack 

 forms an excellent defence for a small Hock, 

 against bleak winds, as they have quite sufficient 



sagacity to seek its leeward side. By others, 

 again, the hay is given in moveable racks, and a 

 portion per day is allowed. This is an ex- 

 en turnips, let the weather 

 1 1 or bad, for it corrects the watery quality 

 of the ?heep thus led are found to thrive 



better than upon either hay or turnips alone. In 

 some parts ol the 1 : in, the most e qierienced 

 farmers give their ewes and lambs bran and oats, 

 or oil-cake, in troughs, while they are feeding on 

 turnips; but the expense attendant on this practice 

 can only be repaid by a superior hired. 



By the course of feeding here detailed, the sheep 

 may be successfully supported tiil the month of 

 March, aboul which time the stock of turnips upon 

 'ii'' land 1 generally consumed; so that every at- 

 tention should be paid to have a proper supply of 

 sprine- Ibod. Among the many expedients result- 

 ed to for this purpose, may be mentioned the turn- 

 ing of sheep into a spot of rye sown for the pur- 

 .- intocroj s of wheat, in order to teed them 

 off; a practice which, however, is necessarily con- 

 lined to arable firms, and can seldom be carried to 

 a sufticent extent. Other resources are the letting 

 the animals run over the clover and pasture of the 

 (arm; hence the crops of hay, and pastures lor huge 

 cattle, receive material injury. Others have an 

 adequate spot of land, under ray grass and clover, 

 ready to take the ewes and lambs from turnips, 

 before they are turned in upon the pa 'ares. The 

 last mentioned practice is undoubtedly the best; but 

 ii may be material!} assi ted by removing Swed- 

 ish turnips from the ground and stacking them 

 u] on laj ers of straw, a! 1 f cut off' the to] s 



and roots: the common turnip will become sticky; 

 but Swedes, treated in this manner, will retain 

 their nutritive quality until towards .summer, and 

 will be found essential!} serviceable at this trying 

 season. Turnip, cabbages, the ruta baga, green, 

 honct>le, and especially burnet; all afford singular- 

 ly useful crops for spring feed. The hitter has the 

 r property of maintaining its verdure 

 throughout the winter: so that, even under deep 

 snows, some luxuriance of vegetation may be 

 discovered. In November, it should be four or 

 five inches high; and. by February, the crop will 

 gain two or three inches in growth in the young 

 leaves, when it will be ready for sheep. 



Infinitely preferable, however, to any of these 

 useful articles of late spring feed for ewes and 

 lambs, is rowen, or the aftergrass, kept on dry- 

 meadows and pastures after the hay-harvest is 

 concluded. Although afield of rowen presents 

 an unpromising aspect at a distance, in color not 

 unlike very bad hay, yet when this covering is re- 

 moved, a fine green herbage, from five to six 

 inches in height, will appear; the whole of which 

 is eaten with avidity by the ewes and their young 

 ay, who are thus supported till they are turn- 

 ed into the pasture, and being a sure resource, 

 while others may fail, should never be neglect- 

 ed.-" 



*Mr. Young gives it as his opinion, that rowen is the 

 cheapest mode ui' keeping a full stock in April. If of 

 a tolerable quality, lie estimates that it v. ill carry ten 

 ewes en an ac re, together with their lambs, through the 

 who] ■ of April; and computes its relative value to be, 



