1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



279 



suckle strange Iambs,) as such lambs ought to 

 suck a-headj or be permitted to take the first milk. 

 There is great difficulty in compelling the ewes to 

 suckle strange lambs; but when they have lost 

 their own by accident, thej maybe deceived by 

 stripping the skin from the dead lamb, and stitch- 

 ing it. round the body of a live one. 



In the intervals of suckling, some wheat straw 

 may be given to the lambs in racks, either -with 

 wheal or bruised peas in troughs, together with a 

 piece of calcined chalk for them to lick, hut as die 

 ewe's milk is the chief support of their young, 

 especial care must be taken to supply her with 

 turnips; or, in case, these or oilier roots cannot he 

 procured, besides turning her into a good warm 

 pasture, she should be fed with brewers' grains, 

 to which may be added a little hay, oats, or bran; 

 hut the last mentioned articles are greatly inferior 

 to turnips, or any of the succulenl roots, in pro- 

 ducing a flow of milk. 



The ewes ought to be conducted to the lambs 

 three or lour times in the day, at nearly equidistant 

 I •; and if anyone have a more than ordina- 

 ry How of milk, she may beheld by the head, 

 while a second lamb draws the udder. During 

 the whole of the treatment, the strictest attention 

 ought to he paid to cleanliness; to promote which, 

 the pens should be well littered with fresh straw; 

 and, by this simple expedient, the animals will, if 

 kept free from all disturbance, speedily fatten, and 

 their flesh becomes exceedingly white and delicate. 

 Some estimate may he formed of the profil arising 

 from rearing house-lambs, from the prices given 

 per quarter in the London markets. These, re- 

 tail, vary from ten to fifteen, or twenty shillinffs, 

 according to the demand, so that each Iamb sells 

 at from two to four pounds; though the prices af- 

 terwards gradually decline, till the ensuing spring 

 affords an abundant supply for the table. Yet, 

 whether from the great trouble of the requisite at- 

 tendance, or from the precariousness of the result, 

 it is a remarkable fact that, notwithstanding the in- 

 crease of population, the rearing of house-lambs 

 has, of late years, materially fallen off. 



On the feeding of sheep. 



The successful feeding of sheep must greatly 

 depend on the quality of the pasture intended for 

 their reception, and upon the resources which the 

 farmer has for supplying them with food during 

 the trying winter months. Hence, as already in- 

 timated, it will be necessary to suit them to the 

 pasture, and on no account to purchase or procure 

 sheep from the grounds of a superior quality to 

 those which are destined lor their support. With 

 sheep, as with other cattle stock, it has been found 

 that the larger breeds are calculated only for the 

 richest and most luxuriant grounds, while the 

 smaller sorts are best adapted tor the less fertile 

 tracts, where the grass is shorter; and as the breeds 

 that are most beneficial tor particular situations are 

 detailed in the introductory view prefixed to this 

 book, we deem any further remark on that subject 

 unnecessary. 



In the grazing of sheep, as well as neat cattle, 

 various methods are. practised, and with different 

 success. Thus some farmers buy two, or three- 

 shear wethers, earlj in May, which, for several 

 weeks, are indifferently kept till all the grass has 

 been mown off the meadows, when they are turn- 



ed into the rowen, and are afterwards forced or fat- 

 tened off' on turnips, hay, and oil-cake, during the 

 winter months, so as to be fit for sale at the com- 

 mencement of march. This practice is very ben- 

 eficial, if conducted with cure, as mutton fetches 

 the most advantageous prices in that month. 



Others purchase pregnant ewes towards the close 

 of summer, or early in the autumnal quarter; and 

 keep them on inferior grass lands, stubbles, or fal- 

 low, till the beginning of the following year, when 

 they are kept in go.od condition through the lamb- 

 ing season, and after that in the best manner that. 

 circumstances will admit; so that the lambs may 

 bcreadj for sale in sufficient time for the dams to 

 he fattened for the butcher early in autumn. 



Another profitable practice on good soils is, the 

 buying of lambs of forward, breeds, about the end 

 of August, or in the beginning of the following 

 month. The animals thus acquired are, by some, 

 graziers, kept in an indifferent way throughout the 

 winter, till the following spring, when they are 

 turned into rich pasture, and fattened so as to be 

 read\- for sale before Christmas, at which time the 

 whole stock are cleared off the land. Others how- 

 ever,adopta system altogether the reverse of this: 

 having purchased the sheep, as already stated, 

 they force them with the best keep that can be 

 procured, and dispose of them as quickly as pos- 

 sible. Each of these plans has its separate ad- 

 vocates; they are all good; and the preference to 

 either can only be determined by relative circum 

 stances of soil and situation, the quantity and the 

 nature of the feed. 



In grazing sheep, the fine grasses produced on 

 downs are, undoubtedly, the best and most conge- 

 nial food for these animals; and, on such soils, both 

 the finest wool and the best mutton are produced; 

 but in order to bring sheep forward af an earlier 

 age than would be possible on such herbage, and 

 for the larger breeds reared on lowlands, richer 

 pasture is necessary: good hay alone will fatten 

 wethers; but they may be yet more advantageous- 

 ly prepared for the butcher by means of grass and 

 hay together. Great attention, however, is ne- 

 cessary, that sheep be kept from all grass that is! 

 grown in marshy places, otherwise they will be- 

 come affected with the rot. And here it may not 

 be amiss to remark, that the late Mr. Bake well at- 

 tributed this fatal disease solely to flooded lands, 

 and the premature, but unsubstantial, herbage af- 

 forded by them. Whenever, therefore, particular 

 lots or parcels o! his sheep were thus affected, his 

 practice was to fatten them for the butcher; and, 

 probably from motives of jealousy, in order that 

 he might be certain the animals would be killed, 

 and not got into other hands, he was said to rot 

 them before they were disposed of! This he effect- 

 ed by overflowing a pasture or meadow in the 

 summer, in consequence of which the soil thus 

 flooded inevitably rotted the sheep that were fed 

 on it in the ensuing autumn: but this, it should be 

 observed, does not apply to irrigated land, if pro- 

 perly managed. ■ 



.Beside humid situations, and the acid grass ve- 

 getating there, the tufts of long, rank grass that 

 usually spring up after horse-dung, are injurious, 

 unless the grass has been previously exposed to a 

 lew nights' frost, after which they may be turned 



'See Book VIII. Chap. XI. 



