344 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



nounced as foot-rot in the sheep ; but who ever heard of foot-rot 

 under similar circumstances in the horse, or who ever supposed that 

 the matter, if apphed to another horse by inoculation, would pro- 

 duce lameness and a similar sore, in the same region, the foot ? On 

 this I deem any other remark unnecessary. No other help than the 

 shepherd and his dog is required ; nor no other instrument than a 

 strong, sharp and well pointed two-bladed knife, the large blade to 

 pare down the hoof, the smaller one to cut out down to the part 

 affected. 



The way of tying down the*sheep is as follows : Get a soft rope 

 made of tow with three plies, each ply as thick as your middle fin- 

 ger, five feet long ; then splice both ends together, and you have a 

 double rope two feet six inches long. When you catch your sheep, 

 turn him gently on his side ; then raise him to a sitting posture, 

 having his head bent over under your stomach ; take your rope and 

 put it over the left hind leg just above the hock, catchmg the sinew ; 

 then give your rope two or three twists, so as to confine the leg, and 

 pass it along the belly and on the side of the chest close under the 

 elbow of the right fore leg or shoulder, and pass the other end over 

 his head on to his neck ; lay him down on his side, and there he 

 must remain secure until you choose to loose him. When you go to 

 dress him or pare his hoofs, the easiest position for the sheep, and 

 the handiest for the shepherd, is to place him in a sitting posture, 

 the rope still left on until he is ready to be let out to pasture. The 

 paring of the hoof can alone be well performed with a strong, sharp 

 bladed knife, and is very simple : leave the bottom of the hoof as 

 even as possible, so that the sheep may have an even and flat sur- 

 face to stand upon, taking care of not cutting down to the quick ; 

 the toes should be left smooth and rounded, and no portion of the 

 heel touched, unless some /aggy part is hanging. 



The shepherd with his dog and crook, and twenty-four tow ropes 

 on his shoulder, his knife and vials in his pocket, can go out and 

 pen his sheep in any clean and convenient corner, catch the lame 

 ones and rope them, let the rest of his flock out to pasture, and 

 then in a very few hours dress his invalid sheep, and be prepared 

 for his other work. Suppose the shepherd to have the charge of a 

 flock of 1000 sheep, he must be very ignorant, or very careless, 

 ever to require to use more than twelve or eighteen out of his twenty- 

 four ropes on any one day : there is no busmess at which a man is 

 engaged, that " a stitch in time is more certain to save nine," than 

 in herding a flock of sheep. 



With much respect, I remain, dear sir, your humble servant, 

 Louisville (Kentucky), July, 1845. GRAZIER. 



