INTRODUCTION. 



THE shepherd and the flockowner have to work hand in hand. 

 No man on the farm carries so much responsibility as the shepherd, 

 and no man on the farm is so self-sacrificing of his ease and strength 

 as the shepherd in the interest of sheep under his care. In some 

 large sheep-farming districts the shepherd is scarcely second to 

 the farmer, for he often dictates the cropping, and the time for 

 consuming it, as well as the time for selling the sheep. In other 

 instances the farmer takes most control, but then a skilled and 

 trustworthy shepherd is needed for sheep require an eye on them 

 at all times. 



Shepherds are generally shepherds by descent ; this ensures 

 an instinctive love and appreciation of sheep, as well as a very 

 considerable amount of sheep -lore which has passed from mouth 

 to mouth through generations. A very large proportion of this 

 knowledge is highly valuable, but some of it is not reliable ; wrong 

 ideas prevail in shepherding as in other things, and the good and 

 the bad have come down together. It was not until comparatively 

 recent years that sheep came under the influence of really pro- 

 gressive science ; some superficial scientific knowledge was brought 

 to bear on the sheep, but few men of science devoted their time 

 to the study, because there was little prospect of profit in their 

 doing so. In more recent years, however, the sheep has had its 

 full share of attention from the scientist, and with marked benefit. 

 There is much more to be done, and that, naturally, the more 

 intricate and submerged. Still there is a great field for the man 

 of research, and it may with truth be said that in discovering 

 preventive and curative means, reasonable to apply, in respect 

 to some of the diseases affecting sheep, there is every inducement 

 that pecuniary reward can give. There are diseases which levy 

 a heavy toll from sheep-keepers throughout the world, and the 

 man who makes discoveries to substantially hold them in check has 



