94 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



Unripeness causes scour, and many sheep are lost by being put on 

 to them too early. The food contained in them is also not in a 

 form which can be fully utilised. From November to March is 

 the season of the swede. After March they become dry and pithy, 

 much of their feeding value having been lost. 



Kohl-rabi. Kohl-rabi cover much the same period as the swede, 

 the Early Small Top variety being excellent early winter feed ; 

 the Late Big Top, being hardy, is valuable at a later period, as 

 it withstands fairly severe frost. The modern Big Top late kohl- 

 rabi is of better quality than used thirty or more years ago, has 

 thinner skin, and is easier to gnaw ; but it cannot stand the same 

 severity of frost. When planted, care should be exercised to 

 obtain the variety suitable for the season at which the crop will 

 be required. 



Mangels. Mangels are essentially spring food, although they 

 are frequently fed at an earlier period. It is wasteful to feed 

 them early, as the food is not wholly digestible. The greatest value 

 is found in them from March to June, if they can be spared to 

 be kept so long ; the greater part of the food in them is then made 

 use of by the animals. When used for male sheep in the spring, 

 the yellow shoots should be stripped off, as they tend to produce 

 urinary troubles by forming crystals in the passage from the bladder, 

 which check the flow of urine, and cause inflammation of the 

 bladder, often resulting in death. Even without the leaves, 

 there appears to be a tendency for these crystals to form, but to 

 a far less degree. Ewes, being possessed of a bigger passage, rarely 

 suffer. 



Cabbages. Cabbages supply a succession of food from June to 

 Christmas, if early varieties are transplanted in autumn, and 

 later varieties of Oxheart type are transplanted in spring. These 

 will be available until September, when the Drumheads, also 

 transplanted in spring, or drilled and set out very early, will be 

 available until the end of the year ; but they cannot be relied 

 upon longer, as when thoroughly ripened they are susceptible 

 to destruction by frost. On the Suffolk coast the weather is 

 generally so mild that cabbages are relied upon to produce lamb 

 food in March. 



Probably the weakest spot in sheep management is the small 

 reliance placed on cabbages. They make by far the best " root " 

 food given to sheep ; and whether used in a late summer or autumn 

 are the most dependable food in droughty periods and after, and 

 in point of production and cost of placing before animals, are 

 cheaper than any crop approaching them in value as sheep food. 



Kale. Kale, such as the Thousand-head, Shepherd's, and other 

 hardy varieties, have a special value, coming to their best between 

 the early part of March and May, supplying rich, succulent food 



