160 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



for ewe lambs to be bred from, and experience shows that in so 

 growing a breed it is not desirable to tax them with the carrying 

 of a lamb and its after support ; the fall of lambs itself is not 

 satisfactory, nor is the milk supply good. Where lambs are bred 

 from, the breeding should be delayed as long as possible, but this 

 again throws the next year's breeding late. 



Ewes during Gestation. The general management of the ewes 

 during gestation has been treated with in the section " A Year with 

 the Ewes," and need not be enlarged upon here ; but the mixed 

 cropping of the Down farms supplies a greater variety than 

 is commonly found on other farms. The ewes require exercise, 

 and should not be too closely folded, and this the Down farms 

 provide admirably ; moreover, the dry lair greatly favours them. 

 It does not hurt them to come into smaller folds at night, and 

 they suitably scavenge after the younger sheep. As a rule , the Hamp- 

 shires come to the lambing pen in good working condition, but I 

 do not think, from my experience, that they throw as many lambs 

 as so strong a breed should ; or perhaps it might be better put 

 that not so many are weaned. There seemed to be a little too 

 much disregard for infant life, and too little acknowledgment 

 of the early deaths ; but, in spite of that, the fall is not heavy 

 as in some breeds, and the suggestion was that a little better doing 

 before going to the ram might increase it ; for, after all, the " luck " 

 in respect to doubles has practically nothing to do with treatment 

 after gestation commences, though it has much to do with the 

 strength of the ewe and lambs in the lambing yard. It is notice- 

 able also with the Southdowns, which lead a much harder life 

 than is commonly recognised. The fall of lambs from South- 

 downs brought on to good pasturage before tupping, and generally 

 well treated, is decidedly heavy, but the hill yield at weaning 

 time is not. Moreover, I have seen the same in respect to the 

 Hampshire. The gospel of one good lamb being better than two 

 moderate ones, is often much overstated, though in a show flock 

 it may have rather more to commend it. A good ewe should 

 nurture two lambs well ; but if she is allowed to get low in con- 

 dition a little while before she lambs, she will be hard tried to get 

 milk for them. 



Prior to Lambing. The later stages before lambing should see 

 the ewe in a vigorous condition. " I never had my ewes too fat at 

 lambing yet ; and though I have them good then, they are always 

 poor enough within a month when they have a couple of lambs 

 pulling at each, no matter how well they are done," was the state- 

 ment of my late shepherd, Meadows, of Hollesley, who probably 

 has the finest ewe and lamb record of any man in the country, 

 as the records of the Suffolk Society for shepherds' premiums 

 during the past twenty-five years show. In one year with me he 



