166 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



for lambing. At the approach of lambing they are brought up 

 to the lambing pen, and as they lamb they go on to grass, getting 

 mangels, with such mixed corn, cake and chaff as the owner thinks 

 well. 



With the lambing in March, as the lambs get forward enough 

 to feed, the ewes go on to seed leys or good pasture. On the more 

 arable lands the clover leys are much utilised. As with other 

 lowland breeds, the lambs are generally allowed to run forward 

 through lamb hurdles or creeps, to partake of trough food. Weaning 

 takes place towards the end of July, when the lambs get the sweet 

 food from the clover aftermaths ; it is customary to give a small 

 allowance of cake or lamb food, to keep the lambs going on when 

 weaned. In August the cabbages are available, and carry them 

 until the turnips are ready and wintering begins. Lincoln men, 

 recognising the value of the wool, dip both lambs and ewes a little 

 time before weaning, and it is customary to dip the ewes again 

 in November. If sheep with these heavy fleeces are not freed 

 from insects there is likelihood of considerable loss, as when the 

 warm weather comes, and the insects get active, the sheep are 

 apt to roll in their endeavours to dislodge them ; in doing this 

 they are liable to get on their backs or be cast, when, owing to the 

 length and weight of wool, they cannot get back. There is no 

 more anxious time than this, and the shepherds, especially on 

 rough-surfaced fen pastures, have to be round their sheep at almost 

 all hours of night as well as of day. 



Draft Ewes. Draft ewes from the flock are fattened on mustard 

 and rape, or grass. It is a striking scene to see a flock of sheep 

 eat its way into a fold of the big summer rape, which grows so 

 vigorously in the fens, that it far overtops the hurdles, making 

 it no easy matter to see the sheep before they have stripped the 

 leaves. Succulent as the leaves may be, the sheep thrive faster 

 when they get down to the stems. In bad times with the sheep-fly 

 maggot, the shepherd needs to be very keen to notice when the 

 sheep is first showing signs of maggot whilst they are in this dense 

 food. The system of management is one which is singularly 

 independent of catch cropping. The late lambing does not call 

 for it, and the general supply of keep meets the needs of the flock. 

 Tares or vetches, rye and other crops, relied upon so much with 

 breeds further south, are only comparatively rarely grown. As 

 the wool is so long and plentiful, dagging or clotting to remove 

 dirt and foulness has to be kept up as required, and, before shearing, 

 this is generally systematically done. With the higher-bred 

 flocks, where lambing is done earlier, with the view of getting 

 the lambs forward for shows and the early sheep sales, kale, kohl- 

 rabi, and cabbages are more used, and more rye and tares are 

 grown, and a far more liberal feeding with cake and corn is provided. 



