236 BRITISH SHEEP AND SHEPHERDING. 



In order to dress the feet with either of the preparations men- 

 tioned, long shallow troughs must be supplied, and the sides and 

 top hurdled, in order to pass the animals through one at a time, 

 and slowly, to prevent leaping. Arsenical sheep dips are often used 

 in this way, but it is not an economic method. 



Individual Dressing. Flocks that can be turned and handled 

 any way will do much better for having the feet pared carefully 

 and the morbid horn scraped away and cracks cleaned out before 

 applying the dressing. For an ointment, we can recommend 

 a compound of 1 oz. of sulphate of copper, 1 oz. of Venice turpen- 

 tine, and 8 oz. of lard. The two last ingredients should be melted 

 together at a low heat, and the powder stirred in while cooling. 

 Among the liquid remedies, the old-fashioned dressing of one part 

 of butyr of antimony and two parts of train oil holds its own. 

 Another good mixture is that of one part of carbolic acid in 

 twenty parts of glycerine. This is very penetrating and has 

 other recommendations, but is costly. In some cases there will be 

 found fungoid growths that must be cut away before any dressing 

 can possibly cure. In others, the use of the foot pulls open the 

 cracks. For the latter a tarred piece of canvas or fillis bound 

 round and tarred heavily, answers well. The movements must 

 be confined until the healing process has made progress. It 

 may be said that tar and salt in the proportion of five of the 

 former to one of the latter, will cure most cases of foot-rot in 

 the early stage, and that preference should always be given 

 over those of the caustic remedies, reserving them for the 

 " chronics " and those with outgrowths that must be destroyed. 

 The hoof has a disposition to contract when strong remedies are 

 used, and this may cause lameness, apart from decayed horn. 



