SUEEl'-JtKAUl.NO ] 



AND Til El II VARIOUS BREEDS. 



[silKEl'-llt.vniKO. 



Having alluded to the ouerouB duties of the 

 shepherd during tho breeding seiiaoii, wo may 

 hero observe, that one, whoao pastoral care lies 

 among the mountains, must bo possessed of 

 certain qualifications to enable him to act upon 

 his trust with pleasure to himselt" and satisl'ac- 

 tiou to his employer, lie must bo active, 

 attentive, careful, honest, and good-tempered 

 withal. This last qualification is as indispon- 

 sabld to make up tho character of a good shep- 

 herd, as it is to complete the character of a 

 moral philosopher or a sago. Should he sulVer 

 himself, at any time, to get into a passion with 

 his sheep, the probability is that he will not 

 only injure them, but act greatly to his own 

 disadv;uitago in herding and working among 

 them. This observation is not applicable to 

 the shepherd alone. It applies to every man 

 who is in a position to govern, command, or 

 control. He who loses his temper, generally 

 loses a portion of his time, as he certainly does, 

 a portion of his reason, which temper must 

 again restore, before be can do for himself, or 

 get others to act for him satisfactorily, A lad 

 or shepherd, and a close-mouthed dog, will ac- 

 complish the object desired in half the time, 

 and with half the trouble which will be given 

 to the quick-tempered, passionate man. It is 

 not by running and hounding his dog after 

 them, that sheep are to be easiest driven to 

 where they are wished ; but by quickly direct- 

 ing them, agreeably to the quality of the soil, 

 the nature of the climate, the locality of the 

 farm, where they may obtain in greatest quan- 

 tity, and with certain safety, a, sufficient supply 

 of nutritious food throughout the year. In 

 Little's Practical Olservations on Mountain 

 Sheep, it is remarked, that " it is not by walk- 

 ing much or seeming to be doing much, that a 

 shepherd proves himself to be a good one ; but 

 by walking so as to disturb the sheep the least, 

 and by doing, and at the time, whatever is 

 necessary to be done. There is not an expe- 

 rienced shepherd, who does not, as soon as he 

 rises in the morning, and observes the state of 

 the weather, know almost to a certainty where 

 to find nearly every sheep on the hill ; and he 

 will, accordingly, take his course to the place 

 where he knows bis presence is most wanted. 

 If any of bis own or bis neighbour's sheep 

 have trespassed, it is foolish to dog or to abuse 

 them ; bat the more quietly they can be turned 



back the better. If tho boundary should be 



on the top or ridge of a lieit,'ht, towards which 

 sheep are apt to draw at night, it is better to 

 turn his own u little closer to tho boundary ia 

 tho afternoon, than to drive back his neigh- 

 hour's ; it will better answer tho simo purpuse; 

 and, after tho flocks have been a few times 

 gently directed in tho morning, without dogs, 

 they will become so well acquainted with their 

 own side, that, at the very sight of the shep- 

 herds, they will take to it without trouble. 

 Those slu'pherds who dog and force their 

 Hocks, I take to be bad herdsmen for their 

 masters, and bad herdsmen for the neighbour- 

 ing farmers. If the boundary be a bourne or 

 brouk on low ground, where the sheep graze in 

 the middle of the day, the same plan should be 

 adopted by turning the sheep down tolerably 

 early in the day." These observations, although 

 directed to tlie mountain shepherd, have yet, 

 more or less, an application to every one who 

 has the care of sheep in any situation. 



About a fortnight before the expiration of 

 the period of gestation, the ewes should be 

 separated from the flock, and placed in a grass 

 crofc near the house. They should be sheltered 

 by being allowed temporary houses made of 

 hurdles and straw, with smaller houses, in 

 which the newly-dropt lambs may be sepa- 

 rated from the rest, and kept free from danger. 

 This is not always practised ; but it ought to 

 be done ; and for the lambing season, a croft 

 of winter-freed grass, or uneaten moss, should 

 be preserved. To save the grass at a time 

 when, from a backward spring, or other 

 reasons, it is scarce, the ewes may be driven 

 daily to tho turnip-field, and taken at night 

 elsewhere — a plan which, by giving them ex- 

 ercise, will bo found very beneficial. The 

 best food for the ewes, after shelter is no 

 longer necessary to the lambs, is Italian rye- 

 grass, or rye, which, after being eaten down, 

 grows rapidly; and nothing teaches the lambs 

 to eat sooner than this. The corn should still 

 be continued along with Swede turnips ; while 

 the advent of fine weather, and the diminished 

 wants of the lamb, will be the criteria for 

 deciding when the practice ought to be dis- 

 continued. "When lambs are observed to drop 

 on a spot where they cannot easily rise, they 

 should be lifted, and placed on their feet ; but 

 if everything be favourable, they are better 



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