MANAGEMENT.] 



SHEEP, 



[management. 



the comparlsoa with the Downs, of the two 

 •kinds before referred to, is as follows : — The 



Cotswold gained, per week 

 Hampshire Downs 

 Sussex Downs . 



lbs. ozs. 

 3 2^ 

 2 12" 

 2 1? 



But there was a difference in the food. The 

 Cotswold consumed more food — more of every 

 kind than the Sussex Downs ; and more, 

 though very slightly, of all but the clover hay, 

 than the Hampshires. But then they had a 

 larger frame, and produced greater results. 

 Taking the 100 lbs, increase, for instance, as 

 the test, as it ought to be, the result is, in 

 every way, in favour of the Cotswold ; as the 

 following: shows : — 



Oil-cake . 

 Clover hay 

 Swedes . 



Cots-svolds. 



239£- lbs. 

 219 „ 

 3601 „ 



Hampshires. Sussex. 



294 lbs. 314 lbs. 



259 „ 304 „ 

 3941 „ 4086 „ 



The increase in weight, per 100 lbs., was 

 about 2 per cent, greater with the Cotswolds. 



The "balance-sheet," always so satisfactory, 

 is not here of the same consequence as the 

 experiment. It is not likely, when the animals 

 are so confined and often weighed, that so 

 much can be defined as clearly to make profit 

 a guiding element. The cost of the sheep is 

 given at £66 IO5. ; the quantity of purchased 

 food consumed by oil-cake and clover hay, 

 £29 6s. 5^d.—si total of £95 IQs. 5ld. ; while 

 the proceeds of the sale were £92 35. 7-3-c/. ; a 

 small difierence of £3 12s. 10 J., in the lot, with 

 the manure, for the risk, return for capital, 

 land crop, and Sv.edish turnips ; but they were 

 sold at a " heavy" market, and this may partly 

 account for the loss. There is one curious 

 fact, in this and the preceding experiments, 

 which we cannot help noticing. Mr. Lawes 

 observes, that there is some general uniformity 

 to be seen in the quantities of food in their 

 fresh state, consumed by all the three kinds 

 of animals, per 100 lbs. live weight weekly. 

 "But when the quantities of the respective 

 foods are calculated, each to their contents of 

 dry substances', it is found that the total 

 quantity consumed to a given weight of animal, 

 within a specified time, is all but absolutely the 

 same for the three breeds." 



Fatteniuf) sheep, at one year old, aliould begin 

 to lamb ; and not only must artificial food be 

 given to the lambs as soon as they will eat it, 

 742 



but they must be supplied with it indirectly 

 before they begin to partake of it in the milk of 

 the mother. Oat, bean, and linseed cake may, 

 and ought to, be given to the parent animal, so 

 that the offspring may always have plenty of 

 the materials wherewith to form bone and 

 muscle, and even fat. The fattest lamb (other 

 things being equal) not only makes the fattest 

 shearling, but will eat the least amount of food 

 to produce any given amount of mutton. Eape 

 cake is said to lay on mutton very cheaply, and 

 is second only to linseed, whilst its price is one- 

 half less. 



When the hogs are weaniug, they require 

 clipping, and superior food. Por this purpose, 

 different combinations of spirits of tar, arsenic, 

 tobacco water, with a mixture of oil or soft 

 soap, are used in various proportions ; but 

 Biggs' or "Wilson's composition is recommended 

 as being the best. At this time the lambs 

 should not be placed where sheep have been 

 depastured before. The object of this caution 

 is to prevent the probability of an attack ot 

 diarrhoea. The second crop of mown red clover, 

 or the fog of inferior grass land, is by far the 

 best food. Should this, however, not be ob- 

 tainable, a cattle-eaten pasture, but not of 

 the richest kind, will be the most favourable, 

 and the quantity of food given artificially 

 should be slightly increased. Great care must 

 be taken in confining the young sheep on the 

 turnips. The best mode is gradually to accus- 

 tom them to the watery and succulent, but 

 very valuable sheep-feeding food. With re- 

 spect to the most advantageous food to be 

 given to sheep, there is a difference of opin- 

 ion — some preferring oil-cake, some beans or 

 peas, and others oatmeal or barley-meal. Much, 

 of course, will depend upon the nature of the 

 farm, as it must, to a considerable extent, be 

 preferable to make use of the product of the 

 land. Sheep prefer beans to oats ; and beans 

 abound in that principle in which turnips are 

 most deficient. Thus they are, in some mea- 

 sure, well adapted to counterbalance the disad- 

 vantages of turnip-feeding ; and, as the latter 

 abounds more in the elements of fot, it probably 

 prevents the beans from hardening the flesh 

 too much, which they are apt to do. Barley 

 and oats contain less albumen than beans, and 

 are therefore more fattening. Oil-cake does 

 not yield much nourishment, bat possesses 



