THE LAMBING SEASON. 77 



altering the feelings of the supposed parent. This 

 method of cheating the ewe into the adoption of a 

 strange lamb has thus been poetically described : 



" Her tender offspring dead, the dam aloud 

 Calls, and runs wild amidst th" unconscious crowd ; 

 And orphan'd sucklings raise the piteous cry 

 No wool to warm them, no defender nigh. 

 And must her streaming milk then flow in vain ? 

 Must unregarded innocence complain ? 

 No ; ere this strong solicitude subside, 

 Maternal fondness may be fresh applied, 

 And the adopted stripling still may find 

 A parent most assiduously kind. 

 For this he's doom'd awhile disguised to range 

 (For fraud or force must work the wished-for change), 

 For this his predecessor's skin he wears, 

 Till, cheated Into tenderness and cares, 

 The unsuspecting dam, contented grown, 

 Cherish and guard the fondling as her own." 



So many are the casualties of the lambing season, that 

 although many of the ewes have twins, it is looked upon 

 as a favourable season when one lamb can be reared for 

 every ewe of the flock. The lambs remain with the 

 ewes until the weaning time, which is generally about 

 the middle of July. They are then separated and kept 

 out of hearing of each other, that they may not be dis- 

 turbed by mutual bleatiugs. The ewes require to be 

 milked three or four times after tke lambs are taken away. 

 The pasture into which the lambs are turned at the wean- 

 ing time should be fresh and sweet, but not too rank. 



The natural food of sheep is herbage, upon which 

 they feed during summer. The short sweet grass of 

 downs is safer food than the rich grass of valleys, and is 

 better suited to the general habits of sheep, who are fond 

 of grazing on breezy heights. As spring advances, the 

 fleeces of the flock show tokens of the approach of shear- 

 ing time, for a new coat of wool sprouts up, and begins 

 to lift the old from the skin. The usual time for sheep- 

 shearing is the middle of June ; but the coldness o r 



