WEANING. 



3y 



November is the month usually chosen for this opera- 

 tion, but as it cannot be properly done unless the day 

 fixed upon has been preceded by dry weather, the 

 time ought rather to be selected by the aspect of the 

 season. 



The composition of smearing stuffs is so very various, 

 that it is quite beyond my power to give the reader 

 even a list of the ordinary ingredients and their pro- 

 portions ; nor need I recommend any of them in par- 

 ticular to the attention of the shepherd, knowing, as I 

 do, the bigoted opinions which are held upon the sub- 

 ject, and the aversion with which every one regards a 

 mixture not of their own composing. I can only ob- 

 serve, that where tar is employed, it ought to be well 

 diluted with grease, so as to enable two English quarts 

 of it to be spread over six sheep. In this way it will 

 be less liable to adhere to the wool, and will be much 

 more readily laid upon the skin. When sheep are 

 salved without due attention to the even spreading of 

 the mixture, the insects with which the skin is infested 

 are, instead of being destroyed, allowed here and there 

 a resting place ; and as the severity of their attack is 

 in proportion to the limited nature of their range, the 

 skin at these points soon becomes crusted with scabs. 

 The smaller the quantity of tar employed, as consistent 

 with the keeping down of vermin, so much the better, 

 as the wool is of more value to the manufacturer, the 

 sheep is saved the discomfort of having its fleece 

 plastered and matted, and the shepherd is spared the 

 vexation of losing lambs through their inability to reach 

 an udder surrounded by locks of hard and tangled 

 wool. 



