FATTINO. *^'' 



that they have been confined too strictly to one article 

 of diet. They have been denied access to plants con- 

 taining- of all things the one most necessary for tno 

 maintenance of their health — bitter extractive matter — 

 as it is called by chemists — without a due proportion 

 of which the most nutritious substances cannot be turned 

 to account. " As an essential ingredient in the pro- 

 vender of herbivorous animals, it may, I think, be ad- 

 mitted as a fact, that its importance is in an inverse 

 ratio with the nutritive powers of the food."* Thus 

 accounting for the length of time that sheep will con- 

 tinue to thrive on turnips alone. 



With all the advantages, however, which accrue to 

 the sheep when on turnips, from the quantity of nutri- 

 tive matter which these roots contain, its progress when 

 restricted to them frequently falls very far short of the 

 expectations of the owner. In the greater number of 

 instances, also, farmers are unable to account for their 

 want of success in this department, so that I may be 

 excused for endeavouring to point out, at some length, 

 the causes of their failure. To proceed : — 



The point in sheep management in which our farmers 

 are most deficient, is turnip-feeding ; one upon which 

 most will pique themselves as being perfect, though, 

 speaking guardedly, hardly one man in twenty under- 

 stands the rudimentary principles on which sheep-feed- 

 ing should be conducted. They are unacquainted with 

 the habits of the wild animal, and, unlike any other 

 class of men, interest themselves little in the funda- 

 mental study of their calling. There is not a showman, 



♦ PorU's Phannacoloeia, ajxth edition, vol. i. p. 147- 



