AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM ^ 



Judicial to slicep, and may in part occasion thajt well- 

 known disorder, the rot in the liver. There is little 

 doubt, that it is the immediate occasion of the foot rot, 

 which, in this climate, rarely makes its appearance be- 

 fore St Bartholomew's Day (the 25th of August), when 

 the dews usually begin to make tlieir appearance, as is 

 expressed by the old adage — " St. Bartholomew brings 

 on cold dew.'' The remedy, if iostiintly applied, is cer- 

 tain ; — a caustic wash rubbed in between the hoof, wili 

 stop the stripping of the skin, and the horn of the hoof 

 toward the toe being cut away (so as to see the clear 

 transparent horn), leaves no room for this foetid sub- 

 stance to get bold of the foot. Great care must be taken, 

 not to cut away the extreme })oint of the hoof called the 

 " toe-vein," because it deprives ihe foot of due circulati- 

 on of the blood ; in otlier respects, the foot cannot be 

 pared away too close : when the corrosive styptic has 

 been rubbed in, let the sheep be kept in a dry place, to 

 allow the remedy to have its due effect; and separatethe 

 stripped and lanie sheep from the Jlock for two days, 

 and the disease wlW disappear : if it is to be seen for more 

 than forty-eight hours in the same animal, it is generally 

 the fault of the shcjih.crd. The diseiise has been suppos- 

 ed inherent in the land : I am of opinion this is not the 

 ease, because 1 know that land, supposed to be deeply 

 tainted, has lost (judging from the sheep depastured on 

 jt) all vestige of the disease, although unbroken, and not 

 even manured on the sw^ard, which happened to be vcvy 

 old. On that part of the author's farm on which the Me. 

 rino sheep usually depastured, the foot rot prevailed to 

 the greatest degree when occupied formerly by the hea- 

 vy long-wool slicep of that district; it has been com. 

 pletely subdued for several yearg. 



The}' are subject to no conslitutional disease, froTH 

 which other breeds are exempted, after the lambs have 

 %veathered the first three weeks, and even during that 

 period, only from the shortness of the wool when fii*st 

 dropped^ a diificuUy to which all fiiiewoollcd sheep are 



