V0L.V. 



Sheep-Hushandry. 



233 



SHEEP-HUSBANDRY. 



The above is a drawing of the model liurdles furnished by our friend Joshua Sharrold. 

 (See page 231 of the present number.) 



The hurdles are sixteen feet long, four feet high, wheels four inches broad, made either of 

 wood or iron. By them a large field might be subdivided, in a very short space of time, and 

 the stock changed to fresh pasture every few days, with great advantage to them, and eco- 

 nomy of food ; and thus much of the permanent fence on a farm might be dispensed with. 

 But on farms where help is to be obtained, the wheels themselves might be dispensed 

 with, two men being sufficient to remove and fix them in the ground, by means of a stout 

 bar of iron, squared at the end, and pointed, with which to pitch holes at proper distances : 

 in this case, however, the head of one hurdle is brought forward, so as to lap, or pass a little 

 beyond that of another, and then the stake, which is driven into the ground on the outside 

 of both, secures all by a collar, either of rope or twisted withe, passing round both hurdles 

 and stake. 



In preparing timber for making these hurdles, it is earnestly recommended to cut it du- 

 ring the full flow of the sap — say in May — strip it of its bark, and immediately saw it into 

 the proper scantling, submitting it at once to the operation of heat, according to the plan 

 proposed at p. 319 of the Fourth Volume of the Cabinet, as a way of seasoning it, and ren- 

 dering it worm-proof: by these means it is confidently believed that a length of many years' 

 service will be added to its durability. It is said that these hurdles have been in use in some 

 part of Maryland, where they were found to answer all the ends proposed, and by which 

 more than one half the pasture was saved ; no objection being ever made against them, fur- 

 ther than that to remove them was a labour and trouble that were found incompatible with 

 the owner's habits and convenience. 



An excellent writer in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, has some very sensible re- 

 marks on sheltering sheep, which are deserving serious regard : he says, We are too much 

 disposed to manage our sheep, although the most profitable of our domestic animals, with less 

 care than any other stock: were we to expend on them a portion of the attention which we 

 bestow on our horses and cattle — shield them, in time of storms, and feed them with nutri- 

 tious food — they would be more profitable to their owners, and most of the losses which fall 

 60 heavily on this kind of stock, in bad seasons, would be prevented. A slight shelter in an 

 enclosed yard, sufficiently large to accommodate the breeding ewes, and another adjoining 

 for the other members of the flock, to which they might be driven for shelter and safety 

 every night, and during stormy, wet, and boisterous days, would add exceedingly to the com- 

 fort and well-being of the flock, and not less to the quality and quantity of the wool; the 

 dung also being found very superior. Dried leaves make the best bedding for sheep. The 

 shelter of these simply-constructed sheds will ward off" many fatal diseases, to which the out- 

 lying sheep are constantly exposed, and, amongst the rest, that fatal scourge the rot, which 

 is engendered by taking too great a quantity of wet and cold food into the stomach : here 

 they could be fed with a little dry food and salt, in small mangers erected for the purpose, at 

 great convenience and profit. 



