318 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



and, on llie other hand, it is not only improper to cut the skin of a sheep 

 at any time, but it is peculiarly so to cut that on the bag of an ewe near 

 lambing. The wool saved by tagging will far more than pay the ex- 

 penses of the operation. It answers well for stockings and other ordinary 

 domestic pui-poses, or it will sell for something like half the price of fleece 

 wool. 



Humanity and economy both dictate that care should be taken in han- 

 dling sheep at all times, and it is especially important with ewes heavy 

 with lamb. It is highly injurious and unsafe 1o chase them about and han- 

 dle them roughly, for even if abortion, the worst consequence of such 

 treatment, is avoided, they become timid and shy of being touched, render- 

 ing it difficult to catch or render them assistance at the lambing period — 

 and even a matter of difficulty to enter the cotes where it is sometimes 

 necessary to confine them at that time, without having them driving about 

 pell-mell, running over their lambs, &c. It may not be known to every 

 one, that if a sheep is suddenly caught by the wool when running, or is 

 lifted by its wool, the skin is to a certain extent loosened from the body 

 at the points where it is thus seized, and if killed a day or two afterward, 

 blood will be found settled about those parts. A man knowing this, and 

 subsequently guilty of such gratuitous brutality, richly deserves to be 

 kicked out of the sheep-yard. When sheep are to be handled, they should 

 be inclosed in a yard just large enough to hold them without their being 

 crowded — so they shall have no chance to run and dash about. The 

 catcher should sto^) them by seizing them by the hind leg close above the 

 hock, or by clapping one hand before the neck and the other behind the 

 buttocks. Then, not waiting for the sheep to make a violent struggle, he 

 should throw his right arm over and about it immediately back of the 

 shoulders, place his hand under the brisket, and lift the animal on his hip. 

 If the sheep is very heavy, he can throw both arms around it, clasp his 

 fingers under the brisket, and lift it up against the front part of his body. 

 He then should set it carefully on its rump on the tagging-table, (which 

 should be 18 or 20 inches high,) support its back with his legs, and hold 

 it gently and conveniently until the tagger has performed his duty. Two 

 men should not be permitted to lift the same sheep together, as it will be 

 pretty sure to receive some strain between them. A good shearer and 

 assistant will tag 200 sheep per day. 



Where sheep receive green feed all the year round, as they will do in 

 many parts of the South, and no purging ensues from eating the newly- 

 starting grasses in the spring, tagging will not be necessary. 



Burs, &c. — If sheep are let out in the spring into jjastures where the 

 dry stalks of the Burdock (Arctkwi laffci), or the Hound's Tongue, or 

 Tory-weed (Cj/noglossmn ojjicinalej, have remained standing over the win- 

 ter, the burs are caught in their now long wool, and, if numerous, the wool 

 is rendered entirely unmarketable, and almost valueless. Even the dry 

 prickles of the common and Canada thistles, w^here they are very numer- 

 ous, get into the neck-wool of sheep, as they thrust their heads under and 

 among them to crop the first scarce feed of the Northern spring ; and, in- 

 dependently of injuring the wool, they make it difficult to wash and other- 

 wise handle the sheep. The Burdock being a large and not very frequent 

 plant, there is no excuse for its being found on the farm. The Hound's 

 Tongue is very prevalent in forests and partly wooded pastures in the 

 North, and it is not conspicuous enough to be easily eradicated, though 

 careful sheep-farmers often do so. If sheep are let into pastures contain- 

 ing it, it must be only in the summer and fall, after shearing. The burs, 



(638) 



