SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 335 



Marking Sheep. — The sheep should be marked soon after shearing, or 

 mistakes may occur. Every owner of sheep should be provided with a 

 marking instrument, which will stamp his initials, or some other distinctive 

 mark, such as a small circle, oval, triangle, square, &c., at a single stroke, 

 and with uniformlti/, on the sheep. It has been customary here, to have 

 the mark cut out of a plate of thin iron, with an iron handle terminated by 

 wood. But one made by cutting a type or raised letter (or character) on 

 the end of a stick of light wood, such as pine or basswood, is found to be 

 better. If the pigment used be thin, and the marker be thrust into it a 

 little too deeply, as often happens, the surplus will not run oft' from the 

 wood, as from a thin sheet of iron, to daub the sides of the sheep, and 

 spoil the appearance of the mark ; and if the pigment be applied hot, the 

 former will not, like the latter, get heated, and increase the danger of 

 burning the hide. Various pigments are used. Many boil tar until it 

 will assume a glazed, hard consistency, when cold, and give it a brilliant 

 black color by stirring in a little lamp-black when boiling. It is applied 

 when just cold enough not to burn the sheep's hide, and it forms a bright, 

 conspicuous mark the year round. I have always used this, though the 

 manufacturer would prefer the substitution of oil and turpentine for tar, 

 as the latter is cleansed out of the wool with some difficulty. I boil it in 

 a high-sided iron vessel (to prevent it from taking fire) on a small furnace 

 or chafing-dish near where it is to be used. When cool enough, forty or 

 fifty sheep can be marked before it gets too stiff". It is then warmed from 

 time to time, as necessary, on the chafing-dish. The rump is a better place 

 to mark than the side. The mark is about as conspicuous on the former, 

 vmder any circumstances, and it is more so when the sheep are huddled in 

 a pen, or when they are running away from you. And should any wool 

 be injured by the mark, that on the rump is less valuable than that on the 

 side. It is customary to distinguish ewes from wethers by marking them 

 on different sides of the rump. 



Many mark each sheep as it is discharged from the barn by the shearer. 

 It consumes much less time to do it at one job, after the shearing is com- 

 pleted ; and it is necessary to take the latter course, if a hot pigment is 

 used. 



Cold Storms after Shearing. — These sometimes destroy sheep, in 

 this latitude, soon after shearing — particularly the delicate Saxons. I have 

 known forty or fifty perish out of a single flock, from one night's expo- 

 sure. The remedy, or rather the preventive, is to house them, or in de- 

 fault of the necessary fixtures to effect this, to drive them into dense for- 

 ests. I presume, however, this would be a calamity of rare occurrence in 

 the " sunny South." 



Sun-Scald — Might be more common. When sheep are sheared close 

 in very hot weather — have no shade in their pastures — and particularly 

 where they are driven immediately considerable distances, or rapidly, over 

 burning and dusty roads, their backs are so scoiched by the sun that the 

 wool comes off". It is not common, however, here. You may see one 

 such in a flock of a hundred. Let alone, the matter is not a serious one, 

 but the application of refuse lard to the back will accelerate the cure, and 

 the starting of the wool. 



Ticks. — These, when very numerous, greatly annoy and enfeeble sheep 

 in the winter, and should be kept entirely out of the flock. After shear- 

 ing, the heat and cold, the rubbing and biting of the sheep soon drive off 



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