SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 337 



Division op Flocks. — It is customary at, or soon after shearing, to make 

 those divisions in large flocks, \yhich utility demands. It is better to have 

 not to exceed two hundred sheep run together in the pastures, though the 

 .number might perhaps be safely increased to three hundred, if the range 

 is extensive. Wethers and dry ewes to be turned ofi, should be kept sep- 

 arate from the nursing-ewes, and if the flock is sufficiently numerous to 

 require a third division, it is customary to put the yearling and two-yeai-- 

 old ewes and wethers and the old, feeble sheep togethei*. it is better in 

 all cases to separate the rams from all the other sheep, at the time of 

 shearing, and to inclose them in a particularly well-fenced field. If put 

 even with wethers, they are more quarrelsome, atid when cool nights ar- 

 rive, will Avori'v themselves and waste their flesh in constant effbits to ride 

 the wethers. The Merino ram is a .quiet animal compared with the com- 

 mon-wooled one, but poor fences, or fences half the time down, will tempt 

 him to jump, and if once taught this trick, he becomes very troublesome 

 as the rutting period approaches, unless hoppling, yoking, clogging, or 

 " poking " is resorted to — either of which causes the animal to waste his 

 flesh and strength, and are the causes of frequent accidents. 



Hoppling, Clogging, &c. — Hoppling is done by sowing the ends of a 

 leathern strap (broad at the extremities so that it will not cut into the 

 flesh) to a fore and hind leg, just above the pastern joints-cleaving the legs 

 at about the natural distance apart. Clogging is fastening a billet of wood 

 to the fore leg by a leather strap. Yoking is fastening two rams two or 

 three feet apart, by bows around their necks, inserted in a light piece of 

 timber, say two by three inches in size. Poking is done by inserting a 

 bow in a short bit of light timber, into which bit (worn on the under side 

 of the neck) a rod is inserted which projects a couple of feet in front of 

 the sheep. These, and similar devices, to prevent rams scaling fences, may 

 be employed as a last resort, by those improvident farmers who prefer by 

 such troublesome, injurious, and at best, insecure means, to guard against; 

 that viciousness which they might, so much more easily, have prevented 

 from being acquired. 



Dangerous Rams. — From being teased and annoyed by boys, or petted 

 and played with when young — and sometimes without any other stimulant 

 than a naturally vicious temper — rams occasionally become very trouble- 

 some by their propensity to attack men or cattle. I know of one for 

 which his owner has refused $250, which will permit no man to enter the 

 field with him without making an immediate onset on him. I have known 

 several that would knock down the ox or horse which presumed to dis- 

 pute the possession of a lock of hay with them. A ram which is known 

 to have acquired this propensity should at once be hooded, and, if not 

 valuable, at the proper season converted into a wether by " cording." But 

 the courage thus manifested, is usually the concomitant of great strength 

 and vigor of constitution — and of a powerfully developed frame. If good 

 in other particulars, it is a pity to lose the services of such an animal. 1 

 have in several such instances hooded them, by covering their faces with 

 leather in such a manner that they could only see a little backward and 

 downward. They must then, however, be kept apart from the flock of 

 rams, or they will soon be killed or injured by blows, which they cannot 

 see to escape. 



It sometimes happens that a usually quiet tempered ram will suddenly 

 exhibit some pugnacity when you are salting or feeding the flock. If you 

 turn to run, you are immediately knocked down, and the ram learns, at 



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