SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 401 



tivated roots. This is done by withholding salt from them, and then feed- 

 ing the chopped root a few times rubbed with just sufficient salt to induce 

 them to eat the root to obtain it; but not enough to satisfy their appetite 

 for salt before they have acquired a taste for the roots. 



It is customary with some of our flock-masters to cut down from time 

 to time, in the winter, and draw into the sheep-yards, young trees of the 

 hemlock (Abies canadensis). The foliage is greedily eaten by sheep, af- 

 ter being confined for some time to dry feed. I have known sheei), un- 

 doubtedly, I think, killed by overeating it. This browse is commonly used 

 for some supposed medicinal virtues. It is pronounced " healthy for 

 sheep." The popular supposition is that it is a tonic and stimulant. If 

 this be ti'ue, which I will not pause to inquire, of what good use are tonics 

 and stimulants to healthy animals % With sheep, as with horses, and even 

 ^N'\\ki vcicw, preventive medicines are productive of injury in a thousand 

 cases, where they are of benefit in one. There could be no objection, cer- 

 tainly, to sheep's eating the foliage of the hemlock, if it was constantly 

 accessible to them. Their instincts, in that case, would teach them 

 whethei', and in what quantities, to devour it. But when entirely confined 

 to dry feed for a protracted period, sheep will consume hurtful and even 

 poisonous succulents — and of the most wholesome ones, hurtful quayitities. 

 As a mere laxative, an occasional feed of hemlock may be beneficial; but 

 in this point of view, a day's run at grass in a thaw, or a feed of I'oots, 

 would produce the same result. In a climate where grass is obtained 

 most of the time, I should consider browse for medicinal purposes entirely 

 unnecessary. 



Winter Feed of Breeding-Ewes. — Until two or three weeks pre- 

 ceding lambing, it is only necessary that bi'eeding-ewes, like other store- 

 sheep, be kept in good plump ordinary condition. Nor are any separate 

 airangements necessary for them, after that period, in a climate where 

 they obtain sufficient succulent food to provide for a proper secretion of 

 milk. In backward seasons in the Norlh, where the grass does not start 

 prior to the lambing time, careful flock-masters feed their ewes chopped 

 roots, or roots mixed with oat or pea meal. This is, in my judgment, 

 excellent economy.* 



. Regularity in Feeding. — If there is one rule which may be consider- 

 ed more imperative than any other in Sheep Husbandry, it is that the ut- 

 most regularity be preserved in feeding. First, there should be regularity 

 as to the times of feeding. However abundantly provided for, when a 

 flock are foddered sometimes at one hour and sometimes at another — 

 sometimes three times a day and sometimes twice — some days grain and 

 some days none — they cannot be made to thrive. They will do far better 

 on inferior keep, if fed with strict regularity. In a climate where they re- 

 quire hay three times a day, the best times for feeding are about suniise in 

 the morning, at noon, and an hour before dark at night. Unlike cattle and 

 horses, sheep do not eat well in the dark, and therefore they should have 

 time to consume their feed before night sets in. Noon is the common time 

 for feeding grain or roots, and is the best time if but twofodderings of hay 

 are given. If the sheep receive hay three times, it is not a matter of 

 much consequence with which feeding the grain is given, only that the • 

 practice be uniform. 



It is also highly essential that there be regularity preserved in the amount 

 fed. The consumption of hay will, it is true, depend much upon the 



* For the effect of the various esculents on the quantity and quality of the milk, see Liebig's Animal Chem. 

 (761; -^6 



