402 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



weather. The keener the cold, the more sheep will eat. In the South 

 much would. alsQ depend upon the amount of" grass obtained. In many- 

 places a light daily foddering would suffice — in others, a light foddering 

 placed in the depository racks once in two days would answer the purpose. 

 In the steady cold weather of the North, the shepherd readily learns to de- 

 termine about how much hay will be consumed before the next foddering 

 time. And this is the amount which should, as near as may be, be regu- 

 larly fed. In feeding grain or roots there is no difficulty in preserving en- 

 tire regularity, and it is vastly more important than in feeding hay. Of 

 the latter a sheep will not overeat and surfeit itself Of the former it will. 

 And if not fed grain to the point of surfeiting, but still over-plenteously, 

 it will expect a like amount at the next feeding, and failing to receive it, 

 will pine for it and manifest uneasiness. The effect of such irregularity 

 on the stomach and system of any animal is bad — and the sheep suffers 

 more from it than any other animal. I would much rather that my flock 

 receive no grain at all, than that they receive it without regard to regular- 

 ity in the amount. The shepherd should be required to measure out the 

 grain to sheep in all instances — instead of guessing it out — and to measure 

 it to each separate flock. 



Salt. — Sheep undoubtedly require salt in winter. Some salt their hay- 

 when it is stored in the barn or stack. This is objectionable, as you thus 

 constitute yourself the judge, or controller in a matter, where the appetite 

 of the sheep is a much safer guide. It may be left accessible to them in 

 the salt-box (fig. 28) as in summer, or it is an excellent plan to give them an 

 occasional feed of brined hay or straw. This last is done in warm thaw- 

 ing weather, when their appetite is poor, and thus serves a double jjurpose. 

 With a wisp of straw sprinkle a thin layer of straw with brine — then an- 

 other layer of straw and another sprinkling, and so on. Let this lie until 

 the next day, for the brine to be absorbed by the straw, and then feed it to 

 all the grazing animals on the farm which need salting. 



■Wj^teii. — Unless sheep have access to succulent food or clean snow, 

 water is indispensable. Constant access to a brook or spring is best, but 

 in default of this, they should be watered, at least once a day, in some other 

 way. 



Preservation of Peach-Trees from the Attack of Borers. — As the best method of pre- 

 venting the destruction of peach-trees by borers i.s a matter of public interest, in diflerent sections 

 of the country, I will give my plan of preventing their ravages in young trees, and for expelling 

 them from old ones. I ascertained several years ago that sulphur is more offensive to most kinds 

 of insects than any other substance with which I was acquainted. When applied to fruit-trees 

 it lasts longer and is more permanent in its operation than anything I have tried. Peach-trees 

 are often attacked by the worm in the nursery, which may easily be known by a blackish ap- 

 pearance, with exuded gum on the stem near the ground and on the roots. When the young 

 trees are taken from the nursery, for transplanting, they must carefully be examined and the 

 worms removed with a long brad-awl, or a knife. Then rub over their upper roots and about six 

 inches of the lower part of their stems with a mixture of any common oil or grease and the flour 

 of sulphur, well incorporated by stirring. Sprinkle a table-spoonfull of clear sulphur in the bot- 

 tom of the holes, and then plant the trees in the usual way. In order to expel the borer from old 

 trees, I take a gimlet, or biace and bit, and bore three or four small holes in each tree near the 

 ground, and fill them with flour of sulphur, with the aid of a quill. I also remove the earth from 

 about the roots of the trees, as far as they are attacked by the worms ; then apply the mixture of 

 oil and sulphur as directed for young trees, replace the earth, and the proce.ss is complete. Botla 

 of these modes are cheap, easy" in their application, and, as far as I have tried them, have proved 

 effecttial. S. F. Ward. 



I^= In dry pasture dig for water on the brow of a hill ; springs are more frequently near the 

 sTirface on a liight than in a vale. 



BP" Cows v/ell fed in winter will give more milk in summer. 

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