THE GENESEE FARMER. 



19 



each. They winter better and their wool weighs 

 more. 



The lambs' tails should be cut off close to the 

 body, and the male lambs castrated, by the time 

 they are four weeks old. They bleed less and heal 

 sooner than if left to a later age. They should 

 have small yards in the winter, and should not be 

 turned out to grass until the pastures have a good 

 start. No mure sheep should be kept than can be 

 kept well. There is certain loss in trying to keep 

 more than can bo well kept. 



The washing should be done well in running 

 water, and the sheep should be shorn in about two 

 weeks after washing. Washing and shearing both 

 must be done in warm weather ; it is cruelty to do 

 otherwise. Get good twine, and do the fleece up 

 compactly and neatly, and the crop will sell well, 

 and pay a better profit for the labor than grain- 

 raising or raising beef for New York market. 



It costs per head, to keep line-wooled sheep, 

 about $1.50 per annum, washing and shearing 

 included, provided hay is worth $8 per ton and 

 corn $0.75 per bushel, salt $2 per barrel. A good 

 flock will average about 5 lbs. of wool per head, 

 and there would be from one-third to one-fourth 

 of the flock that would raise lambs. One hundred 

 sheep would yield 500 lbs. wool and 30 lambs, 

 which, at the present prices, (37^ cents for Merino 

 wool,) would be $187.50 for the wool and $60 for the 

 lambs at $2 per head ; amounting to $247.50. The 

 total cost of keeping at $1.50 per head would be 

 $150, leaving a net balance of $97.50, or nearly $1 

 per head. These figures are correct for a good flock 

 of sheep in Western New York at the present time. 



I have thus given the best manner of managing 

 fine-wooled sheep as derived from experience, and 

 have shown the probable profits to be expected 

 from a well kept flock of good fine-wooled sheep at 

 the present time. d. a. a. niohols. 



MANAGEMENT OF OOAESE-WOOL OR MUTTON 

 SHEEP. 



Food and shelter are very essential in the man- 

 agement of any kind of sheep, and the sheep that 

 ai'e well provided with both, are very sure to do 

 well, and without them they must certainly run 

 down and become worthless. In fact, I have ob- 

 tained more clear profit from sheep than any other 

 stock on the premises. I have always found that 

 the great success in raising lambs depended on the 

 time I turned in my buck. I found from experi- 

 ence, that I had always been in too much of a hur- 

 ry — had my lambs too soon. From the 20th of 

 November to the 1st of December, is the best time 

 to turn in. Then your lambs will come when 

 there is plenty of gra«s ; and then you will have 

 plenty of milk for the young lambs, and you will 

 find them large, strong, and fat, and they will 

 grow rapid enough. 



Lambs that are docked and castrated the first 

 week of their existence, will do the best ; for if 

 left until one or two months old, the use of the 

 knife will stop the growth, and sometimes cause 

 death in a few days. Young lambs seldom mind 

 the knife more than one day. 



To keep the ewes strong and healthy, they should 

 be separated from the rest of the flock, and fed 

 Bome grain — about half a pint each per day of corn 

 and oats in equal parts, with a few pine boughs, or 



a little tar laid in the feeding trough will answer 

 the same purpose. Begin to feed grain about the 

 15th of February, and keep it up until there is a 

 full bite of grass. Then your ewes will go through 

 strong and hearty. 



To mark sheep well, you must cut out the ini- 

 tials of your name in the end of a block of wood, 

 dip these letters into some red or black paint, and 

 apply it on one side the rump of the ewes, and on 

 the shoulders of the male sheep or weathers ; and 

 if you have dry ewes and fat weathers, which you 

 intend to put ott', you may apply tlie marker on the 

 opposite side. Then you can tell at a distance 

 those you want to pick out of the flock. 



To keep off dogs, put on one good plated bell for 

 every twenty sheep, and you will escape the dep- 

 redations of the canine tribe ; for let an old dog 

 start up a good loud bell, and he will drop his tail 

 and leave forthwith, for he wants to go it on the 

 sly. Bjiit sometimes a young foul of a dog will 

 chase after a bell, and bark too. a. l. SMrrn. 



Tioga Co., JST. Y., ITov., 185S. 



FINE VS. COAESE-WOOLED SHEEP. 



" Which is the most profitable breed of sheep, the fine-wool or 

 the coarse-wool mutton breeds V" 



Taken literally, this query divides sheep into 

 two classes — Merinoes and other sheep — 'and I 

 have no hesitation in saying thattliecoarse-wooled 

 sheep are the most profitable. If, however, the 

 first half of the sentence be taken as a text, the 

 question becomes much more difficult to answer in 

 a country where the soil and climate are so vai'i- 

 ous. No particidar breed will- suit all localities; 

 and the kind that is tlie most profitable in one 

 place,, will prove the reverse in another. Where 

 the climate is mild, the range extensive, and mut- 

 ton in little demand, of course the Merino must be 

 the most profitable. Where the soil is rich, the 

 pasture luxuriant, and pi'oper shelter and winter 

 food are available, the Leicester breed and its 

 grades will be found the most jirofitable. Where 

 the soil is poor and hilly, the South-down breed 

 and its grades will be the most profitable; and 

 more particularly in localities where the quality of 

 mutton is appreciated. In general, however, cross- 

 bred sheep are the most profitable ; and there is 

 no better cross than that between the Leicester 

 and the Clieviot — combining a large quantity of 

 good mutton with a heavy tieece of wool, besides 

 being ranch hardier and better breeders than pure 

 Leicesters. But as far as my experience goes, tlie 

 most profitable sheep are of no breed. Buy poor 

 and interior ewes, (of the native breed, if possible,) 

 cross them with the best Leicester or South-down 

 rams, according to their roughness and other qual- 

 ities, and they will pay from 50 to 100 per cent, 

 per annum or more. This is simply taking advan- 

 tage of the established maxim in breeding, that the 

 first cross is the best. You thus obtain an increase 

 in mutton of from 20 to 30 lbs., and an increase 

 in wool of from 50 to 100 per cent., bes'des a 

 great improvement in the quality of both. 



To sum up, — in order to keep the most profitable 

 kind of sheep, every man must decide for himself, 

 by comparing tlie qualities of the difterent breeds 

 with the nature of the soil and climate, nearness to 

 market, demand for wool, etc. J. c. 



Orillia, C. W., iTqv., 18fi8. 



