380 REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 



space, generally sufficient for them to consume in one week. The temporary 

 fences used for penning them consist either of wooden hurdles, or nets, the 

 latter being the most economical and convenient. Jn this space the sheep con- 

 sume the turnips, and when they have eaten them close to the ground, the re- 

 maining portions of the bulbs are picked up by means of the hoe, so thai the 

 sheep may be enabled to eat them wholly up. 



When they have consumed one space, the pens are shifted to another, in 

 such a manner as to leave the ground already cleared open to the animals for 

 walking over and resting upon. A rack should be placed in the field with 

 hay. 



Sometimes when young sheep are penned till late in spring, they find diffi- 

 culty, from their teeth becoming loosened, in eating the turnips. In this case, 

 the turnip-slicer may be employed, and then the sheep may DC brought from 

 the turnip-field, and have the turnips laid down to them in a field of dry sward. 



The young sheep or hoggets are in this manner fed on turnips till the grass 

 is ready in spring. This will be early in April, or in the southern parts of the 

 country, in March; for sheep do not require the same full herbage as cattle, 

 and may therefore be turned out at an earlier period to the fields. 



Should the roots fail before the pastures are ready, then the young sheep are 

 to be carried on by substitutes, as hay, or even corn. It is rarely, however, 

 necessary on a well-ordered farm to resort to this costly species of feeding; 

 yet, when necessary, it must be done, since this inconvenience is less than the 

 evil of suffering the stock to lose condition. 



The period of shearing sheep depends upon the forward condition of the 

 animals. When fat, the old wool begins to come off more early than when 

 they are less forward. Good conditioned sheep may be shorn in May, but 

 always early in June; the precise period being denoted by the state of the wool, 

 which comes readily off when plucked, and which would fall entirely off were 

 it not shorn. 



About eight days previous to shearing, the sheep are driven to a pool, if pos- 

 sible in a running stream, and three or more persons are to stand in this pool. 

 The sheep are brought forward to a pen on the bank, and lifted into the pool 

 one by one. The first of the persons in the pool seizes the sheep by the wool, 

 and keeping it on its back, plunges it well from side to side. He passes it on 

 to the person next in order, and he in like manner plunges the animal in every 

 direction. This person then passes it on to the third, who examines the fleece 

 as well as circumstances will allow, plunging the sheep at the same time, and 

 thus finishing the operation. The animal is thus passed through the hands of 

 three persons, and sometimes more; but the last should be a trusty person, such 

 as the shepherd himself, whose duty it is to see that the fleece is completely 

 washed and freed of sand and impurities. 



This description has a reference to young sheep, whose management we are 

 now considering; but the same method is applicable to all the sheep upon the 

 farm, young and old, with this difference, that the ewes, which are at this pe- 

 riod suckling their young, have the lambs separated from them during the pro- 

 cess of washing. 



The sheep being washed, are driven to a clean pasture, and when the fleece 

 is dry, which it will be in a few days, if the weather is good, the sheep may be 

 shorn; but it is better that seven or eight days should elapse before shearing 

 them, in which case the yolk of the wool is renewed. 



When the sheep are to be shorn, they are driven to a pen or other enclosed 

 space, and brought one by one to the shearers. The sheep to be shorn is first 

 placed upon his rump, and the shearer, with the shears, beginning at the neck, 

 clips in a circular direction down the belly towards the back. The animal is 

 then laid on his side, and kept down by the leg of the shearer, who clips the 

 fleece all round to the back. Turning the animal on the other side, he clips in 

 like manner round to the back; then raising the sheep, he clips the part of the 

 fleece not yet cut away, and so lets the animal go, taking care that it shall not 

 entangle itself with the fleece. The fleece, as soon as it is shorn, is taken away 

 by an attendant, spread out, neatly rolled up with the inner surface outmost, 

 and then deposited in some dry place, until it is packed in the wool sheets. 



When the animals are shorn, they are frequently marked with a stamp 



