REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 333 



where they are produced, turnips and the cultivated grasses may generally be 

 supplied in certain quantity. 



In the rearing of this breed, the rams are usually put to the ewes from the 

 middle to the 20th of November, so that the lambs shall begin to drop about 

 the 1st of April. The ewes generally receive no further feeding during the 

 period of gestation than hay in falls of snow. This may be supplied to them 

 from racks, or simply laid upon the surface of the snow. The ground is fre- 

 quently covered with snow for six weeks; but it is sometimes covered for twice 

 that period. During the winter, therefore, a store of hay should be in reserve 

 for three months' consumption, and this may be calculated at the rate of lj 

 Ibs. for the ewes and older sheep, and 1 Ib. per day for the younger sheep. 

 Should the winter be mild, what is left remains till the following season. 



Where turnips are raised, these are given also to the breeding stock. The 

 ewe receives them during falls of snow, and in an especial degree when the 

 lambing season arrives and during its continuance. 



When both hay and turnips are to be supplied, it will be proper either to give 

 them at the same time, that is, a portion of hay and a portion of turnips each 

 day, or to begin with hay and end with turnips; for to begin with turnips and 

 end with hay is to cause the sheep to pass from succulent food to one which is 

 less grateful, so that a time elapses before the animals are reconciled to the 

 change. But when turnips are given, and hay supplied at the same time, the 

 sheep take to this variety of feeding very readily. 



The process of lambing in these nigh districts demands the utmost vigilance 

 of the shepherds. They must never be absent night nor day, but relieve one 

 another, and inspect the flock at short intervals, so as to assist the parturition 

 of the ewes when necessary. 



Sometimes the lambs at their birth are so weak that they cannot rise to the 

 teat, and thus perish or are forsaken by the dams. The shepherd assists them 

 in such cases, and frequently takes the ewe with her young to a house or place 

 of shelter, where they can be attended to. When the ewes have twins, and 

 thus have two lambs to nurse, it is usual to give them a more liberal supply of 

 food. For this purpose it is convenient to have an enclosure of early grass 

 near the place 01 lambing or the shepherd's cottage, to which ewes with twins, 

 such as have too little milk, and such as are sick or infirm, or from any cause 

 require more attendance than the rest of the flock, may be taken. Though va- 

 rious ewes produce twins, it is regarded as a favouiable circumstance in the 

 case of this davs t .f sheep when one lamb can be reared for each ewe of the 

 flock. It is well when 19 lambs can be reared for every 20 cwo. 



As soon as the weather is favourable, after a considerable number of the 

 ewes have lambs, they are collected into a fold, and all the males castrated, 

 except such as are reserved for rams: and the soonerthe operation is perform- 

 ed after the lambs are a few days old the better. 



When the period of shearing arrives, which is known by the wool being 

 fully grown, the sheep are wa^hr.!. ...mctinu^ by men standing in the pool, 

 who wash each sheep separately, in the manner before described; or, when the 

 flocks are large, by causing them to swim two or three times through the 

 water to the opposite bank. After being washed, they are kept as much as 

 possible on ground where they are preserved from rubbing on banks, or other- 

 wise spiling their wool. In two days, if there be no rain, they may be shorn, 

 but it is better to wait seven or eight days. The wool is shorn in the manner 

 before described, and stored in a proper place till packed in sheets. As 

 soon as each sheep is shorn it may be marked with a stamp dipt in boiling tar. 

 The mark is made on different parts of the body, as near the shoulder, the far 

 shoulder, the near rib, the far rib, so as that the different kinds and ages of the 

 heep can be known at a glance. 



About the middle of July the lambs are weaned, when such lambs as are to 

 be disposed of are separated from the remainder and sold. The lambs, now 

 hoggets, are put on such good pasturage as the farm affords, and supplied, if 

 possible, with turnips throughout the winter, at the rate of a cart-load for 7 or 

 8 scores in the day. 



Some farmers still milk their ewes for a few weeks; but the more approved 

 practice is to milk them only for a few days, merely to relieve the ewes of their 

 milk by degrees. 



