REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 339 



giddiness, and inflammation of the brain having been produced 

 from them.* 



Sheep, it is seen, are generally pastured in summer, and their 

 winter keep, on all good farms, consists of an abundant supply 

 of roots, good sweet hay, &c. with free access to air and water. 

 Sheep require air and exercise to some extent in the coldest 

 weather. It will not answer for us to adopt the English sys- 

 tem of letting them run at large, for it is a well established 

 fact, that sheep, as well as cattle, thrive better, and are not so 

 much disposed to sickness during the summer, if they are 

 sheltered from the storms and cold of the preceding winter. 

 The sheep-house should be well ventilated, with a yard at- 

 tached in which the sheep may exercise themselves at pleasure 

 in all fair weather. Owing to the variety of breeds, the great 

 diversity in the surface of our country, the variations of cli- 

 mate, and other circumstances combined, it is impossible to lay 

 down any fixed or specific rules applicable to the management 

 of sheep in all parts of the Union. 



There are, however, some points of universal application 

 these relate to the breed or character of the animal. Every 

 farmer should select the best and purest blood ; and the treatment 

 of his flock must be most kind and gentle; they should never 

 be teased, worried, or submitted to the care of inexperienced 

 persons, or persons of ill and ungovernable temper; such per- 

 sons invariably do more harm than good on a farm, and the 

 farmer should shun them as he would the rot. If your sheep 

 have been well summered, and you have a good supply of the 

 sugar beet,t which is the best article for fattening sheep that 

 I am acquainted with, you will have no difficulty in carrying 

 your flock easily and comfortably through the winter, however 

 severe; and at the springing of the early grass they are in good 

 condition. 



It is common with some farmers to soil their sheep, and 

 others, by adopting the plan of stall-feeding, think they have 

 derived peculiar advantages thereby. The course of treatment 

 by gentlemen who have adopted this system is given in the 

 Appendix. These accounts cannot properly be called experi- 

 ments, as they constitute a regular portion of farm-practice, 

 and may therefore be considered conclusive. See Appendix. 



The age of a sheep may be known by examining the front 

 teeth, which are eight in number, and appear during the first 

 year, all of small size. In the second year, the two middle 

 teeth fall out, and their place is supplied by two new ones, 



* Penny Cyclopaedia. 



t For the superior excellence of this root for stock, see article Beet, p. 197. 



33* 



