SHEEP. 



" ' These sheep,' observes Mr. 

 Carr, a large owner in Germany, 

 'cannot tlirive in a damp climate, 

 and it is (piite necessary that they 

 should have a wide range of dry and 

 hilly pasture of short and not over 

 nutritious herbage. If allowed to 

 feed on swampy or marshy ground, 

 even once or twice, in autumn, thnj 

 are sure to die of liver comiilaint in the 

 following spring. If they are per- 

 mitted to eat wet grass, or exposed 

 frequently to rain, they disappear by 

 hundredswith consumption. In these 

 countries it is found that the higher 

 bred the sheep is, especially the Es- 

 curial, the more tender. They are 

 always housed at night, even in sum- 

 mer, except in the very finest weath- 

 er, when they are sometimes folded 

 in the distant fallows, but never taken 

 to pasture till the dew is off the grass. 

 In the winter they are kept within 

 doors altogether, and are fed with a 

 small quantity of sound hay, and ev- 

 ery variety of straw, wiiich has not 

 suffered from wet, and which is vari- 

 ed at each feed ; they pick it over 

 carefully, eating the finer parts, and 

 any grain that may have been left by 

 the thrashers. Abundance of good 

 water to drink, and rock-salt in their 

 cribs, are indispensables.' By these 

 means the Saxon sheep has been 

 formed, which is more valuable in 

 the fleece than the Merinos. 



" Our notice of the sheep in other 

 countries must be exceedingly brief 

 Alsng the western coast of France 

 the traveller continually meets with 

 the semblance of those noble ani- 

 mals which Edward IV. permitted 

 to be annually sent to improve the 

 breed of foreign sheep on the other 

 side of the Channel. The wool is 

 now about the same in value as that 

 of our inferior Lincoln or Keptish. 

 In Normandy is a larger and a coars- 

 er variety of the same breed. In the 

 old province of Maine succeeds the 

 old, unimproved, long, and thin-car- 

 cassed native French breed. In Bre- 

 tagne and Gascony will be recognised 

 the native short-wools, some of them 

 exceedingly valuable ; in Xavarre, a 

 mountain breed, with its kempy fleece ; 



in the Lower and the Higher Pyre- 

 nees, the two essentially diflcrent 

 breeds which countries so dilli'icnt, 

 yet so near to each other, produce. 

 On entering Rousillon some migrato- 

 ry breeds scarcely inferior to the 

 Merinos are found, and also in Lan- 

 guedoc and Aries. The whole num- 

 ber of sheep in France is calculated 

 at about 30,000,000. The royal Me- 

 rinos are called Rambomllcts. 



" Notwithstanding the accounts 

 given by some authors of the Italian 

 sheep, and of the c^re bestowed on 

 them, there are few deserving of no- 

 tice except some Merinos. With the 

 exception of a few of the valleys, 

 the same may be said of the Swiss, 

 and also of the Savoy sheep, but in 

 Piedmont there has been from time 

 immemorial a breed of sheep inferi- 

 or only to the Merinos. In most of 

 the German States, the Merino, the 

 Saxon breed, is almost the only sheep 

 that is cultivated. It is the same in 

 Prussia, except that the sheep are 

 somewhat diminished in size, while 

 the wool retains all its value. The 

 chief wealth of Hungary is derived 

 from the cultivation of the Merino 

 sheep. Of the two Hanoverian breeds, 

 the larger one has almost disap- 

 peared ; the smaller has been cross- 

 ed with the Merinos, and yields a 

 wool of some value for ordinary pur- 

 poses. The Duteh and Flemish breeds 

 are of English origin, although some 

 of them have considerable resem- 

 blance to the Irish long-woolled breed. 

 Their wool is used for the production 

 of the coarser kinds of goods." 



The following answers to queries 

 are by Judge Buel, and peculiarly 

 adapted to this season : 



" What sheep are the most profit- 

 able 1 The Saxon and Spanish Me- 

 rino for fleece ; the South Down 

 and new Leicester for mutton. The 

 fleece would probably be the most de- 

 sirable object in Tennessee and the 

 West. 



" What is the best time to move 

 theml In September. 



" What pasture bests suits them, 

 andhowmanycanbekeptonan acrel < 

 Sheep want a dry pasture, and if hilly 



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