SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



DISEASES OF SHEEP. 



*' Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flock." 



The subject of sheep husbandry, as adapted to the United States, 

 involves so many considerations, that no system can be recommended 

 for universal adoption, so much do the objects to be kept in view de- 

 pend on the circumstances of the farmer — the food at his command 

 and the markets within his reach. The most that can be done with 

 promise of usefulness is to describe the characteristics of the several 

 races of sheep which are known to be in the country, and, laying 

 down some g^eneral principles as applicable to sheep husbandry, 

 under all views of the subject, leave the farmer to determine how far 

 it may be expedient to appropriate a portion of his capital and care 

 to the business of sheep raising, and what breed promises to yield 

 the best return. While one farmer convenient to a larg-e market will 

 naturally look to the butcher as his best customer, another will find 

 his interest in the adoption of a breed that will best meet the demands 

 of the manufaciurer. The one chooses a kind of sheep that will in 

 the shortest time give him the best return in meat ,• the other bestows 

 his care on the one whose fleece will bring- him the most money, the 

 carcase being regarded only as subsidiary to that end. And ao-ain, 

 where lamb and mutton are the principal objects, the choice of the 

 breed may depend on the quality of the soil and the abundance of the 

 pasture : where these are rich and luxuriant, a breed which ripens 

 soonest, and is most inclined to fat, as the Bakewell, or a yet much 

 larger sheep — a variety of the Lincolnshire — called the Cotswold 

 breed, will be preferred more especially, and as long as the butcher 

 has to consult the prevalent and vulgar taste for fatness^ above all 

 other qualities of meat. 



On the other hand, for the far greater portion of the United States, 

 where pastures are more scanty, and the animal is exposed without 

 regular feeding or care to all the vicissitudes of climate, a more hardy 

 race, as the improved South-down^ is to be preferred. Here it may be 

 added that the present race of South-downs, such as have been im- 



C1G8) 



