SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 207 



a series of years, both here and in Germany, enable 

 him confidently to offer the following results : that 

 sheep of good size, superior fineness, and thick fleece, 

 when rightly fed and managed, produce, on an aver- 

 age, two and three fourths to three pounds of clean 

 wool, washed on the sheep's back. But a flock is 

 only rightly fed and managed when they are not al 

 lowed quite as much as they would eat, thus ensu- 

 ring thriftiness and bodily health. To effect this 

 desirable object, as has been already stated, two 

 pounds of good hay, or its equivalent in grain, roots, 

 and straw per day, are required ; whereas the same 

 sheep, were they allowed as much hay as they could 

 eat, would consume over three pounds, or its equiv- 

 alent in grain, roots, and straw. Now, in order that 

 the increased or extra quantity of wool be equal to 

 the increased or extra quantity of hay or other fod- 

 der, they ought to shear from four and an eighth to 

 four and a half pounds of wool per head. But this 

 is not the case ; the increase seldom amounting to 

 more than 25, instead of 50 per cent. In other 

 words, six pounds of hay. fed to three sheep, pro- 

 duced from eight and a quarter to nine pounds of 

 wool ; while the same quantity, and of the same 

 quality, fed to two sheep daily, produced from six 

 and seven eighths to seven and a half pounds only, 

 leaving a balance in favour of the former of from 

 one and three eighths to one and a half pounds : an 

 item in the profits of a sheep establishment of some 

 importance, especially where large flocks are kept. 

 But this is not the only disadvantage of high feed- 

 ing ; for, while it ruins the constitution of the ani- 

 mal, it injures the quality of the wool. 



Some German writers on sheep-husbandry esti- 

 mate this reduction in quality at ten per cent., and 

 maintain that the greater waste in cleansing it in- 

 creases the loss to twenty per cent. ; such wool 

 containing a larger quantity of oily or greasy sub- 

 stances, which go far to make up the increased 



