196 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



favorable and the right breed is kept and properly taken care of 

 that twins are more profitable than singles. It depends a good 

 deal on the breed of sheep as to whether twins or singles are the 

 better property. In the lowlands where feed is abundant and the 

 shepherd is always present and supplementary rations are abun- 

 dant, twins cannot be out of place, but on the bleak, cold hills, 

 where the flock has nothing but such scanty fare as they generally 

 afford twins are not so desirable ; so it is simply a question of con- 

 ditions whether singles or twins are the most profitable. 



WATER. 



Sheep thrive in many parts of England without any special 

 attention being given to their water supply. This is due to the 

 moisture of that climate and the succulent rations with which the 

 flocks are so abundantly supplied. But what applies to England 

 does not apply to this country. To attempt to run a flock, here 

 without an abundant supply of water would be business suicide. 

 Watering sheep at stated intervals is a good plan, but allowing 

 them free access to it at all times is better. No good shepherd al- 

 lows his flock to drink at stagnant pools. If sheep are allowed to 

 suffer from thirst for any length of time and then permitted to 

 have their fill, bowel troubles are liable to occur. The watering 

 trough should be kept clean, as sheep will suffer rather than drink 

 from filthy vessels. Where possible it is always best to pipe the 

 water to drinking troughs. To compel sheep to wade through 

 mud to the trough or drinking place is to court foul-foot and foot- 

 rot. Ewes suckling lambs when on dry rations drink a sur- 

 prising quantity of water, much more than the casual observer 

 might imagine. Therefore the necessity of keeping them abund- 

 antly supplied. 



SHADE. 



In hot climates sheep should be provided with ample shade and 

 to build a shelter in the sheep pasture to protect them from sun 

 and storms is not only desirable but profitable. It is nothing less 

 than criminal to confine a flock to pastures where shade is not 

 available. They are bound to lose flesh rapidly under such con- 

 ditions and the fleece suffers in sympathy the whole constitution, 

 in fact. Nothing, perhaps, offers better shelter than a small group 

 of trees. Some authorities claim that such a place is the hot- 

 bed of parasites, which may in a measure be true, but some of the 

 most thrifty flocks coming to the writer's notice spend a greater 

 part of the hot summer days in the shade of such a retreat. 



THE SHEEP BARN. 



A good deal of money is spent unnecessarily in the erection 

 of elaborate sheep barns. Of course, where "money is no object," 



