SHEEP. 273 



SHEEP. 



WORCESTER NORTH. 



From the Report of the Commiltec. 



Your committee had hoped that the pons allotted to their 

 department would be well filled, and that there would be gome 

 difficulty at least, in deciding who were the most entitled to the 

 premiums. In this we have not been disappointed. Never 

 since the formation of the society, has there been so fine a dis- 

 play of sheep as has been seen here to-day. 



There were nine entries ; three flocks, six bucks, in all, forty- 

 four. We are aware that most farmers think more of a fast 

 horse, or a work horse, an ox, or a steer, a cow, or a fat swine, 

 than they do of a sheep, or a flock of sheep. Among most 

 farmers this kind of stock has gone out of date — it has become 

 nearly obsolete. 



But your committee have no doubt that sheep husbandry can be 

 made profitable in this part of the county. In England, farmers 

 engage in sheep husbandry for the sake of enriching the soil. 

 This is done by fencing off a lot of an acre, and sometimes less, 

 and there keeping from one hundred to three hundred sheep, 

 feeding them with hay, grass, or roots, until the soil is well fer- 

 tilized ; then tliey are removed to another lot, and this process 

 carried on until a large tract is prepared for the plough. With- 

 out sheep, many farmers say they could do nothing with their 

 land. We believe, also, it is one of the best ways of reclaiming 

 rough pasture lands. Sheep not only enrich the soil, but 

 destroy bushes, briers, and thorns. 



To show that sheep husbandry can be made profitable in this 

 State, we would refer to the statements of a few farmers in 

 Hampden County. One says that he had last year, nine ewes 

 and one buck, a mixture of the South Down and native. 

 About the first of January, seven of the ewes dropped each, 

 one lamb. In April the remaining two dropped each a pair of 

 twins, and about the first of July, the seven named first, 

 dropped one laml) each, making in all eighteen lambs from nine 

 owes, within seven months. In June, eight of these lambs were 



